TALKS ON MANURES A SERIES OF FAMILIAR AND PRACTICAL TALKS BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND THE DEACON, THE DOCTOR, AND OTHER NEIGHBORS, ON THE WHOLE SUBJECT
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* * * * * TALKS ON MANURES. A Series of Familiar and Practical Talks Between the Author and the Deacon, the Doctor, and Oth
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us, and this fact explains and confirms the common idea that shade is manure. The great object of agriculture is to convert the nitrogen of our soils, or of green crops plowed under,
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buy such food as will furnish the most nutriment and make the richest manure at the least cost--taking both of these objects into consideration. He will also buy more or less artifici
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manure one. Is this “high farming?” I think in my circumstances it is good farming, but it is not high farming. I
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or is defective, inasmuch as it makes no distinction between soil and manure. Both contain plant-food.” “What is your definition of manure?” asked Charley; “it would seem as though w
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manure, will almost invariably give us a greatly increased yield of grain crops. I should expect, on my farm, tha
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grass. And as all this produce was consumed on the farm, we made more manure than if we had plowed less land.” I have great faith in the benefits of thorough tillage--or, in other wo
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for manure alone, found it still more profitable to use it first for food, and then for manure afterwards. Mr. Lawes,
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depreciation of the value of the manure. In the foregoing analyses he will find the direct proof that as long as heavy showers of rain are exclude
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The above analyses are of value to those who buy fresh and fermented manure. They can form some idea of what they are getting. If they buy a ton of fresh manure in November, they get
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ectual means of preventing loss in fertilizing matters is to cart the manure directly on the field whenever circumstances allow this to be done. “7. On all soils with a moderate prop
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manure is handled but once. It is made in the yard and sheds, and lies there until it is drawn to the field in th
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corn-stalks and straw, and what they do not eat is thrown out of the mangers and racks, and used for bedding. I should state, too, that I keep a good many pigs, seldom having less t
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se and cart we drew to this heap, just as winter set in, every bit of manure that could be found on the premises, and everything that would make manure. When got all together, it made
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gument,” said the Deacon, “against your plan of piling and fermenting manure.” “Not at all,” I replied; “it is a strong reason for not letting manure lie under the eaves of an unspou
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oductive meadow or pasture for years to come--or until our young dairyman could afford to give it one of Harris Lewis’ “homœopathic” doses of 40 loads of good manure per acre. He woul
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In regard to the application of manure on a dairy-farm, we have seen what Harris Lewis does with his. I also wrote to T. L. Harison, Esq., of St.
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ed nothing but straw to stock is poor economy; and to rot it down for manure is no better. Straw itself is not worth $3.00 a ton for manure; and as one ton of straw, spread in an open
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or soiling, or make it into hay, feed it out to stock, and return the manure to the land. If clover got its nitrogen from the atmosphere, we might sell the clover, and depend on the r
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well known, is specially benefited by the application of nitrogenous manures, and as clover carries off so large a quantity of nitrogen, it is natural to expect the yield of wheat, a
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however, by no means proves its sufficiency for the production of so many crops of wheat; for, in the first place, it can not be shown that the whole of the phosphoric acid found by
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und in the clover-roots from the part of the field twice mown. In the manure, in which the decay of such and similar organic remains proceeds, much of the non-nitrogenous, or carbonac
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ch, by good cultivation, and the liberal use of animal and artificial manures, they may expect a good crop of wheat from the roots of the clover. But they take good care to feed out t
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wheat, or we must make more and richer manure, or we must plow in more clover. The rotation, which many of us now adopt--corn, barley, wheat--is profita
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crease per | | | Produce per Acre, etc. |Acre by Manure.| | | P --------------+----+----+----+----+---------------+ | | l Dressed corn. | |
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reduced the plots, previously so differently circumstanced both as to manure and produce, to something like an uniform standard as regards their grain-producing qualities. “Plot 2 ha
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.. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500 | 20 | Unmanured.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 21}| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
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with the difference in the crop; 8_a_ was left this year without any manure, and though it had received a liberal supply of mineral manures the year before, and minerals and ammonia-
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+----+----+------+-----+------+----+----+--- The plot continuously unmanured, gives about 16 bushels of wheat per acre. The plot with barn-yard manure, nearly 30 bushels per acre.
