220 On Permanent and Temporary Meadows and Pastures. 
There was no room for doubt. Here was a soil totally 
exhausted of potash, and remarkably rich in all the other ele- 
ments, especially nitrogen and lime. I accordingly advised 
breaking up and treatment with potash-manure. Having asked 
JSI. de Hedouville for the results obtained, I received his reply, 
dated 8th February last : — 
" Here, in accordance with your wish, are the facts relating 
to the cultivation of some very old peaty grass-lands which form 
a part of my farm. The first start left nothing to be desired, 
and the crop presented an excellent appearance for six weeks ; 
after this the vegetation received a check ; the maize-plant 
became yellow, and did not attain a height of more than 39 
inches. The idea occurred to me of asking you to analyse this 
soil, which was found to be very rich in nitrogen, but absolutely 
deficient in potash. Since consulting you, I have employed 
potash-manures in sufficient quantities, and the transformation 
has been as complete as it was sudden. jNIy maize is now from 
9 to 10 feet high, and, at a rough guess, the return per acre 
cannot be less than from 32 to 36 tons. I have also as good 
roots as are to be seen at the best exhibition, and similarly so 
with grain-crops ; but the grain attains complete maturity with 
difficulty. If I had not discovered that my land wanted potash, 
I should have been put to long and costly experiments without 
taking into account the fact that I might never have found 
out the true cause of my ill-success. I do not mean to say that 
entire trust should be put in the analysis of a soil, but I am 
convinced that it ought always to be analysed, in order to serve 
as a guide in cultivating and treating our land." 
" In order to make money at farming in the present day we 
must not go to sleep, and some money is sure to be lost if the 
means which are offiered by science to help us to defend 
ourselves are neglected." 
I could multiply examples of this kind, but the two just 
quoted will be sufficient to make it clear that the breaking up 
of grass-lands is only profitable when made for the express 
purpose of restoring to the soil those elements of which it has 
been exhausted by the production of hay during a series of years. 
Aow these elements are chiefly potash and phosphoric acid, 
for grass-lands consume them to a large extent : and their 
exhaustion is, generally speaking, the fundamental cause of 
the smallness and poorness of the crops. We can always 
discover by analysis the condition of the land in this respect. 
It may happen that one only, and not both, of these elements 
is deficient ; and therefore it is more economical and preferable 
to supply, at least for a certain time, only that one which 
is chiefly in defect, for the purpose of re-establishing most 
