474 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  2,  181*8. 
imagined  was  but  a  mechanical  advantage  was  really  a  saving  of 
nitrogen  by  the  checking  of  the  denitrifying  action  of  the  manure 
by  turning.  The  old-time  farmer  knew  that  turning  preserved  the 
goodness  of  his  manure,  though  he  could  not  explain  the  reason,  and 
he  would  turn  his  manure  up  in  the  yards  in  spring  whether  he 
required  it  for  Turnips,  or  later  on,  for  his  Wheat. 
The  German  chemists,  Wagner  and  Maercker,  have  been  conducting 
several  series  of  very  exhaustive  experiments  with  the  object  of  ascer¬ 
taining  the  value  of  dung  in  practice.  They  have  grown  plants  in 
large  pots  and  applied  to  some  of  them  artificial  nitrogenous  manures 
such  as  nitrate  of  soda  and  sulphate  of  ammonia,  but  no  dung ;  to 
others  they  have  applied  dung  in  addition  to  the  artificials.  The 
results  are  remarkable,  the  nitrogen  recovered  in  the  crop  being  in 
every  case  less  where  dung  was  used,  so  that  it  would  appear  to  do 
absolute  harm.  Here  are  the  results  : —  f 
Nitrogen  Recovered  for  each  100  Applied. 
I. — Wagner. 
Manures  alone.  Same  ^Manures 
with  Horsedung. 
Nitrate  of  soda  ...  77  .  52 
Sulphate  of  ammonia  69  .  50 
Cattle  urine  ...  69  .  40 
Pasture  grass  ...  43  .  20 
II. — Maercker. 
Manures  alone.  Same  Manures 
with  Farmyard  Manure. 
Nitrate  of  soda  ...  55  .  35 
Sulphate  of  ammonia  37  .  31 
Cow  urine  ...  29  .  22 
Taken  alone,  Wagner’s  and  i\Iaercker’s  experiments  wmuld  seem 
conclusive  enough.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  Pagnoul,  a  French 
chemist,  growing  Mustard  and  grass  in  very  Hrge  pots,  tried  the 
effect  of  dung  upon  dressings  of  artificial  nitrogen,  and  found  not  only 
that  the  dunged  pots  grew  no  less  than  those  with  nitrate  of  soda 
only,  but  there  was  an  increase  due  to  the  dung  alone,  so  that  in  his 
trials  denitrification  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  place  to  any  serious 
extent.  But  there  was  one  great  difference  between  his  and  the 
German  trials,  and  that  was  in  the  proportion  of  manure  to  soil  used, 
for  whereas  in  the  German  7  per  cent,  of  manure,  representing  about 
70  tons  per  acre,  was  used,  in  the  French  trials  only  2  per  cent.,  or 
twenty  loads,  of  manure  per  acre  was  applied.  Tuis  seems  to  suggest 
that  there  is  a  limit  to  the  quantity  of  dung  that  can  be  profitably 
applied  to  land,  and  few  farmers  would  be  found  who- would  even  hint 
at  contradicting  such  a  conclusion. 
But  if  reasonable  quantities  of  manure  used  in  pot  culture  can 
be  shown  to  do  good  rather  than  harm,  can  any  evidence  be  adduced 
to  show  that  in  field  experiments  carefully  conducted  the  same  result 
will  be  obtained  ?  Of  course  field  trials  are  apt  to  vary  very  much, 
but  in  the  experiments  in  the  growth  of  roots  at  Piothamsted,  taking 
the  average  results  of  a  series  of  years,  we  find  that  from  mixtures  of 
farmyard  manure  and  artificials  better  and  more  enduring  results  have 
been  obtained  than  from  artificials  alone. 
