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 TEXT

11 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 12 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 | 12 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 13 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 | 13 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 14 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 | 14 | .. | 300 | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | | | | | | | | | | | | | 15 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | .. | 15 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | .. | | | | | | | | | | | | | 16 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 | 16 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | 500 | 17 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 17 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | .. | 18 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. | 18 | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 150 | 150 | .. | | | | | | | | | | | | | 19 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500 | 20 | Unmanured.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 21}| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 22}| | | | | | | | | | | | ---+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+ 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. | | | 19 0¾ |53.4 |138 |1259|2074|3333| 307 | 362 | 669|13.4| 60.7| 0 16 0¾ |59.6 |160 |1124|1735|2859| 172 | 23 | 195|16.3| 64.7| 1 23 2¾ |58.2 |210 |1705|3041|4746| 753 |1329 | 2082|13.8| 56.0| 2 14 3 |57.3 |106 | 952|1712|2664| .. | .. | .. |12.1| 55.6| 3 | | | | | | | | | | | 24 0½ |58.5 |172 |1583|2713|4296| 631 |1001 | 1632|12.0| 58.3| 4 | | | | | | | | | | | 29 3½ |59.2 |144 |1911|3266|5177| 959 |1554 | 2513| 7.9| 58.5| 5a 39 3½ |59.1 |107 |1932|3533|5465| 980 |1821 | 2801| 5.8| 57.5| 5b 24 3¼ |58.8 |214 |1672|2878|4550| 720 |1166 | 1886|14.6| 58.0| 6a 26 3 |56.9 |216 |1737|2968|4705| 785 |1256 | 2041|14.0| 58.5| 6b 30 3¼ |59.4 |106 |1936|3088|5024| 984 |1376 | 2360| 5.7| 62.6| 7a 29 3¼ |59.6 |187 |1963|3413|5376|1011 |1701 | 2712|10.3| 57.5| 7b | | | | | | | | | | | 19 3 |56.2 |154 |1263|2317|3580| 311 | 605 | 916|13.6| 54.5| 8a 19 0¾ |59.4 |127 |1267|2148|3415| 315 | 436 | 751|11.1| 58.8| 8b 18 2½ |56.7 |125 |1181|1945|3126| 229 | 233 | 462|11.6| 60.7| 9a 25 0¼ |53.3 |208 |1669|2918|4587| 717 |1206 | 1923|13.9| 57.1| 9b 19 1 |58.1 |215 |1334|2367|3701| 382 | 655 | 1037|19.0| 56.3| 10a 25 0¼ |57.8 |155 |1604|2926|4530| 652 |1214 | 1866|10.6| 54.8| 10b | | | | | | | | | | | 29 1½ |59.6 |233 |1984|3274|5258|1032 |1562 | 2594|13.1| 60.6| 11a 24 3 |57.9 |207 |1641|2898|4539| 689 |1186 | 1875|14.1| 56.4| 11b 29 3 |59.3 |174 |1938|3390|5328| 986 |1678 | 2664| 9.3| 57.2| 12a 26 0¾ |59.2 |167 |1717|2880|4597| 765 |1168 | 1933|10.7| 59.6| 12b 29 1½ |57.9 |253 |1955|3290|5245|1003 |1578 | 2581|14.7| 59.4| 13a 25 3¼ |58.4 |224 |1730|3072|4802| 778 |1360 | 2138|14.6| 56.3| 13b 28 0¼ |58.8 |184 |1834|3257|5091| 882 |1545 | 2427|11.1| 56.3| 14a 25 2½ |58.5 |227 |1726|2897|4623| 774 |1185 | 1959|15.1| 59.5| 14b | | | | | | | | | | | 22 3½ |58.1 |242 |1571|2937|4508| 619 |1225 | 1844|18.1| 53.4| 15a 24 2¾ |56.9 |202 |1607|3016|4623| 655 |1304 | 1959|14.1| 53.2| 15b | | | | | | | | | | | 29 3¼ |60.0 |184 |1973|3115|5088|1021 |1403 | 2424|10.2| 63.3| 16a 30 1¾ |58.4 |171 |1948|3380|5328| 996 |1668 | 2664| 9.4| 57.6| 16b 27 2½ |59.7 |285 |1933|3296|5229| 981 |1584 | 2565|17.0| 58.6| 17a 28 3½ |59.7 |222 |1946|3324|5270| 994 |1612 | 2606|12.6| 58.5| 17b 26 3 |59.2 |150 |1734|2935|4669| 782 |1223 | 2005| 9.2| 59.0| 18a 26 2¾ |59.6 |215 |1804|3056|4860| 852 |1344 | 2196|13.3| 58.7| 18b | | | | | | | | | | | 29 1¾ |56.2 |185 |1838|3295|5133| 886 |1583 | 2469|10.4| 55.7| 19 16 0½ |58.3 |111 |1050|1721|2771| 98 | 9 | 107|11.3| 61.0| 20 .. