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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o the American Farmer.-- The growth of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land, unmanured, with Farm-yard Manure, and with various Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers.
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immediately active and available. It is unquestionably true, that the same amount of nitrogen in barn-yard manure, will not produce so great an effect as its theoretical value would in
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for twenty-seven years, there has been a great loss of nitrogen. The same remarks apply to this case. No one ever advocates summer-fallowing land every other year, and sowing nothing
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d grass, root, stem, and branch, all are composed or made up of these same dozen elements. If I ask you what bread is made of, you say it is composed of the dozen elements aforesaid. I
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refreshes the plants, and fills the leaves with sap, precisely in the same way. All these fertilizing effects, however, belong to climate. It is inaccurate to associate either mulching
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and on the other. This will give you some good, rich muck, and at the same time drain your swamp. Then cut some _under-drains_ from _y_ towards the higher land at _w_, _v_, and _h_, an
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om the soil. In this way the “condition” of the soil would remain the same. If we sell _less_ than we develop, the condition of the soil will improve. By “condition,” I mean the amoun
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ed at the breweries with the “grains,” and are sold to milkmen at the same price--from 12 to 15 cents per bushel. Where their value is not known, they can, doubtless, be sometimes obta
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enting in an exposed heap for six months, it still contains about the same _percentage_ of water. When kept in the heap until August, the percentage of water is much greater. Of four t
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gen, and 30¾ lbs. of soluble mineral matter. If they buy a ton of the same manure that has been kept under cover until February, they get, nitrogen, 15 lbs.; soluble minerals, 42½ lbs.
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, and the manure becomes rapidly deteriorated in value, whilst at the same time it is diminished in weight. “21. Well-rotten dung is more readily affected by the deteriorating influen
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garden, more than two loads of the straw and corn manure. To get the same amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, you have to spend more than twice the labor in cleaning out
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imes, when comparatively dry, we use the refuse sheep bedding for the same purpose. Where the sheep barn is contiguous to the pig-pens, and when the sheep bedding can be thrown at once
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iately available. It makes it more soluble. We ferment manure for the same reason that we decompose bone-dust or mineral phosphates with sulphuric acid, and convert them into superphos
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nd in the manure.” How to keep cows tied up in the barn, and at the same time save all the urine, is one of the most difficult problems I have to deal with in the management of manur
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nd supporting 20 cows, would give us a gross return of $1,204.50. The same farm so improved as to produce 2¼ tons of hay or its equivalent, per acre--fed to 20 cows _capable of eating,
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this, his land has been growing richer and richer. And, in fact, the same is true of Mr. Geddes’ farm. It is richer land to-day than when first plowed, while there is one field that f
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80.4 ” ” ” ” Fresh solid cow-dung contains, according to the same authority, 90 per cent of water. I have frequently seen manure drawn out in the spring, that had not been de
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arch, April, May, and June, than wheat; and, consequently, to get the same amount of food, it is not necessary that the clover should have as much nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, et
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es of wheat, and as much potash as the produce from five acres of the same crop. Clover thus unquestionably removes from the land very much more mineral matter than does wheat; wheat,
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s, containing 61 lbs. of nitrogen; that is, there was very nearly the same quantity of roots and nitrogen in them, as that furnished in the soil from the brow of the hill. “The roots,
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f nitrogen per acre, that is, considerably more than was found in the same section of the soil where the clover was mown twice for hay; showing plainly, that during the ripening of the
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cre, and contained 100 lbs. of nitrogen. A few yards distance, on the same soil, where the clover was bad, the acre of roots contained only 31 lbs. of nitrogen per acre. So far, so go
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ments at Rothamsted on the Growth of Wheat, Year After Year, on the Same Land. Table 1.--Manures And Produce; 1st Season, 1843-4. Manures and Seed (Old Red Lammas) Sown Autumn 1
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f manure again in 1845?” “Precisely that, Deacon,” said I, “and this same plot has received this amount of manure every year since, up to the present time--for these same experiments
