* 
ON  NASCENT   MANURES.  249 
leaving  a  land  unmanured  between.  The  proportion  of  straw  on 
the  guanoed  land  was  very  much  increased,  but  last  summer,  the 
same  field  was  in  wheat,  and  a  corresponding  diminution  in  the 
proportion  of  straw  was  noticed  on  the  land  that  had  been  guanoed 
two  years  since  :  and  what  is  more  remarkable,  the  lands  on  each 
side  of  the  guanoed  land,  averaged  746  lbs.  more  of  wheat  straw 
per  acre,  although  no  manure  of  any  kind  had  been  applied  to 
either  since  it  was  in  oats.  Whereas,  the  silicated  land  not  only 
produced  more  straw  than  either  of  its  unmanured  neighbors,  but 
also  excelled  the  guanoed  land  in  wheat  nearly  three  bushels  per 
acre,  and  ripened  earlier  than  any  other  part  of  the  field. 
The  difference  between  the  silicated  land  and  the  unmanured, 
averaged  1966  lbs.,  while  it  also  produced  nine  and  one  tenth 
bushels  of  wheat  more  than  the  adjoining  unmanured  lands. 
A  land  ofx  my  oats  field  of  last  summer,  exhibited  the  same  in- 
crease in  the  weight  of  the  straw,  although  no  silicates  have  been 
applied  since  it  was  in  corn  two  vears  since. 
But  the  most  remarkable  result  was  obtained  in  my  corn  field  of 
this  year,  where  the  corn  on  the  silicated  portion  average:!  93 
lbs.  per  shock,  while  the  part  unmanured  only  weighed  42  lbs  per 
shock;  each  shock  represented  64  hills  of  corn,  and  the  average 
of  31  shocks  was  taken.  This  manure  was  applied  in  my  pre- 
sence, and  I  personally  gathered  and  weighed  the  produce  of  each 
separate  shock  in  the  field,  with  my  own  hands  ;  therefore,  I  can 
vouch  for  the  correctness  of  the  results.  And  now,  can  wa  not 
account  for  the  w7ell  known  and  remarkable  efficacy  of  dissolved 
bones  on  this  principle,  when  compared  with  normal  phosphate  of 
lime,  whether  it  be  in  the  form  of  bone-ash,  ground  bo  =ls,  or 
phosphate  guano  ? 
"  Bones  have  been  used  with  profit,  at  the  rate  of  $20  to  $60 
per  acre ;"  and  it  has  been  repeatedly  demonstrated  that  one 
bushel  of  dissolved  bones,  for  immediate  effect,  is  equal  to  five 
times  as  much  giound  bones;  in  other  words,  that  one  pnmnd  of 
nascent  or  soluble  phosphate  of  lime,  i<  worth  more  than  five 
pounds  of  normal  or  natural  phosphate  of  lime,  or  bone  earth.  It 
will  be  admitted  that  every  acre  of  land  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
contains  from  one-tenth  of  one,  to  4  per  cent,  of  lime,  and  mag- 
nesia ;  and  if  only  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  at  the  depth  of  cul- 
tivation, even  then,  each  acre  must  contain  1500  to  2000  lbs.  of 