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per Acre, || | Produce per Acre, | etc. (For the Manures || | etc. (For the Manures P | see pp. 202 and 203.) || P | see pp. 202 and 203.)
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until the 16th of March 1853. You will see that the produce on the unmanured plot was less than 6 bushels per acre. With barn-yard manure, 19 bushels, and with a heavy dressing of am
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om the air_. This is an important fact. Lime may act beneficially on many or most soils by converting the soda silicate into a lime silicate, or, in other words, converting a salt th
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ined 62 lbs. of nitrogen. How much nitrogen does 10 tons of barn-yard manure contain?” “That depends a good deal on what food the animals eat. Ten tons of average fresh manure would
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| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. 6{1 | .. | .. | -- unmanured continuously-- | .. {2* | .. |<..> | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. 7 | 14 | .. | .
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on the Growth of Barley, Year After Year, on the Same Land, Without Manure, and With Different Descriptions of Manure, Hoos Field, Rothamsted, England. Table V.--Straw (and cha
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a good crop. The unmanured plot, it will be seen, yielded over 35 bushels per acre of dressed grain, weighing over 53½ lbs. per bush
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heat, or barley after barley, we do not get half the benefit from the manure which it is theoretically capable of producing. Now, the question is, whether by a judicious rotation of
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eed out this amount of bran and cake, and you would have 800 loads of manure, worth _on the land_ $2,226.96, or, estimating as before that it cost 30 cents a load to handle it, its ne
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of land will grow 25 bushels of corn every year, we should aim to so manage it, that it will grow 50 every other year, or 75 every third year, or, if the _climate_ is capable of doin
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and when _potash_ is added to the manure, the yield is still further increased.” “Answer me one question,” said the Deacon, “and let us leave the
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“We may conclude, therefore, that on this soil, which has never been manured, and which has been cultivated for many years with the _Ceralia_--or, in other words, with crops which re
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common salt, alone, or with other manures, had comparatively little effect. Practically, when we want to grow a good crop of beets or mangels, the
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richer the manure is in nitrogenous matter, and the more thoroughly this is distributed through the manure, the more readily
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-------------+-------+--------- No.| Kind And Condition Of Manures. | Wt/Bu | Wt/Load ---+--------------------------------------------+-------+--------- |
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“if it could be purchased at the same price, it would be the cheaper manure. It contains 46½ per cent of potash, and on soils, or for crops where potash is needed, we may sometimes b
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n fact a patent was taken out by the Musgraves, of Liverpool, for the manufacture of Liebig’s Special Manures, based on this theory. But the manures, though extensively used by the le
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d 20 or 25 years ago. It may be, that the guano is still the cheapest manure in the market, but at any rate the price is higher than formerly--while there has been no corresponding ad
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proportion, considerably lower than that grown on the continuously unmanured land. These results, if they are to be accepted as correct, must bring about a very considerable change
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an invaluable acquisition to the agricultural literature of the day. Manure in this city is usually sold by the two-horse load--about 1½ tons--at the rate of $1 per load, or 66 cents
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----+------++-----+----+-----++ m t |Food|100 I| Man.|Resp. || Inc.|Man.|Resp.|| t d. ---------------------+----+-----+-----+------++-----+----+-----++-----
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--+----+----+----+----+----+----- B.--AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS MANURES. W Water. OS Organic Substance. A Ash. N Nitrogen. P Potash. S Soda. L Lime. M Ma
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Barn-yard Manure, Difference in Quality of, 246 Bean-straw for Manure,
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d in Open Yard, 63 ” Stable, Management, 333 ” Straw and Chaff as,
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roofs and roofing, doors and fastenings, workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds, barnyards, root pits, etc. 235 pages. 5 × 7 inches. Cloth. $1.00 +Irrigation Farming+ By L
of the experiments, and shows us how effectually the preceding crop had,
in a practical point of view, reduced the plots, previously so
differently circumstanced both as to manure and produce, to something
like an uniform standard as regards their grain-producing qualities.
“Plot 2 has, as before, 14 tons of farm-yard manure, and the produce is
27¼ bushels, or between 9 and 10 bushels more than without manure of any
kind.