Valuable  as  pot  experiments  may  be,  we  think  that  we  should 
read  a  little  between  the  lines  in  drawing  conclusions  from  them,  for 
an  ounce  of  practice  is  worth  a  pound,  of  theory;  and  we  want  to 
know  how  best  to  grow  crops  in  fields,  not  in  pots.  We  all  know 
that  many  plants  would  refuse  to  grow  in  too  rich  a  soil,  for  under 
such  conditions  there  is  always  a  lack  of  root  power.  The  plant 
that  is,  as  it  were,  born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  its  mouth,  finding 
ample  supplies  of  food  ready  at  hand,  does  not  make  the  root  that  a 
]dant  does  which  in  poor  soil  has  to  go  abroad  for  a  living.  Very 
little  upsets  the  equilibrium  of  the  pampered  child  of  luxury,  so  we 
must  not  attach  too  much  imitortance  to  trials  conducted  in  soil 
containing  manure  at  the  rate  of  70  tons  per  acre. 
The  fact  that  nitrification  must  take  place  before  manures  are 
available  as  plant  food  still  remains,  and  the  conclusions  we  draw  are 
that  this  process  had  better  take  place  in  the  manure  hill  than  in  the 
land,  fjr  in  the  hill  nothing  can  be  set  free  in  the  process  that  is  not 
contained  in  the  heap,  and  if  well  turned  over  at  a  suitable  time  we 
think  the  loss  of  ammonia  even  here  would  not  be  great ;  but  in  the 
land  the  manure,  if  the  German  experiments  are  worth  anything, 
may  set  free  more  nitrogen  than  it  does  itself  contain,  and  therefore 
the  land  may  be  so  much  the  poorer  by  its  application,  except  for  the 
small  quantities  of  phosphate  of  lihie  and  potash  which  it  also 
contains. 
How,  then,  must  we  use  our  yard  muck  ?  We  must  turn  it  well 
before  using.  If  intended  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  nitrate  of 
soda  or  sulphate  of  ammonia  the  muck  must  be  put  on  some  time 
before  the  artificials,  and  too  much  must  not  be  used  at  one  dressing; 
few,  we  think,  will  err  in  this  direction  as  regards  field  culture. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  weather  is  drier,  but  still  very  cold,  and  the  sun  seldom  breaks 
through  the  clouds.  The  general  result  of  the  week  is  not  hopeful. 
Spring  corn  does  not  grow  at  all,  and  Wheats,  though  still  looking  well, 
are  showing  signs  of  the  attacks  of  rust.  Weeds  do  not  forget  to  make 
headway,  and  all  hands  are  required  for  the  hoeing,  and  this  year  Barley 
and  Oats  really  need  hoeing  ;  the  corn  grows  badly,  and  so  gives  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  the  weeds.  Fortunate  is  it  where  Clover  seeds  have  not  been 
sown  early,  for  harrowing  is  very  beneficial  this  season  ;  it  not  only 
destroys  weeds,  but  loosens  the  surface  soil,  which  has  become  very  solid, 
owing  to  the  heavy  rains. 
We  are  giving  a  final  stirring  to  the  Sw-ede  land  ;  a  good  dragging 
and  harrowing,  and  the  gathering  off  of  any  little  bits  of  twitch,  will 
leave  the  land  ready  for  ridging  up  and  drilling.  As  we  find  Swedes 
quite  easy  to  grow  without  muck  we  shall  save  the  labour  of  applying  it 
now,  and  reserve  it  for  next  year’s  Wheat  or  Potatoes.  Bonemeal  and 
superphosphate  will,  however,  be  very  liberally  given,  say  7  cwt.  per  acre 
in  mixture,  and  we  shall  have  no  doubt  about  securing  a  crop. 
