210 
STATE AGKICULTUEAL SOCIETY 
was used for each experiment, and the results for one, two and three years 
up to twenty-three, were obtained. The plot which had no manure yielded 
14^ bushels of wheat to the acre, and that which had the best manure gave 
60 bushels. 
“ To show the eifect of persevering in a proper system of manuring land, 
the speaker said that a large tract in Prussia, which a century ago was a sand 
bank, destitute of every species of plant, had been rendered rich and fertile. 
To impart texture to the soil to get a grass plot, brush was first hauled and 
stuck into the ground, thus preventing the sand from drifting ; then pine 
trees were planted, and by growing these and manuring the land for eighty 
years, grass was at last grown. After this there was no difficulty, for grass is 
the first object, and when obtained every desirable fertility of soil may be 
had. The speaker declared that manure was never lost by leaching on sandy 
and gravelly land, A foot and a half of soil was all he wanted on a gravel 
bank. Manures, never go dowm, but upward. If this were not the case, what 
would become of the wells and springs in a city ? A contiguous manure pile 
was never known to injure a spring or the shallowest well. Do not, therefore, 
be afraid to plough in manure upon gravelly and sandy land. There is noth- 
* < 
ing lost that goes down into the soil. 
“ There is great deficiency of statistical information in this country. No 
people on earth are more imposed upon than ours by this neglect. It is 
known in Berlin to-day, what number of bushels of wheat ^have been raised 
in that country this year. But have we any such knowledge even for a single 
county ? He had known w'heat to vary in price in the Chicago market, in 
one month from $1.60 to 80 cents. The correction of this evil is in your own 
power. You ought to be able to know all about the production of yonr sta 
pie crops each year, and one of the important objects of these fairs is to col¬ 
lect and systemize information on all subjects connected with agriculture. 
“ Governor Wright strongly recommended the cultivation of fruits and 
flowers. The best speech he had ever made in Indiana was by the roadside 
to a friend of his who was toiling in a cornfield, and by the side of whose 
house stood a single apple tree, growing with little labor to its owner, the 
fruit upon which was worth more than all his corn. The governor’s eloquence 
induced the man to plant an orchard, and remit somewhat the labor bestowed 
upon raising grain. The Governor was equally emphatic in his testimony in 
favor of beautifying our homes with flowers. He produced a sensation among 
the ladies by declaring that were he in search of a wife he would not select 
one from a home unadorned by flowers and choice plants. 
“The speaker said that notwithstanding the regular routine of business and 
pleasure everywhere prevailed, although the people gathered at fairs and in 
the marts of commerce, the thought of every one was upon the condition of 
the country. The speaker then proceeded at considerable length to discuss the 
question of State rights. He condemned those who advocated ‘ a peace on 
the basis of the federal Union of the States’^—was in favor of a national 
Union, in which the States should have no more rights than countries and in- 
