on Permanent Meadoto Land. 
405 
their produce were much higher. Coincidentlj with the much 
lower percentage of dry matter in the produce of 1 856, there was a 
considerably higher percentage of Mineral matter in the dry sub- 
stance of that produce than in that of either 1857 or 1858. Again, 
the average percentage of dry substance in the hay was lower in 
the produce of 1858 than in that of 1857 ; and in accordance with 
this, the average percentage of Mineral matter in the dry sub- 
stance of the produce of 1858, was higher than in that of 1857. 
It appears then, that, comparing season icitli season, the general 
result on this point in regard to hay, is in conformity with that 
generally observed in the case of more equably ripened produce. 
That is to say, the lower the condition of elaboration of the con- 
stituents of the produce, the lower is the percentage of the Dry 
substance, and the higher the percentage of the Mineral matter 
in tliat dry substance. 
So much for the results in regard to the percentage Minei'al 
matter in the hay, as affected by season. We turn now, to the 
influence of manuring on the composition of the hay in regard to 
Mineral matter. 
When it is borne in mind — that the proportion of the produce 
which will consist of Graminaceous, Leguminous, or other herbage, 
— that the proportion of the respective plants comprised within 
each of these main classes — that the proportion of each that will 
be in leaf and culm respectively — and that the condition of ma- 
turity at any given time — will vary very considerably according 
to the manure employed, it will be obvious that the variations in 
the percentages of Mineral matter, due to manuring, will be the 
resultants of many coincidently operating causes. On these points 
it may be observed — that the dry substance of Leguminous herbage 
contains on the average about l^rd time as high a percentage of 
Mineral matter as that of Graminaceous herbage ; that the dry 
substance of the leafy portion of the produce contains a higher 
percentage than that of the stemmy portion ; and lastly, that the 
riper the produce the lower will be the" percentage of Mineral 
matter in the dry substance. But again, in green and unripened 
produce more especially, t\\e percentage of Mineral constituents, as 
well as the actual amounts assimilated over a given area of land, 
are very much affected by the deficiency or liberality of their 
supply, in available form, within the range of collection of the 
growing crop. 
The Table (XH.) shows that where no mineral manure was 
employed — and especially where nitrogenous manures were used 
alone, and the production thus pushed to the extreme limit of 
the available supplies of the mineral constituents of the soil itself — 
the percentage of Mineral matter, in the dry substance of the hay, 
was comparatively low. A somewhat similar result has been 
