The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-12-12

From what experiments we have made our
selves, as we'll as from the general opinion of
others, we are satisfied that good supsrphos-
pilates of lime have a decided effect upon
grass lands and upon cultivated crops. Our
experiments have been with the article pre-
pared by the Cumberland Company. We
feel quite sure that it is an honest compost
tion, Indeed, such a man as S. L. Goodale,
the faithful Secretary Of the Maine Board OF
Agriculture, would not allow his name to be
connected with it, If it were not all it profess
es to be. g
We have been interested In the following
statement of Lewis Beal in the last Maine
Farmer, who gives the result OF his expert
ments with both the superphosphates OF the
Cumberland Company, and Of Bradley's XII
brand. They appear to have been fairly
made, and the results are intelligently given.
In the potato crops he found no difference /;
the corn appeared whilst growing; to give
the preference to Bradley's, but how it was in
the actual yield, he IS unable to say. Upon
the grass patches, the Cumberland gave the
best results. The following is his state
ment:
p EXPERIMENTS WITH sUPER-PHOSPHATEs.
MEssRs. EDITORS The question is often
asked among farmers, "Will Super-Phosphate
pay" | answer good, genuine article triu
pay. have experimental, the past season,
with the two leading phosphates In the mar
ket, VIZ, Cumberland Company, Portland,
and Bradley's XII, Boston. / experimental
on potatoes in this way; I mixed the phos-
pilates with half plaster, then half loan by
measure, making compound of one part
phosphate, one part plaster and two parts
loan. i dropped one tablespoonful OF the
mixture in the hill, with the following result ::
First two rows, Cumbe rland Super-phosphate
next two, nothing; next two, Cumberland
Super-Phosphate; next two, XII Superphos-
phate. They were all measured when dug
with the following result: Cumberland, four
bushels; Bradley's XL, four bushels: plaster,
three bushels; ashes; two and three quarters,
nothing, two and half bushels; Cumberland,
four and quarter bushels; Bradley's XII, four
and quarter bushels; or ashes making gain
of ten per cent, plaster twenty per cent, and
phosphate sixty per cent.
put one table spoonful in the hill for corn,
and covered it before dropping the corn.
There was marked difference between the
SuperphOsphates all summer, the "XL"
1t alternately, two and two. ! was away
when my hired men cut it up-they got it so
mixed that could neither weigh nor mea-
sure it,
fmeasured six square rods of grass land in
four different places. then weighed out four
pounds OF each kind of Phosphate, and sowed
upon the two outside piats leaving the mid
die one with none upon it. In fifteen days
Time that on which the Super-Phosphate was
sown could be easily discerned half mile. 1t
looked like a bed in garden. 1t was the
same in all the four pieces. only weighed
one piece with the following result: Cumber-
land, fifty pounds hay; Bradley's XII, forty
eight and a quarter pounds hay; nothing,
thirty pounds hay; making gain of sixteen
hundred pounds per acre. That pays for the
Super Phosphate the first year. / would say
that those beds were as plainly seen in the
fall feed as they were in the spring.
v-r-e LEWIS BFAL.
North Fairfield. Nov. 18th, 1867.