506 Report on Laying down Land to. Permanent Pasture. 
from these experiments, as far as farmyard-manure is concerned^ 
are singularly in accordance with the opinions of practical agri- 
culturists, as shown by the foregoing letters. 
There is not the same general agreement as to the value of 
lime and bones as in reference to farmyard-manure, and this 
is just what might have been expected on scientific grounds 
as well as from practical experience on the varied soils of the 
kingdom. Thus Mr. J. C. Toppin says, " lime I tried with no 
effect " (p. 458) ; Mr. G. A. Gray, " I never saw any good from 
bones on the surface " (p. 463) ; Mr. J. Shuker, " I must confess 
that bones have not had so much effect as I looked for " (p. 468); 
and Mr. John Hemsley, "lime and bones are of undoubted benefit 
upon many pastures, but even these cannot be applied indis- 
criminately ; I have used both on some soils without being able 
to see the slightest effect " (p. 477). Mr. Lawes has indeed said,* 
" The application of bones is not recommended for general 
adoption. They appear to be chiefly adapted to the exhausted 
pastures of certain localities." Judging, however, from the fore- 
going communications, we shall perhaps be more correct in saying 
that lime and bones might be generally recommended, but that 
there are exceptions to the rule, and that on many soils they are 
of little or no effect in improving the quality or quantity of the 
herbage. 
Dr. Augustus Voelcker. in his recent able paper on "Field 
Experiments on Permanent Pasture,"f has shown that on some 
soils bone-dust is inefficacious as a manure for permanent 
pasture, and that there are both light and heavy pastures on 
which lime has no effect whatever. There is no pasture, how- 
ever, he says, " the productiveness of which may not be largely 
increased by a heavy dressing of farmyard-manure, or by a 
top-dressing of guano, or by artificial mixtures composed of 
ammonia-salts or nitrate of soda and superphosphate of lime." 
His opinion is strongly corroborated by the foregoing reports. 
In the application of artificial manures as a top-dressing to 
grass, the most important elements necessary are nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid, and potash. The first is most readily supplied in 
nitrate of soda, ammoniacal salts, or Peruvian guano ; the 
second in superphosphate of lime, and the last in Kainit. These 
may be regulated according to will, depending on the nature of 
the soil. Mr. H. S. Thompson, in his paper on the " Manage- 
ment of Grass Land," f recommends 1 cwt. nitrate of soda, 2 cwt. 
of mineral superphosphate, and 3 cwt. of Kainit per acre. Mr. 
John Coleman applies a less nitrogenous mixture, viz., 3 cwt. bone 
phosphate, 1 cwt. Kainit, ^ cwt. nitrate of soda (p. 460). Mr. 
* 'Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society,' vol. six., p. 573. 
t Ibid., 2nd Series, vol. x., part ii. % Ibid., 2nd Scries, vol. viii., part i. 
