The Action of Common, Halt as Manure. 
517 
In answer to the Chairman, Mr. Lawes said, as the result of experi- 
ments on the effects of salt in the feeding of cattle, he had arrived at 
the conclusion that, though it might be very well to give animals a 
taste of salt, great care should be taken not to supply it in excess. 
In answer to Mr. Dent, who thought that Mr. Lawes might have 
used an excessive tpuantity of salt on his farm, and thereby retarded 
the growth of his crops, Mr. Lawes replied, that 4 cwt. per acre of 
salt had been his ordinary dressing. His object had been to grow 
large crops, and he assumed that salt was likely to be beneficial to 
mangold wurzel, but though there was plenty of plant it was possible 
that, in the experiments referred to, the application of salt might have 
been excessive. 
Mr. Fisher Hobbs, having prefaced his remarks by observing that a 
good deal depended on the character of t the climate and soil where salt 
is used, said : — So far as my experience goes, I may remark that in 
the eastern parts of England, where we have a dry climate, we find, 
especially in the case of marine plants, that salt is very beneficial. 
We also perceive that along the coast, where the air is impregnated 
with salt, we can grow mangold wurzel, even without farmyard- 
manure, better than in other situations. Not only so, but the quality 
of the crop is decidedly firmer, and mangold is generally admitted to • 
contain more saccharine matter there than in parts of the interior 
where high farming is carried on. Therefore I think the remarks 
which Mr. Lawes has made to-day only show that, so far as his experi- 
ments have gone, they have not proved salt to be of very great service. 
I believe that salt and guano, mixed at the rate of about 3 cwts. per acre of 
each, form an excellent manure for both wheat and mangold wurzel. We 
have found in my own county that where salt has been used through a 
course of cropping, especially on marls and other similar lands, it 
has not produced the same advantages that it did previously. I myself 
have used it to a considerable extent at various periods of the year, 
and have been occasionally annoyed at having my attention called, 
particularly after frost, to the bad appearance of my wheat, where salt 
had been applied. One great benefit of salt in our dry climate is, 
perhaps, in its destruction of many insects in the soil, which for the 
last few years have been very injurious, not only to our root-crops, but 
also to many of our cereals. I know very well that we cannot lay down 
any general rule with regard to modes of cultivation or the application 
of manures ; but I do not agree with Mr. Lawes that, on the whole, 
salt has been too highly valued by farmers. I think he will find, on 
examination, that even in a humid climate it is beneficial. In Corn- 
wall, fishery salt, as it is termed, appears to be used almost universally 
for stiffening straw. In my experience I have seen fields of wheat 
where 3 cwt. of salt per acre had been applied, and the straw was 
remarkably white and very stiff, while in other cases a much smaller 
application has apparently produced an equally beneficial effect. 
On the other hand, I have known salt prove very injurious when 
applied to a crop of swede turnips, though when applied to mangold 
on the same soil it produced a good effect. We see in our gardens 
how beneficial salt is to asparagus, which is a marine plant. Again, 