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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 forme
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monia-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
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--“What have you here?” --“Ammonia,” said I; and at 6_b_ he asked the same question, and I replied “ammonia.” At 7_a_, the same question and the same answer. Standing between 7_b_ and
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that the next year and the year after, the salt _was_ applied at the same time as the other manures. It gave an increase of 94 lbs. of grain and 61 lbs. of straw in 1851, but the foll
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uite 29 bushels per acre, and only weighed 55 lbs. per bushel. On the same plot, the year before, with precisely the same manure, the yield was nearly 37 bushels per acre, and the weig
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e consider that this is the twentieth wheat-crop in succession on the same land, these figures are certainly remarkable. “They are so,” said the Deacon, “and what to me is the most su
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king them together in a bottle, and allowing the soil to subside, the same result was obtained. The action, therefore, was in no way referable to any physical law brought into operatio
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s in the spring assumed a rich, dark green color. I have observed the same effect where coal-ashes were spread on grass-land; and I have thought that the apparent benefit was due large
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shes Experiments on the Growth of Barley, Year After Year, on the Same Land, Without Manure, and With Different Descriptions of Manure, Hoos Field, Rothamsted, England. Tabl
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rs.] Experiments on the Growth of Barley, Year After Year, on the Same Land, Without Manure, and With Different Descriptions of Manure, Hoos Field, Rothamsted, England. Tabl
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traw. “That will do,” said the Deacon, “but I see that in 1857, this same plot, with the same manure, produced 66½ bushels of dressed grain per acre, weighing 53½ lbs. to the bushel,
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nips does not enrich land for grain crops. Turnips were grown on the same land, year after year, for ten years. The land was then plowed and sown to barley for three years. The follow
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them. In 1857, I made the following experiments on potatoes, in the same field on which the preceding experiment was made in 1852. In this case, as before, the land was a two-year-o
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n autumn, has afforded a yield of about 70 bushels per acre, when the same amount applied in spring, gave only 50 bushels. A thin coating of manure applied to winter-wheat at the time
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And such facts and experiments as we have, seem to indicate that the same is also true of Indian corn. It is, at any rate, reasonable to suppose that, as Indian corn belongs to the sa
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Plot 10, with 400 lbs. of unleached wood-ashes per acre, produces the same quantity of _sound corn_, with an extra bushel of ‘nubbins’ per acre, as plot 1, without any manure at all; a
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gave an increase of 14½ tons per acre. And the following year, on the same land, it gave an increase of 13½ tons; and the next year, on the same land, over 9 tons.” “Yes,” said I, “th
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res did any good. Ellwanger & Barry also tried them, and reported the same negative result. This was several years ago, and I do not think any similar experiments have been made since.
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e land_, $1.06. “A ton of the fresh fæces,” said the Deacon, “at the same estimate, would be worth (20 lbs. nitrogen, at 20 cents, $4; 21¾ lbs. phosphoric acid, at 12½ cents, $2.70),
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ticle.” As to whether it is better, when you can buy nitrogen at the same price in nitrate of soda as you can in sulphate of ammonia, to use the one or the other will depend on circum
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crop of wheat. And the experience of farmers everywhere tends in the same direction. England is the greatest turnip-growing country in the world, and you will find that where one farm
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e, this was to be expected, and they had expected it much sooner. The same with wheat; he expected the end would come in a few years, but they had now gone on between 30 and 40 years.
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y giving to it the food necessary to grow good grasses, sowing at the same time a small quantity of the best seeds. I further suggested that a flock of sheep should be allowed to run o
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se in the fall for wheat, on land that has been cropped with oats the same year. The manure put on for potatoes is generally estimated to enrich the land sufficient for it to produce o
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ng for, 35-168 ” the 20th Crop on Same Land, 213 ” Top-dressing for, 270 ”
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value.” “Suppose, Deacon,” said he _quotation marks as in original (same speaker)_ carbonaceous matter and water, of little or no value?” _text has question mark after close quote_
afraid to expend much money for labor. They are wise in this, unless all
the conditions are favorable. But when they have land in a high state of
cultivation--drained, clean, mellow, and rich--it would usually pay them
well to grow crops which require the most labor.