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |}21 | | | | | | | | | | |}22 --------+-----+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+---- This season was considered unfavorable for wheat. The continuously unmanured plot produced 14¾ bushels, and the plot receiving 14 tons of barn yard manure, 25¾ bushels per acre nearly. 300 lbs. of ammonia-salts alone on plot 10_a_, gave 19¼ bushels per acre, while the same quantity of ammonia, with superphosphate in addition, gave, on plot 9_b_, 25 bushels per acre. The addition to the above manures of 300 lbs. of potash, 200 lbs. soda, and 100 lbs. sulphate of magnesia, on plot 10_b_, gave precisely the same yield per acre as the ammonia and the superphosphate alone. _The potash, soda, and magnesia, therefore, did no good._ 400 lbs. of ammonia-salts, with superphosphate, potash, etc., gave, on plot 17_b_, nearly 29 bushels per acre, or 3½ bushels more than the plot which has now received 70 tons of barn-yard manure in five successive years. “I see that, on plot 0,” said the Deacon, “one ton of superphosphate was used per acre, and it gave only half a bushel per acre more than 350 lbs. on 9_a_.” “This proves,” said I, “that an excessive dose of superphosphate will do no harm. I am not sure that 100 lbs. of a good superphosphate _drilled in with the seed_, would not have done _as much good_ as a ton per acre.” “You say,” remarked the Deacon, “that the season was unfavorable for wheat. And yet the no-manure plot produced nearly 15 bushels of wheat per acre.” “That is all true,” said I, “and yet the season was undoubtedly an unfavorable one. This is shown not only in the less yield, but in the inferior quality of the grain. The ‘dressed corn’ on the no-manure plot this year only weighed 57⅓ lbs. per bushel, while last year it weighed 61 lbs. per bushel.” “By the way,” said the Doctor, “what do Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert mean by ‘dressed corn’?” “By ‘corn,’” said I, “they mean wheat; and by ‘dressed corn’ they mean wheat that has been run through a fanning-mill until all the light and shrunken grain is blown or sieved out. In other words, ‘dressed corn’ is wheat carefully cleaned for market. The English farmers take more pains in cleaning their grain than we do. And this ‘dressed corn’ was as clean as a good fanning-mill could make it. You will observe that there was more ‘offal corn’ this year than last. This also indicates an unfavorable season.” “It would have been very interesting,” said the Doctor, “if Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert had analyzed the wheat produced by the different manures, so that we might have known something in regard to the quality of the flour as influenced by the use of different fertilizers.” “They did that very thing,” said I, “and not only that, but they made the wheat grown on different plots, into flour, and ascertained the yield of flour from a given weight of wheat, and the amount of bran, middlings, etc., etc. They obtained some very interesting and important results. I was there at the time. But this is not the place to discuss the question. I am often amused, however, at the remarks we often hear in regard to the inferior quality of our wheat as compared to what it was when the country was new. Many seem to think that ‘there is something lacking in the soil’--some say potash, and some phosphates, and some this, and some that. I believe nothing of the kind. Depend upon it, the variety of the wheat and the soil and season have much more to do with the quality or strength of the flour, than the chemical composition of the manures applied to the land.” “At any rate,” said the Doctor, “we may be satisfied that anything that will produce a vigorous, healthy growth of wheat is favorable to quality. We may use manures in excess, and thus produce over-luxuriance and an unhealthy growth, and have poor, shrunken grain. In this case, it is not the use, but the abuse of the manure that does the mischief. We must not manure higher than the season will bear. As yet, this question rarely troubles us. Hitherto, as a