1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
393 
Close of the Great Exhibition. 
course were exhausted. On this ground they have cul¬ 
tivated wheat for ten years, under various conditions. 
One plot remained unmanured, and the produce of this 
served as a standard and starting point for comparison 
during the whole period. Thus, if its yield in 1845 was 
17 bushels per acre, the improvement over this in an ad¬ 
joining plot, otherwise the same, was set down to the 
advantage of whatever manure had been employed. 
Such a system of cropping, continued for so long a time, 
obviously affords results that are worthy of much confi¬ 
dence. 
The first year’s comparative practice, was made with 
•various approved mineral manures alone. It was found 
that even by the addition of large quantities of these, 
the increase of product over the unmanured plot was but 
trifling. In the next year the same character of mineral 
manures was employed, but with the addition in several 
cases of ammoniacal or nitrogenous substances,- in all of 
these the effect was quite marked, the yield increasing 
to 10, 12, and 14 bushels, above the unmanured plot. 
This, in short, was the character of all the results; 
sometimes ammoniacal manures alone were added, and 
then the increase was several times more than by mineral 
manures alone. One experiment was very striking. Four 
hundred weight per acre, of Liebig’s special mineral ma¬ 
nure for wheat, was applied to a plot, and produced an 
increase of but about two or three bushels; upon this 
same plot, in the next year, a purely ammoniacal ma¬ 
nure gave an increase of ten or twelve bushels. To make 
the experiment still more conclusive, no manure was 
added to this plot for the next crop, and the yield then 
fell again almost to the original standard. These trials 
seem to me perfectly conclusive in this matter, so far as 
wheat is concerned; they prove that ammoniacal manures 
increase its growth far more than mineral manures, 
where both are already present in moderate supply, and 
that the addition of any amount of the latter will do little 
good, unless the former be also present. 
These views are still farther sustained, by a very able 
paper in one of the late French Scientific Journals. The 
experiments in this case was made upon oats, and were 
between forty and fifty in number. They commenced 
by growing them out in sand, first deprived of every¬ 
thing soluble by acid, and then burned to drive off all 
vegetable matter. In this, as might have been expected, 
no perfect plants were produced. One mineral substance 
after another was added, until at last it was found that 
with a certain seven of them, the plant flourished better 
than with any others. It, however, was still far from 
luxuriant, or from yielding a fair amount of grain ; it 
was not until some manures containing nitrogen had also 
been added, that entirely healthy, fertile and strong 
plants were obtained. These experiments appear to 
have been very carefully conducted, and furnish impor¬ 
tant confirmation to those of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert. 
There are other questions involved in these experi¬ 
ments, which for want of space cannot be discussed here; 
the main point is, I think, fully established. The farmer 
may supply special deficincies by special mineral ma¬ 
nures, and should aim to keep up the supply of mineral 
substances in the soil; but he cannot render it fertile, and 
continue it so, with them alone; he must also supply 
nitrogen in some form, and will find it in a great major¬ 
ity of cases the most important and efficacious of all fer¬ 
tilizers. In despite of theoretical views to the contrary, 
he will find that in practice , he can best afford to give 
a high price for those manures that are especially rich in 
ammonia, or some other compound of nitrogen. Yours 
truly, John P. Norton. 
An exhibition of tile industrial products of all nations 
may be considered a new feature in the world’s history. 
Hitherto the strife of nations has chiefly been to circum¬ 
vent each other by the game of war. The present year 
will even be remembered as marking the time when the 
first great step in checking this selfish and aggrandizing 
spirit was taken—when in compliance with a cordial in¬ 
vitation from one of the greatest reigning powers of the 
globe, all nations were assembled, by their representa¬ 
tives, for the purpose of comparing the progress of each 
in those arts which conduce to the welfare and happiness 
of man. 
The general effect of this exhibition cannot but be salu¬ 
tary on the world at large. Its tendency will be to pro¬ 
mote peaceful relations, to do away monopoly, and to 
diffuse useful knowledge among men. The London 
Morning Chronicle well remarks —“ We have, as yet, 
no standard whereby to measure the probable consequen¬ 
ces of the gigantic undertaking. It has shown to the na¬ 
tions of the world what each can do,—animating, inspir¬ 
ing, and instructing all. National prejudices, antipathies, 
and animosities, have given way before the ‘ natural 
magic’ of its influence. A mighty lesson has been unfolded 
for mankind, bidding all to note the wisdom, and the 
goodness, and the glory of Almighty God. The lesson 
cannot, will not, have been read in vain.” 
The description of the exhibition has formed a promi¬ 
nent topic in the newspapers and periodicals of the day, 
on both sides of the Atlantic, and most of our readers 
are sufficiently informed, through the letters of Mr. John¬ 
son, which we have published, and from other sources, 
in regard to the most interesting particulars. It was 
finally closed on the 11th of October. 
Total number of visitors, 6,201,856. 
Receipts. 
Public subscriptions,. £64,344 0 0 
Privilege of Printing,. 3,200 0 0 
do Supplying Refreshments,. 5,500 0 0 
Season Tickets,. 40,000 0 0 
Received at the doors to 11th of Oct.,. 356,071 13 0 
Total,. £469,115 13 0 
The liabilities amount to £170,743, thus leaving an available sur¬ 
plus of £298,372 13s. 
The awards of Council or Great Medals, to our coun¬ 
trymen, were as follows: 
Joel Borden, Jr., Texas, for a preparation called Meat 
Biscuit. 
David Dick, Meadville, Pa., for Anti-friction Press 
C. H. McCormick, Chicago, Ill., for Reaping Machine. 
"Wm. Bond & Son, Boston, for the invention of a new 
mode of observing Astronomical Phenomena. 
Charles (Goodyear, New-Haven, Ct., for India Rub¬ 
ber Fabrics. 
Produce of Twelve Acres. 
Eds. Cultivator — I am induced to give you a short 
description of a piece of land near the Niagara River, oil 
the farm of Moses Cherry, Esq. The land in this neigh¬ 
borhood is rather peculiar. That portion where black- 
ash timber grew, though wet and swampy, is excellent 
land when fully drained, even with open drains; while 
the land nearer the river, and on either side of the ash 
tracts, is poor and scarcely worth cultivating. On the 
