Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1852-03-31

the boldest assume to know priori which
of known composition, by watching their
effects and noting the resulls-,hus offering
costly, uncertain and slow experiments 10
the cheap, certain and speedily ascertained
results of analysis.
The experiments made by Mr.. Lawes,
gentleman of ability and great industry,
prove too much. If they prove anything,
they prove that ground bones, those which
are dissolved, and various phosphates, in
cluding those of lime, magnesa, potash and
soda, are entirely useless, and finally ha,
the ashes of IA tons Of farm yard manure are
worse than useless, and that too son laud
exhausted for the purpose"
Below | give his experiments
Bushels of Wheat per acre.
Unmanured, 1884
700 superphosphate, (bones dissolved) 1884
lots of various phosphates, average 16 SO
Ash of IA tons of farm-yard dung, 16
IA tons of farm-yard dung, %
These prove, if any thing, that the ashes
Of 5arm-yard dung are worse than useless
that is, that alkaline and earthly phosphales,
magnesia, potash, soda and lime, are worse
than useless on an exhausted land. Thou
sands in England have proven to the con-
.rary by using those very substances and
in some instances by their doubling their
crops, in those instances where there were
no mechanical obstacles and where the SUBJ
stances applied were either absent or def
cient,
Mr.. Lawes, to make his experiments sub
ject of proof, should have had his soil an
alyzed, and if then with deficiency Of
phosphates, the dissolved bones had done
no good, there might be some grounds for
|supposing that mineral constituents were Of
no avail certainly there would have been,
if all the other substances were present in
the proportion found in good wheat soils
If this were the case, then the mechanical
texture of the soil was at fault, and could
not supply the requisite quantity of organic
matter. Experiments Of this kind, in which
every possible agency TO produce crop is
not taken into consideration, are worse than
useless. An experiment in some particular
locations might show that Peruvian guano
is not SO valuable for first crop even as
hundred bushels of lime. But if general
conclusions from this were drawn and acted
oH, Urssn uvuru 1aPpen III OInef
places that no benefit would be found from
lime, whilst guano would, if used, have pro-
duced an abundant crop. Let no expert
ments be received as proof Of doctrine in
agriculture unless the composition of the
soil, as well as its physical character, be
shown. The fallacy to which Mr.. Lawes'
experiments would lead are 50 obvious as
not to require refutation.
From all, then, that has been said, from
the known and ascertained condition Of soils
Of notorious fertility; from the composition
Of crops that are grown for food from the
effects of the application of manures, it is to
be concluded that the produc!iveness Of q
soil to The ertent of the production of the
plant is due: l. To the presence, in ex-
act ratio, of the mineral constituents named
above; 2. The condition in which these
substances are found as to their soubility );
Sd. The capacity of the soil, as to its ply
scal texture, to supply the growing plan,
with organic food from the Atmosphere
The proportion of the several mineral con-
stituents best adapted to produce fertility
and the requisite physical structure can be
found, or at least approximated to, by large
number of careful analyses made, in differ
ent seasons, of soils which are already pro-
ductive The kind and quantity of manures
best adapted to renovate worn out lands can
be shown only by their careful analysis and
the noted results of manures upon these
lands. It's not enough to know that par
,icuar manure is adapted to particular
soil. The most economical quantity, that
which will give the greatest profit from the
smallest outlay, should be shown, both as
to presen, increase and future returns.
(To be continued.)
Horace Mann thus sums up few Of the