“On plot 10_a_, which in the previous year gave by ammoniacal salts
alone, a produce equal to that of the farm-yard manure, we have again a
similar result: for two cwts. of sulphate of ammonia has now given 1,850
lbs. of total corn, instead of 1,826 lbs., which is the produce on plot
2. The straw of the latter, is, however, slightly heavier than that by
the ammoniacal salt.
“Again, plot 5_a_, which was in the previous season _unmanured_, was
now subdivided: on one-half of it (namely, 5_a_1) we have the ashes of
wheat-straw alone, by which there is an increase of rather more than one
bushel per acre of dressed corn; on the other half (or 5_a_2) we have,
besides the straw-ashes, two cwts. of sulphate of ammonia put on as a
top-dressing: two cwts. of sulphate of ammonia have, in this case, only
increased the produce beyond that of 5_a_1 by 7⅞ bushels of corn and
768 lbs. of straw, instead of by 9¾ bushels of corn and 789 lbs. of
straw, which was the increase obtained by the same amount of ammoniacal
salt on 10_a_, as compared with 10_b_.
“It will be observed, however, that in the former case the ammoniacal
salts were top-dressed, but in the latter they were drilled at the time
of sowing the seed; and it will be remembered that in 1845 the result
was better _as to corn_ on plot 9, where the salts were sown earlier,
than on plot 10, where the top-dressing extended far into the spring. We
have had several direct instances of this kind in our experience, and we
would give it as a suggestion, in most cases applicable, that manures
for wheat, and especially ammoniacal ones, should be applied before or
at the time the seed is sown; for, although the apparent luxuriance of
the crop is greater, and the produce of straw really heavier, by spring
rather than autumn sowings of Peruvian guano and other ammoniacal
manures, yet we believe that that of the _corn_ will not be increased in
an equivalent degree. Indeed, the success of the crop undoubtedly
depends very materially on the progress of the underground growth during
the winter months; and this again, other things being equal, upon the
quantity of available nitrogenous constituents within the soil, without
a liberal provision of which, the range of the fibrous feeders of the
plant will not be such, as to take up the minerals which the soil is
competent to supply, and in such quantity as will be required during the
after progress of the plant for its healthy and favorable growth.”
These remarks are very suggestive and deserve special attention.
“The next result to be noticed,” continue Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, “is
that obtained on plot 6, now also divided into two equal portions
designated respectively 6_a_ and 6_b_. Plot No. 6 had for the crop of
1844, superphosphate of lime and the phosphate of magnesia manure, and
for that of 1845, superphosphate of lime, rape-cake, and ammoniacal
salts. For this, the third season, it was devoted to the trial of the
wheat-manure manufactured under the sanction of Professor Liebig, and
patented in this country.
“Upon plots 6_a_, four cwts. per acre of the patent wheat-manure were
used, which gave 20¼ bushels, or rather more than two bushels beyond the
produce of the unmanured plot; but as the manure contained, besides the
minerals peculiar to it, some nitrogenous compounds, giving off a very
perceptible odor of ammonia, some, at least, of the increase would be
due to that substance. On plot 6_b_, however, the further addition of
one cwt. each of sulphate and muriate of ammonia to this so-called
‘Mineral Manure,’ gives a produce of 29¼ bushels. In other words, the
addition of ammoniacal salt, to Liebig’s mineral manure has increased
the produce by very nearly 9 bushels per acre beyond that of the mineral
manure alone, whilst the increase obtained over the unmanured plot, by
14 tons of farm-yard manure, was only 9¼ bushels!
The following table gives the results of the experiments the _fourth_
year, 1846-7.
Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth of Wheat, Year After Year,
on the Same Land.
Table IV.--Manures and Produce; 4th Season, 1846-7. Manures and Seed
(Old Red Lammas), Sown End of October, 1846.
Manures
FM Farm-yard Manure.
PG Peruvian Guano.
B-A Bone-ash.
SAc Sulphuric Acid (Sp. gr. 1-7.)
MAc Muriatic Acid.
SAm Sulphate of Ammonia.
MAm Muriate of Ammonia.
R Rice.
