56 
Absorption of Phosphate of Lime ; and 
Moisture 5'65 
Organic matter 3'51 
Bi-phosphate of lime 19-64 
Equal to bone-earth rendered soluble (30'65) 
Insoluble phosphate of lime '86 
Hydrated sulphate of lime (gypsum) 64:"96 
Alkaline salts 1-83 
Sand 3"55 
100-00 
Practically speaking-, the manure contained no insoluble phos- 
phates, and was free from ammoniacal salts and nitrogenised 
organic matter : — 
tons. cwts. qrs. lbs. 
The unmanured plot pro-| ^ 4 of S^vedish turnips. 
duced, per acre .. ^ 
The manured plot pro-'> pq 15 9 04 
duced, per acre .,../" ~ 
Thus yielding an increase I 6 1 1 ''0 
of, per acre ' ~ " 
Scarcely any of the twenty experimental plots, in which all 
kinds of fertilising mixtures were tried, yielded so large an 
increase as this plot, manured, it will be seen, with a superphos- 
phate in which all the phosphates were rendered soluble, and 
which contained no ammonia or nitrogenised organic matter. 
Again, it may be asked. How is it that the effects of soluble 
phosphate are frequently observed, not only in the turnip-crop, 
but in the succeeding barley ? If soluble phosphate were as 
easily washed out of the soil as is supposed by some, it surely 
could not exert any influence on the barley-crop. 
In the opinion of many farmers superphosphate only benefits 
the crop to which it is applied, whilst bone-dust maintains the 
fertility of the land for several years. This no doubt is quite 
correct if a large dose of half-inch bones is applied to the land 
on the one hand, and a scanty dressing of superphosphate on the 
other. But if the quantities of phosphate of lime put on in the 
one shape and in the other be equal, I have no hesitation in 
saying that the effects of the latter will be greater, and the prac- 
tical result will be a larger produce. If this produce be removed 
from the land, the phosphate contained in it, as a matter of 
course, will likewise be removed from the soil. On the other 
hand, the application of the less efficacious insoluble phosphates 
in bone-dust generally produces a smaller crop ; and if this is 
.also removed from the land, less phosphates are removed in it 
than in the former instance. A larger amount of phosphate of 
lime consequently will be left in the soil ; and thus bone-dust, 
as far as its phosphates are concerned, appears to be more per- 
manent in its effects than superphosphate. This greater per- 