And it should never be forgotten that, as compared with nearly all other
countries, our labor is expensive. No matter how cheap our land may be,
we can not afford to waste our labor. It is too costly. If men would
work for nothing, and board themselves, there are localities where we
could perhaps afford to keep sheep that shear two pounds of wool a year;
or cows that make 75 lbs. of butter. We might make a profit out of a
wheat crop of 8 bushels per acre, or a corn-crop of 15 bushels, or a
potato-crop of 50 bushels. But it cannot be done with labor costing from
$1.00 to $1.25 per day. And I do not believe labor will cost much less
in our time. The only thing we can do is to employ it to the best
advantage. Machinery will help us to some extent, but I can see no real
escape from our difficulties in this matter, except to raise larger
crops per acre.
In ordinary farming, “larger crops per acre” means fewer acres planted
or sown with grain. It means more summer fallow, more grass, clover,
peas, mustard, coleseed, roots, and other crops that are consumed on the
farm. It means more thorough cultivation. It means clean and rich land.
It means husbanding the ammonia and nitric acid, which is brought to the
soil, as well as that which is developed from the soil, or which the
soil attracts from the atmosphere, and using it to grow a crop every
second, third, or fourth year, instead of every year. If a piece 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 doing it, of raising 100 bushels per acre
every fourth year.
Theoretically this can be done, and in one of Mr. Lawes’ experiments he
did it practically in the case of a summer-fallow for wheat, the one
crop in two years giving a little more than two crops sown in
succession. But on sandy land we should probably lose a portion of the
liberated plant-food, unless we grew a crop of some kind every year. And
the matter organized in the renovating crop could not be rendered
completely available for the next crop. _In the end_, however, we ought
to be able to get it with little or no loss. How best to accomplish this
result, is one of the most interesting and important fields for
scientific investigation and practical experiment. We know enough,
however, to be sure that there is a great advantage in waiting until
there is a sufficient accumulation of available plant-food in the soil
to produce a large yield, before sowing a crop that requires much labor.
If we do not want to wait, we must apply manure. If we have no barn-yard
or stable-manure, we must buy artificials.
HOW AND WHEN MANURE SHOULD BE APPLIED.
This is not a merely theoretical or chemical question. We must take into
consideration the _cost_ of application. Also, whether we apply it at a
busy or a leisure season. I have seen it recommended, for instance, to
spread manure on meadow-land immediately after the hay-crop was removed.
Now, I think this may be theoretically very good advice. But, on my
farm, it would throw the work right into the midst of wheat and barley
harvests; and I should make the theory bend a little to my convenience.
The meadows would have to wait until we had got in the crops--or until
harvest operations were stopped by rain.
I mention this merely to show the complex character of this question. On
my own farm, the most leisure season of the year, except the winter, is
immediately after wheat harvest. And, as already stated, it is at this
time that John Johnston draws out his manure and spreads it on
grass-land intended to be plowed up the following spring for corn.
If the manure was free from weed-seeds, many of our best farmers, if
they had some well-rotted manure like this of John Johnston’s, would
draw it out and spread it on their fields prepared for winter-wheat.
In this case, I should draw out the manure in heaps and then spread it
carefully. Then harrow it, and if the harrow pulls the manure into
heaps, spread them and harrow again. It is of the greatest importance to
spread manure evenly and mix it thoroughly with the soil. If this work
is well done, and the manure is well-rotted, it will not interfere with
the drill. And the manure will be near the surface, where the young
roots of the wheat can get hold of it.
“You must recollect,” said the Doctor, “that the roots can only take up
the manure when in solution.”
“It must also be remembered,” said I, “that a light rain of, say, only
half an inch, pours down on to the manures spread on an acre of land
about 14,000 gallons of water, or about 56 tons. If you have put on 8
tons of manure, half an inch of rain would furnish a gallon of water to
each pound of manure. It is not difficult to understand, therefore, how
manure applied on the surface, or near the surface, can be taken up by
the young roots.”
“That puts the matter in a new light to me,” said the Deacon. “If the
manure was plowed under, five or six inches deep, it would require an
abundant rain to reach the manure. And it is not one year in five that
we get rain enough to thoroughly soak the soil for several weeks after
sowing the wheat in August or September. And when it does come, the
season is so far advanced that the wheat plants make little growth.”