-----+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Manures per Acre. |
P +-------+------+--------------------+------+------+------+
l | | | Superphosphate | | | |
o | | | of Lime | | | |
t | | +------+------+------+ | | |
s | FM | PG | B-A | SAc | MAc | SAm | MAm | R |
-----+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Tons. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | lbs. |
0 | .. | 500 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
1 | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 350 | 50 | .. |
2 | 14 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
3 | Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
4 | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
5a | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
5b | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 |
6a | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
6b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
7a | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
7b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
8a | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 |
8b | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. |
9a{1| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |2240 |
{2| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
9b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
10a | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
10b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
11a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
11b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
12a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
12b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
13a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
13b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
14a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
14b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
15a | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500 |
15b | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500 |
| | | | | | | | |
16a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
16b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
17a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
17b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. |
18a | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
18b | .. | .. | 100 | 100 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
| | | | | | | | |
19 | .. | .. | 100 | .. | 100 | 300 | .. | 500 |
20 | Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
21 }| Mixture of the residue of most of the | .. | .. |
22 }| other manures. | .. | .. |
-----+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Produce
Wt/Bu Weight per Bushel.
OC Offal Corn.
TC Total Corn.
S&C Straw and Chaff.
TP/C&S Total Produce (Corn and Straw.)
C Corn.
TP Total Produce.
OCD Offal Corn to 100 Dressed.
C100 Corn to 100 Straw.
-----------------------------------+-----------------+-----+-----+----
| Increase per | | |
Produce per Acre, &c. | Acre By Manure. | | | P
--------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+ | | l
Dressed Corn.| | | | | | | | | | o
--------+-----+ | | | TP | | | | | | t
Qty. |Wt/Bu| OC | TC | S&C |C&S | C | S&C | TP | OCD |C100 | s
--------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Bu. Pks.|lbs. |lbs.|lbs.|lbs. |lbs.|lbs. |lbs. |lbs. | | |
30 2¾ |61.1 | 156|2031|3277 |5308| 908 |1375 |2283 | 8.2 |61.9 | 0
32 1 |61.2 | 147|2119|3735 |5854| 996 |1833 |2829 | 7.2 |56.7 | 1
29 3¾ |62.3 | 117|1981|3628 |5609| 858 |1726 |2584 | 6.2 |54.6 | 2
16 3½ |61.0 | 95|1123|1902 |3025| .. | .. | .. | 8.9 |59.0 | 3
| | | | | | | | | | |
27 1¾ |61.9 | 82|1780|2948 |4728| 657 |1046 |1703 | 4.7 |60.3 | 4
| | | | | | | | | | |
29 0 |61.8 | 130|1921|3412 |5333| 798 |1510 |2309 | 7.1 |56.3 | 5a
32 2 |61.4 | 136|2132|3721 |5853|1009 |1819 |2827 | 6.6 |57.2 | 5b
24 3¼ |62.1 | 122|1663|2786 |4449| 540 | 884 |1124 | 7.8 |59.6 | 6a
24 1¾ |61.6 | 127|1632|2803 |4435| 509 | 901 |1410 | 8.2 |58.2 | 6b
27 3¼ |61.7 | 118|1834|3151 |4985| 711 |1249 |1960 | 6.8 |58.2 | 7a
