442 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 
should bo taken of the season, on which those results may have 
materially depended. The year 18G1 was showery imtil the 9th of 
July ; but from that time we had a scorching siunmer, almost without 
any rain until the 1st of October. Consequently many fields of white 
tui'nips, drilled with artificial manures, came up well, and were singled 
out well, but in Augiist were quite biu'ut up, the brown cinders of the 
dead plant alone showing the line of the drills. The mangolds came 
up well, the seed being good ; so that, to complete the plant, not one 
root in fifty had been transplanted. Their growth was steady, but not 
rapid ; the leaves of some few weakly plants alone being affected by 
the blight which was so prevalent in other parts of England. 
When the rain came on in October, the piece manm'ed with Lawson's 
guano appeared already somewhat exhausted, and the leaves had begun 
to turn, whilst that manured with Peruvian guano still retained its full 
vigour in the leaf ; there was therefore a much greater increase of 
growth and of weight in the month of October on the acre manui'ed 
with Peruvian guano, and that which had the mixtm-e of guano and 
farmyard mamu-e, than on the acre mamu'cd with Lawson's guano. 
When the crop was taken up, three drills were selected on each piece, 
as impartially as could be, and they measured 17 poles. The weight 
per acre was from Lawson's guano only 14 tons 18 cwts. ; from the 
Pei'uvian guano, 22 tons 2 cwts. ; from farmyard manm-e, 16 tons 14 
cwts. ; and from the mixtui-e of giiano and manure, 21 tons 15 cwts. 
These results were no doubt in great measm-e due to the season, in 
connexion with the tendency of guano to produce a much larger 
development of leaf. Farmyard manm-e and the guano, when tried four 
years ago on nearly the same ground, gave the same weight of bulb, 
but the guano much increased the weight of leaf. This tendency to 
force the leaf is of special value in a hot season, because when the 
soil is dry the plant is mxich more thrown upon the resom-ces afforded 
by the atmosphere, of which the leaves are the recipients. Now, 
probably, in a very dry season, such as was the last in one part of 
England, the plant derives as much of its gTowth through the medium 
of its leaves as it does tlu'ough the medium of its roots ; at all events, 
in a diy season, with this plant the proportion of the increase due to 
the leaf rather than to the root is much larger than in the rainy season. 
It is always of importance with respect to any exijcriment to look 
back to the previous crops and to the condition in which the ground 
is left. In 1859 this land was in Giant Sainfoin, which had been 
so^vn as a layer with barley. It was mown once, and fed off twice ; 
the first time with ram lambs eating corn and cake, and afterwards by 
the flock of ewes. When the sainfoin was being mown green, it was 
ascertained that the amomit growing on 22 poles was 1 ton 84 lbs., 
the quantity mown in the day for feeding 15 cart-horses (at which 
rate a cart-horse was eating 1 cwt. 3 stone per day). At the same 
time Ih ton was being mown daily for the cows and bullocks, and 
fed 21 head. They were, therefore, eating 1+ cwt. a-piece per day : 
there were nearly 8 tons of sainfoin per acre in its green state, which 
was probably equivalent to about 2 tons of liay. It is worthy of 
remark, that the sheep-folding being considered a sufficient preparation 