My own opinion is, that on clayey land, manure will act much quicker if
applied on, or near the surface, than if plowed under. Clay mixed with
manure arrests or checks decomposition. Sand has no such effect. If
anything, it favors a more active decomposition, and hence, manure acts
much more rapidly on sandy land than on clay land. And I think, as a
rule, where a farmer advocates the application of manure on the surface,
it will be found that he occupies clay land or a heavy loam; while those
who oppose the practice, and think manure should be plowed under, occupy
sandy land or sandy loam.
“J. J. Thomas,” said I, “once gave me a new idea.”
“Is that anything strange,” remarked the Deacon. “Are ideas so scarce
among you agricultural writers, that you can recollect who first
suggested them?”
“Be that as it may,” said I, “this idea has had a decided influence on
my farm practice. I will not say that the idea originated with Mr.
Thomas, but at any rate, it was new to me. I had always been in the
habit, when spading in manure in the garden, of putting the manure in
the trench and covering it up; and in plowing it in, I thought it was
desirable to put it at the bottom of the furrow where the next furrow
would cover it up.”
“Well,” said the Deacon, “and what objection is there to the practice?”
“I am not objecting to the practice. I do not say that it is not a good
plan. It may often be the only practicable method of applying manure.
But it is well to know that there is _sometimes_ a better plan. The idea
that Mr. Thomas gave me, was, that it was very desirable to break up the
manure fine, spread it evenly, and thoroughly mix it with the soil.
“After the manure is spread on the soil,” said Mr. Thomas, “and before
plowing it in, great benefit is derived by thoroughly harrowing the
top-soil, thus breaking finely both the manure and the soil, and mixing
them well together. Another way for the perfect diffusion of the manure
among the particles of earth, is, to spread the manure in autumn, so
that, all the rains of this season may dissolve the soluble portions and
carry them down among the particles, where they are absorbed and
retained for the growing crop.
“In experiments,” continues Mr. Thomas, “when the manure for corn was
thus applied in autumn, has afforded a yield of about 70 bushels per
acre, when the same amount applied in spring, gave only 50 bushels.
A thin coating of manure applied to winter-wheat at the time of sowing,
and was harrowed in, has increased the crop from 7 to 10 bushels per
acre--and in addition to this, by the stronger growth it has caused, as
well as by the protection it has afforded to the surface, it has not
unfrequently saved the crop from partial or total winter-killing.
“In cases where it is necessary to apply coarse manures at once, much
may be done in lessening the evils of coarseness by artificially
grinding it into the soil. The instrument called the drag-roller--which
is like the common roller set stiff so as not to revolve--has been used
to great advantage for this purpose, by passing it over the surface in
connection with the harrow. We have known this treatment to effect a
thorough intermixture, and to more than double the crop obtained by
common management with common manure.”
TOP-DRESSING WITH MANURE.
The term “top-dressing” usually refers to sowing or spreading manures
on the growing crop. For instance, we top-dress pastures or meadows by
spreading manure on the surface. If we sow nitrate of soda, or guano, on
our winter-wheat in the spring, that would be top-dressing. We often sow
gypsum on clover, and on barley, and peas, while the plants are growing
in the spring, and this is top-dressing.
“If the gypsum was sown broadcast on the land before sowing the seed,”
said the Deacon, “would not that be top-dressing also?”
Strictly speaking, I suppose that would not be top-dressing.
Top-dressing in the sense in which I understand the term, is seldom
adopted, except on meadows and pastures as a regular system. It is an
after-thought. We have sown wheat on a poor, sandy knoll, and we draw
out some manure and spread on it in the winter or early spring; or we
top-dress it with hen-manure, or guano, or nitrate of soda and
superphosphate. I do not say that this is better than to apply the
manure at the time of sowing the wheat, but if we neglect to do so,
then top-dressing is a commendable practice.
Dr. Vœlcker reports the result of some experiments in top-dressing
winter-wheat on the farm of the Royal Agricultural College at
Cirencester, England. The manures were finely sifted and mixed with
about ten times their weight of fine soil, and sown broadcast on the
growing wheat, March 22. A fine rain occurred the following day, and
washed the manure into the soil. The following is the yield per acre:--
No manure 27 bushels and 1984 lbs. of straw.