25 1¼ |61.5 | 125|1682|2953 |4635| 559 |1051 |1610 | 7.9 |56.9 | 7b
| | | | | | | | | | |
32 1¾ |62.1 | 102|2115|3683 |5798| 992 |1781 |2773 | 5.5 |57.4 | 8a
30 3 |61.7 | 123|2020|3720 |5740| 897 |1818 |2715 | 6.5 |54.3 | 8b
22 3 |62.5 | .. |1477|2506 |3983| 228 | 604 | .. | .. |53.9 |1}9a
26 2 |61.0 | .. |1755|3052 |4807| 632 |1150 | .. | .. |57.5 |2}
26 0 |61.3 | 123|1717|2858 |4575| 594 | 956 |1550 | .. |60.1 | 9b
25 3 |61.5 | 118|1702|2891 |4593| 579 | 989 |1568 | 7.3 |58.8 | 10a
25 2¾ |61.2 | 133|1705|2874 |4579| 582 | 972 |1554 | 8.2 |59.3 | 10b
| | | | | | | | | | |
30 3½ |61.6 | 142|2044|3517 |5561| 921 |1615 |2536 | 6.3 |59.5 | 11a
29 1¾ |61.8 | 123|1941|3203 |5144| 818 |1301 |2119 | 6.7 |60.6 | 11b
29 2 |62.0 | 124|1953|3452 |5405| 830 |1550 |2380 | 6.6 |57.1 | 12a
27 0½ |61.8 | 121|1796|3124 |4920| 673 |1222 |1895 | 7.1 |57.4 | 12b
20 2½ |62.5 | 108|1959|3306 |5265| 836 |1404 |2240 | 5.5 |57.3 | 13a
27 1¼ |62.3 | 96|1801|3171 |4972| 678 |1269 |1947 | 5.3 |56.7 | 13b
28 0¾ |62.8 | 175|1944|3362 |5306| 821 |1460 |2281 | 9.7 |59.5 | 14a
26 3¾ |62.8 | 166|1856|3006 |4862| 733 |1104 |1837 | 9.8 |61.7 | 14b
| | | | | | | | | | |
32 3 |63.0 | 151|2214|3876 |6090|1091 |1974 |3065 | 7.2 |57.1 | 15a
32 0 |62.6 | 137|2140|3617 |5757|1017 |1715 |2732 | 6.6 |59.1 | 15b
| | | | | | | | | | |
29 1¼ |62.3 | 132|1959|3417 |5376| 836 |1515 |2351 | 6.9 |57.3 | 16a
34 2¼ |62.6 | 119|2283|4012 |6295|1160 |2110 |3270 | 5.2 |56.9 | 16b
33 3 |62.3 | 119|2222|4027 |6249|1099 |2125 |3224 | 5.6 |55.1 | 17a
35 1¼ |62.0 | 117|2314|4261 |6575|1191 |2359 |3550 | 6.4 |54.3 | 17b
32 0¾ |62.7 | 142|2160|3852 |6012|1037 |1950 |2987 | 6.9 |56.0 | 18a
29 1½ |62.9 | 181|2029|4164 |6193| 906 |2262 |3168 | 9.7 |48.7 | 18b
| | | | | | | | | | |
32 3 |62.8 | 140|2195|4202 |6397|1072 |2300 |3372 | 6.7 |52.2 | 19
20 0¾ |62.5 | 70|1332|2074 |3406| 209 | 172 | 381 | 4.9 |64.2 | 20
.. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |}21
| | | | | | | | | | |}22
--------+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Here again, I want the Deacon to look at plot 0, where 500 lbs. Peruvian
guano, sown in October, gives an _increase_ of nearly 14 bushels of
dressed wheat and 1,375 lbs. of straw per acre. On plot 2, where 14 tons
of barn-yard manure have now been applied four years in succession (56
tons in all), there is a little more straw, but not quite so much grain,
as from the 500 lbs. of guano.
“But will the guano,” said the Deacon, “be as lasting as the manure?”
“Not for wheat,” said I. “But if you seed the wheat down with clover, as
would be the case in this section, we should get considerable benefit,
probably, from the guano. If wheat was sown after the wheat, the guano
applied the previous season would do little good on the second crop of
wheat. And yet it is a matter of fact that there would be a considerable
proportion of the guano left in the soil. The wheat cannot take it up.
But the clover can. And we all know that if we can grow good crops of
clover, plowing it under, or feeding it out on the land, or making it
into hay and saving the manure obtained from it, we shall thus be
enabled to raise good crops of wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and corn,
and in this sense guano is a ‘lasting’ manure.”
“Barnyard-manure,” said the Doctor, “is altogether too ‘lasting.’ Here
we have had 56 tons of manure on an acre of land in four years, and yet
an acre dressed with 500 lbs. of guano produces just as good a crop. The
manure contains far more plant-food, of all kinds, than the guano, but
it is so ‘lasting’ that it does not do half as much good as its
composition would lead us to expect. Its ‘lasting’ properties are a
decided objection, rather than an advantage. If we could make it less
lasting--in other words, if we could make it act quicker, it would
produce a greater effect, and possess a greater value. In proportion to
its constituents, the barn-yard manure is far cheaper than the guano,
but it has a less beneficial effect, because these constituents are not
more completely decomposed and rendered available.”
