as Compared with Artificial Manures. 
117 
as much per ton as now. I remember the heav'y crops of barley 
perfectly well, as I was a working pupil at the time, and the 
laid twisted corn was a difficult task for me to cut with the point 
of the scythe. 
Very high farming was carried on at Woburn during a 
long course of years, and no doubt there still remains some of 
the unexhausted value of the manures in the land. Whether 
any one can ever recover and make a profit of the residue 
remains an open question. The Ducal family at Woburn have, 
for a century at least, at all times shown a great interest and 
taken a distinguished lead in agricultural affairs, and the experi- 
ments now being carried on at Woburn will annually become 
more and more valuable as guides to both landlords and tenants. 
■ It is well known that a very great prejudice long existed 
with many owners, and also occupiers of land, against artificial 
manures. At present opinions are ,on the whole very much 
changing. At one time a farmer was supposed to take — should 
take-=-at least as much weiofht of dung into the field as he ex- 
pected to take tons of roots out ; and nothing could ever be 
expected to make anything grow so well as dung. At present 
one ton of artificial manure of the best kind may, with a favour- 
able season, produce 100 tons of roots. 
There are many points to be considered regarding the en- 
richment of the land with dung, &c., as a supposed permanent 
improvement. Land can, it is well known, be much enriched 
by large and repeated doses of good dung. All agree in this. 
Where people disagree is whether the improver of the land is 
able to improve himself — able to make the dunging pay ? 
Some of the Woburn experiments tend to show that the 
soil must have retained some proportion of the unexhausted 
manures previously applied. In the rotation experiments it is 
obvious that the land must have been in more than average 
condition when it produced 19 tons per acre of roots without 
any additional manure. Phosphoric acid is chemically proved 
to be retained by almost all kinds of soil for very long after 
dung or superphosphates have been applied. Bone-dust was 
used as a manure at Woburn before the discovery of dissolving 
bones by acid was made known to the world. The largest 
fragments of the bone-dust applied long ago may still have some 
infiuence over the crops. 
Sir John Bennet Lawes has shown that even superphos- 
phates, more than thirty years after their application, have had 
a decided effect upon the increase of the crops where nitro- 
genous manures were applied on the mineral manured part ; 
and on other parts where no minerals had been previously 
applied, the crop was inferior. Mineral manures for corn-crops 