280 lbs. Peruvian guano 40 ” ” 2576 ” ”
195 ” nitrate of soda 38 ” ” 2695 ” ”
180 ” nitrate of soda, and
168 lbs. of common salt 40½ ” ” 2736 ” ”
448 lbs. Proctor’s wheat-manure 39½ ” ” 2668 ” ”
672 ” ” ” ” 44¼ ” ” 3032 ” ”
4 tons chalk-marl 27 ” ” 1872 ” ”
The manures in each case cost $7.80 per acre, except the large dose of
Proctor’s wheat-manure, which cost $11.70 per acre. The wheat was worth
$1.26 per bushel. Leaving the value of the straw out of the question,
the profit from the use of the top dressing was:
With guano $8.70 per acre.
” nitrate of soda 6.00
” nitrate of soda and common salt 9.33
” 448 lbs. wheat-manure 7.94
” 672 ” ” ” 10.16
The marl did no good.
The nitrate of soda and common salt contained no phosphoric acid,
and yet produced an excellent effect. The guano and the wheat-manure
contained phosphoric acid as well as nitrogen, and the following crop of
clover would be likely to get some benefit from it.
John Johnston wrote in 1868, “I have used manure only as a top-dressing
for the last 26 years, and I do think one load, used in that way, is
worth far more than two loads plowed under on our stiff land.”
CHAPTER XXXIII.
MANURES ON PERMANENT MEADOWS AND PASTURES.
In this country, where labor is comparatively high, and hay often
commands a good price, a good, permanent meadow frequently affords as
much real profit as any other portion of the farm. Now that we have good
mowing-machines, tedders, rakes, and loading and unloading apparatus,
the labor of hay-making is greatly lessened. The only difficulty is to
keep up and increase the annual growth of good grass.
Numerous experiments on top-dressing meadows are reported from year to
year. The results, of course, differ considerably, being influenced by
the soil and season. The profit of the practice depends very much on the
price of hay. In the Eastern States, hay generally commands a higher
relative price than grain, and it not unfrequently happens that we can
use manure on grass to decided advantage.
The celebrated experiments of Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert with “Manures on
Permanent Meadow-land” were commenced in 1856, and have been continued
on the same plots every year since that time.
“You need not be afraid, Deacon,” said I, as the old gentleman commenced
to button up his coat, “I am not going into the details of these
wonderful experiments; but I am sure you will be interested in the
results of the first six or seven years.”
The following table explains itself:
Experiments with Manures on Permanent Meadow land at Rothamsted,
England.
Hay/Acre 20th (1875): Hay per Acre the 20th Season, 1875.
Total/Acre: Total Hay (per) Acre.
----+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| | Annual Produce of Hay |
| | per Acre in Lbs. |
| +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| Description and Amount of |1856|1857|1858|1859|1860|1861|1862|
| Manures per Acre. | | | | | | | |
----+-------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
1 |No manure |2433|2724|3116|2558|2822|3074|3238|
2{|400 lbs. ammonia-salts = 82 | | | | | | | |
{| lbs. of nitrogen |4028|3774|3982|3644|2940|3808|3854|
| | | | | | | | |
3 |Superphosphate of lime | | | |2828|3176|3400|3252|
4{|400 lbs. ammonia-salts and | | | | | | | |
{| superphosphate of lime | | | |4996|4788|4968|4756|
5 |Mixed mineral manures |3429|3666|4082|3416|3928|4488|4424|
6 |400 lbs. ammonia-salts and | | | | | | | |
| mixed mineral manures |6363|6422|7172|6198|5624|6316|6402|
7 |800 lbs. ammonia-salts and | | | | | | | |
| mixed mineral manures |7054|6940|7508|7150|5744|6710|7108|
8 |800 lbs. ammonia-salts and | | | | | | | |
| mixed mineral manures, | | | | | | | |
| including 200 lbs. each | | | | | | | |
| silicates, soda, and lime | | | | | | |7120|
| | | | | | | | |
9 |275 lbs. nitrate of soda | | |2952|3588|3948|4092|4446|
10 |550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 82 | | | | | | | |
| lbs. of nitrogen | | |3564|4116|4410|4452|4086|