rule, our seasons are better than our farming. It may not always be so. We may find the liberal use of manure so profitable that we shall occasionally use it in excess. At present, however, the tendency is all the other way. We have more grain of inferior quality from lack of fertility than from an excess of plant-food.” “That may be true,” said I, “but we have more poor, inferior wheat from lack of draining and good culture, than from lack of plant-food. Red-root, thistles, cockle, and chess, have done more to injure the reputation of ‘Genesee Flour,’ than any other one thing, and I should like to hear more said about thorough cultivation, and the destruction of weeds, and less about soil exhaustion.” The following table shows the results of the experiments the _sixth year_, 1848-9. Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth of Wheat, Year After Year, on the Same Land. Table VI.--Manures and Produce; 6th Season, 1848-9. Manures and Seed (Red Cluster), Sown Autumn, 1848. Manures FM Farm-yard Manure. P-A Pearl-ash. S-A Soda-ash. SMg Sulphate of Magnesia. 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. ----+----------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Manures per Acre. | P +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----------------+-----+-----+----+ l | | | | | Superphosphate | | | | o | | | | | of Lime. | | | | t | | | | +-----+-----+-----+ | | | s | FM | P-A | S-A | SMg | B-A | SAc | MAc | SAm | MAm | RC | ----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+ |Tons.|lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs. |lbs.| 0 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 600 | 450 | .. | .. | .. | ..| 1 | .. | 600 | 400 | 200 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| 2 | 14 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| 3 |Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 5a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 250 | 250 | ..| 5b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | 500| 6a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 6b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 7a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 7b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 8a |Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| 8b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |2000| 9a | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |2000| 9b |Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| 10a | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 10b | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 11a | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 11b | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 12a | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 12b | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 13a | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 13b | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 14a | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 14b | .. | 300 | .. | .. | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 15a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | ..| 15b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500| | | | | | | | | | | | 16a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 16b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 17a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 17b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 18a | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| 18b | .. | 300 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 150 | .. | 200 | 200 | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 19 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 200 | .. | 200 | 300 | .. | 500| 20 |Unmanured. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ..| | | | | | | | | | | | 21 }|Mixture of the residue of most of the other | .. | ..| 22 }| 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. | | | .. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 0 .. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 31 0 |63.8 |107 |2068|3029|5097| 839|1415 | 2254|4.7 |68.3| 2 19 1 |61.4 | 47 |1229|1614|2843| .. | .. | .. |3.9 |76.1| 3 | | | | | | | | | | | 30 0 |63.0 |110 |2063|2645|4708| 834|1031 | 1865|5.6 |78.0| 4 | | | | | | | | | | | 37 1¼ |63.1 | 89 |2446|3589|6035| 1217|1975 | 3192|3.7 |68.1| 5a 39 3½ |63.4 | 97 |2651|3824|6475| 1422|2210 | 3632|5.0 |69.3| 5b 36 1½ |63.0 |117 |2410|3072|5482| 1181|1458 | 2639|5.1 |78.4| 6a 37 3¾ |63.0 | 94 |2484|3516|6000| 1255|1902 | 3157|3.9 |70.6| 6b 38 2¼ |63.1 |137 |2576|3584|6160| 1347|1970 | 3317|5.6 |71.9| 7a 37 3¾ |62.9 |141 |2531|3396|5927| 1302|1782 | 3084|5.9 |74.5| 7b | | | | | | | | | | | 22 3 |61.7 | 76 |1481|1815|3296| 252| 201 | 453|5.3 |81.6| 8a 31 2½ |63.0 | 85 |2080|3166|5246| 851|1552 | 2403|4.3 |65.7| 8b 30 2¾ |62.8 |111 |2035|2683|4718| 806|1069 | 1875|5.8 |75.8| 9a 22 1½ |62.3 | 80 |1475|1810|3285| 246| 196 | 432|5.7 |81.5| 9b 32 2¼ |62.3 |112 |2141|2851|4992| 912|1237 | 2149|5.5 |75.1| 10a 32 1¼ |63.3 |110 |2157|2960|5117| 928|1346 | 2274|5.3 |72.9| 10b | | | | | | | | | | | 35 0½ |62.6 |121 |2317|2892|5209| 1088|1278 | 2366|5.6 |80.1| 11a 32 1¼ |63.0 |112 |2149|2942|5091| 920|1328 | 2248|5.5 |73.0| 11b 35 3¼ |64.3 | 93 |2396|3371|5767| 1167|1757 | 2924|4.1 |71.1| 12a 34 1¼ |64.3 | 71 |2277|3300|5577| 1048|1687 | 2735|3.2 |69.0| 12b 34 3¾ |64.1 |101 |2340|3236|5576| 1111|1622 | 2733|4.5 |72.3| 13a 34 2¼ |64.1 |129 |2346|3246|5592| 1117|1632 | 2749|5.8 |72.3| 13b 34 1½ |64.3 | 56 |2266|3211|5477| 1037|1597 | 2634|2.5 |70.6| 14a 31 1¼ |64.3 |112 |2123|3218|5341| 894|1604 | 2498|5.5 |66.0| 14b | | | | | | | | | | | 31 3¼ |64.2 | 65 |2109|3038|5147| 880|1424 | 2304|3.2 |69.4| 15a 30 0¾ |64.1 | 68 |2005|3262|5267| 776|1648 | 2424|3.5 |61.5| 15b | | | | | | | | | | | 33 1½ |64.5 |101 |2254|3384|5638| 1025|1770 | 2795|4.7 |66.6| 16a 33 3¾ |64.6 | 75 |2268|3559|5827| 1039|1945 | 2984|3.4 |63.7| 16b 34 1 |64.3 |111 |2316|3891|6207| 1087|2277 | 3364|5.1 |59.4| 17a 33 1½ |64.4 |112 |2259|3858|6117| 1030|2244 | 3274|5.2 |58.5| 17b 32 1¼ |64.0 | 93 |2163|3592|5755| 934|1978 | 2912|4.5 |60.2| 18a 33 2¼ |64.0 | 95 |2243|3779|6022| 1014|2165 | 3179|4.4 |59.3| 18b | | | | | | | | | | | 29 2¼ |63.9 |102 |1994|3270|5264| 765|1656 | 2421|5.4 |61.0| 19 .. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 20 .. .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |}21 | | | | | | | | | | |}22 --------+-----+----+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---- “This was my last year at Rothamsted,” said I, “and I feel a peculiar interest in looking over the results after such a lapse of time. When this crop was growing, my father, a good practical farmer, but with little faith in chemical manures, paid me a visit. We went to the experimental wheat-field. The first two plots, 0 and 1, had been dressed, the one with superphosphate, the other with potash, soda, and magnesia. My father did not seem much impressed with this kind of chemical manuring. Stepping to the next plot, where 14 tons of barn-yard manure had been used, he remarked, “this is good, what have you here?” “Never mind,” said I, “we have better crops farther on.” The next plot, No. 3, was the one continuously unmanured. “I can beat this myself,” said he, and passed on to the next. “This is better,” said he, “what have you here?” “Superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia.” “Well, it is a good crop, and the straw is bright and stiff.”--It turned out 30 bushels per acre, 63 lbs. to the bushel. The next six plots had received very heavy dressings of ammonia-salts, with superphosphate, potash, soda, and magnesia. He examined them with the greatest interest. “What have you here?” he asked, while he was examining 5_a_, which afterwards turned out 37¼ bushels per acre. --“Potash, soda, epsom-salts, superphosphate, and ammonia--but it is the ammonia that does the good.”