Pastures  keep  good,  but  stock  sells  badly.  We  have  clipped  our 
hoggets,  sold  some,  and  turned  the  rest  among  the  cattle  on  grass.  They 
will  put  on  more  flesh,  and  the  markets  can  hardly  be  much  worse.  Fat 
ewes,  weighing  160  lbs.  carcase  weight,  have  sold  for  as  little  as  40s.,  or  only 
3d.  per  lb.,  but  the  consumer  will  not  eat  solid  fat,  and  we  do  not  blame 
him  for  it.  In  fact,  a  nice  hoggett  of  about  64  or  68  lbs.  will  fetch  about 
the  same  price.  It  was  remarked  the  other  day  at  a  local  market  that 
40s.  seemed  to  be  the  price  of  a  sheep,  no  matter  what  the  weight  might 
be,  and  as  a  fact  8s.  would  quite  cover  the  extremes  of  price. 
We  are  still  earthing  our  Potatoes  over  for  fear  of  frost,  but  some  are 
coming  through  the  second  time.  They  must  take  their  chance  now. 
Mangold  have  come  well,  and  so  have  the  weeds.  The  latter  must  be 
hoed  out  as  soon  as  the  Mangold  can  be  clearly  seen,  or  they  will  soon 
smother  the  young  plants. 
Cattle  are  doing  well,  and  do  not  seem  to  feel  the  cold  weather  much- 
They  have  plenty  to  eat,  which  is  a  blessing. 
Work  being  forward  labour  is  plentiful,  and  several  men  are  out  of 
work. 
We  have  washed  the  ewes,  so  trust  to  have  warm  weather  for  clipping 
next  week. 
METEOROLOaiCAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  O"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
.s 
1898. 
May. 
.2  s® 
®  ^(Hygrometer 
5  ! 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade Tern 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture 
rf  ^  S  1  T-V 
s3-g»  Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  ....  22 
Monday  ....  28 
Tuesday  ....  24 
Wednesday  25 
Thursday  . .  26 
Friday .  27 
Saturday....  28 
inchs '  deg. 
•29 -Sin;  57-8 
29-7331  66-6 
'•29 -810  57-9 
l29-8not  51-2 
i29-810i  51-2 
129-985]  54-4 
[30-0.58,  55-0 
deg. 
52-2 
.58-9 
'.54 -7 
48- 9 
45- 1 
46- 2 
49- 5 
X.E. 
N.E. 
N.E. 
N. 
N. 
N.E. 
N. 
deg. 
50- 7 
51- 9 
54- 7 
55- 1 
54-1 
54-0 
'53-8 
(leg. 
69-9 
75-2 
71-9 
61-2 
.59-4 
62-2 
61-3 
deg. 
40-2 
46-8 
.53-8 
46-9 
44- 9 
45- 6 
'  47 -4 
deg. 
111-9 
118-1 
116-6 
100-9 
97  -2 
91-3 
107-0 
(leg. 
41- 4 
40-3 
50-1 
49-9 
44-8 
42- 2 
47-3 
inchs 
0-023 
-0-072 
0-066 
29-858  56-3 
.50-8 
53-5 
05-9 
47-4 
106-1 
45-1 
0-161 
remarks. 
2-2n(l. — Dull  early,  rain  at  11.15  a.ji.,  generally  sunny  after. 
23ril. — An  almost  perfect  clay.  Cloudy  evening  and  rain  ai.  night. 
•24th.— Generally  sunny,  hut  hazy,  and  at  times  cloudy  and  almost  threatening. 
25th. — Overcasu  all  day,  with  a  gleam  of  sun  at  noon. 
2(Jth. — Overcast  morning  with  one  or  two  gleams  of  sun;  faint  .sun  generally  from 
noon.  I 
27th. — Overcast  and  dull  early,  frequent  faint  sun  from  11  a.m.  to2r.M.  ;  dark 
and  threatening,  with  spots  of  rain  from  about  3.30  p.  m.  to  4.30  p.m. 
28th. — Rainy  from  midnighu  to  4  a.m.,  overcast  morning;  fine  afternoon,  sunny 
at  times. 
Rather  dull.  Rain  still  .small.  Temperature  near  the  average. — G.  J. 
Symons. 