11 |Mixed mineral manures and 275 | | | | | | | |
| lbs. nitrate of soda | | |4236|4956|4812|5514|5178|
12 |Mixed mineral manures and 550 | | | | | | | |
| lbs. nitrate of soda | | |5636|6072|5586|5892|5718|
13 |14 tons farmyard-manure |4030|5328|4164|4584|5208|5052|5060|
14 |14 tons farmyard-manure and | | | | | | | |
| 200 lbs. ammonia-salts |5009|6008|5320|5356|5704|5320|5556|
----+-------------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
--------------------+----------------+----
Average Hay per | Hay/Acre |
Acre. | 20th (1875) |
---------+----------+----+----+------+
1st 7 Yrs| 20 Years.|1st |2nd |Total |
1856-62.| |Crop|Crop| /Acre|
---------+----------+----+----+------+----
2824 | 2534 |2436|1491| 3927| 1
| | | | |
3719 | 2940 |2702|2016| 4718| 2
(4 yrs.)}|(17 yrs.)}| | | |
3164 }| 2492 }|2352|1722| 4074| 3
(4 yrs.)}|(17 yrs.)}| | | |
4877 }| 3612 }|4102|1610| 5712| 4
3919 | 3948 |4564|2688| 7252| 5
| | | | |
6357 | 5712 |5824|2744| 8508| 6
| | | | |
6876 | 6454 |6222|5684|10,906| 7
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| 7000 |6720|4592|11,312| 8
1858-62}|(18 yrs.)}| | | |
3805 }| 3794 }|3360|1456| 4816| 9
|(18 yrs.)}| | | |
4126 | 3962 }|3276|1470| 4746| 10
|(18 yrs.)}| | | |
4939 | 5208 }|5040|1862| 6902| 11
|(18 yrs.)}| | | |
5783 | 6384 }|7028|1974| 9002| 12
4775 | 4130 |2996|1316| 4312| 13
| | | | |
5468 | 4816 |3766|1960| 5726| 14
---------+----------+----+----+------+----
These are all the figures I will trouble you with. The “mixed mineral
manures” consisted of superphosphate of lime (composed of 150 lbs.
bone-ash and 150 lbs. sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1.7), 300 lbs. sulphate of
potash, 200 lbs. sulphate of soda, and 100 lbs. sulphate of magnesia.
The ammonia-salts consisted of equal parts sulphate and muriate of
ammonia, containing about 25 per cent. of ammonia. The manures were sown
as early as possible in the spring, and, if the weather was suitable,
sometimes in February. The farmyard-manure was spread on the land, in
the first year, in the spring, afterwards in November or December. The
hay was cut from the middle to the last of June; and the aftermath was
pastured off by sheep in October.
“It is curious,” said the Deacon, “that 400 lbs. of ammonia-salts should
give as great an increase in the yield of hay the first year as 14 tons
of farmyard-manure, but the second year the farmyard-manure comes out
decidedly ahead.”
“The farmyard-manure,” said I, “was applied every year, at the rate of
14 gross tons per acre, for eight years--1856 to 1863. After 1863, this
plot was left without manure of any kind. The average yield of this
plot, during the first 8 years was 4,800 lbs. of hay per acre.”
On the plot dressed with 14 tons of farmyard-manure and 200 lbs.
ammonia-salts, the average yield of hay for 8 years was 5,544 lbs. per
acre. After the eighth year the farmyard-manure was discontinued, and
during the next twelve years the yield of hay averaged 3,683 lbs., or
1,149 lbs. more than the continuously unmanured plot.
In 1859, superphosphate of lime was used alone on plot 3, and has been
continued ever since. It seems clear that this land, which had been in
pasture or meadow for a hundred years or more, was not deficient in
phosphates.
“It does not seem,” said the Deacon, “to have been deficient in
anything. The twentieth crop, on the continuously unmanured plot was
nearly 1¼ ton per acre, the first cutting, and nearly ¾-ton the second
cutting. And apparently the land was just as rich in 1875, as it was in
1856, and yet over 25 tons of hay had been cut and _removed_ from the
land, without any manure being returned. And yet we are told that hay is
a very exhausting crop.”
“Superphosphate alone,” said the Doctor, “did very little to increase
the yield of hay, but superphosphate _and_ ammonia produced the first
year, 1859, over a ton more hay per acre than the superphosphate alone,
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.