“That,” said I, “opens up a very important question. We have more real
value in manure than most of us are as yet able to bring out and turn to
good account. The sandy-land farmer has an advantage over the clay-land
farmer in this respect. The latter has a naturally richer soil, but it
costs him more to work it, and manure does not act so rapidly. The
clay-land farmer should use his best endeavors to decompose his manure.”
“Yes,” said the Doctor, “and, like John Johnston, he will probably find
it to his advantage to use it largely as a top-dressing on the surface.
Exposing manure to the atmosphere, spread out on the land for several
months, and harrowing it occasionally, will do much to render its
constituents available. But let us return to Mr. Lawes’ wonderful
experiments.”
“On eight plots,” said I, “300 lbs. of ammonia-salts were used without
any other manures, and the _average_ yield on these eight plots was
nearly 26 bushels per acre, or an average increase of 9 bushels per
acre. The same amount of ammonia-salts, with the addition of
superphosphate of lime, gave an increase of 13 bushels per acre. 400
lbs. ammonia salts, with superphosphate of lime, gave an _increase_ of
nearly 16 bushels per acre, or three bushels per acre more than where 14
tons of barn-yard manure had been used four years in succession.
“I hope, after this, the Deacon will forgive me for dwelling on the
value of available nitrogen or ammonia as a manure for wheat.”
“I see,” said the Deacon, “that ground _rice_ was used this year for
manure; and in 1845, _tapioca_ was also used as a manure. The
Connecticut Tobacco growers a few years since used _corn-meal_ for
manure, and you thought it a great waste of good food.”
I think so still. But we will not discuss the matter now. Mr. Lawes
wanted to ascertain whether _carbonaceous_ matter was needed by the
growing wheat-plants, or whether they could get all they needed from the
soil and the atmosphere. The enormous quantities of carbonaceous matter
supplied by the barn-yard manure, it is quite evident, are of little
value as a manure for wheat. And the rice seems to have done very little
more good than we should expect from the 22 lbs. of nitrogen which it
contained. The large quantity of carbonaceous matter evidently did
little good. Available carbonaceous matter, such as starch, sugar, and
oil, was intended as food for man and beast--not as food for wheat or
tobacco.
The following table gives the results of the experiments the _fifth_
year, 1847-8.
Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth of Wheat, Year After Year,
on the Same Land.
Table V.--Manures and Produce; 5th Season, 1847-8. Manures and Seed
(Old Red Lammas), Sown Autumn, 1847.
Manures
FM Farm-yard Manure.
P-A Pearl-ash.
S-A Soda-ash.
SMg Sulphate of Magnesia.
SPL Superphosphate of Lime.
B-A Bone-ash.
SAc Sulphuric Acid (Sp. gr. 1.7.)
MAc Muriatic Acid.
SAm Sulphate of Ammonia.
MAm Muriate of Ammonia.
RC Rape-Cake.
---+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Manure per Acre, etc. |
P +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------------------+-----+-----+
l | | | | | | Superphosphate | | |
o | | | | | | of Lime. | | |
t | | | | | +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | |
s | FM | P-A | S-A | SMg | SPL | B-A | SAc | MAc | SAm | MAm | RC |
---+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Tons|lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |
0 | .. | .. | .. | .. |2240 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
2 | 14| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
3 | Unmanured.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
4 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
5 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 250 | 250 | .. |
5 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | 500 |
6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 400 | 300 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. |
6 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. |
7 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 400 | 300 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 |
7 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
8 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
8 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
9 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
9 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
10 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
10 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. |
| | | | | | | | | | | .. |
11 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 |
SOURCES & PROVENANCE
1 listed
This page is an AI-organised index. The label means the grouping and cross-links were compiled with AI; the information itself comes from the public-domain books, reports and manuals listed below. Open any source to read the local copy or follow the link to the original publication.
PUBLIC-DOMAIN BOOK
Talks on Manures A Series of Familiar and Practical Talks Between the Author and the Deacon, the Doctor, and Other Neighbors, on the Whole Subject
primary
Full text in the local archive
Bibliographic record from the archive catalogue.