, 1877-12-05

AIOANf AO OiAht AON9 " NV oOlA1SINFiAts
1t may be judged that on hearing this
remark we felt badly off for details, and
we only wish that some practical friend
Of wide planting would come to our aid,
and show how the thing should be carried
through. Ii heavy trashing is the secret,
then next year, when there will be plenty
of trash on the land, ought to be a good
time for commencing a trial. As We re-
marked in our last "Notcs," all trials
should be on a small scale men have been
ruined by entering enthusiastically into a
new plan and extending it at once to their
eutIre estates, instead Of Introducing it
gradually and finding out by repeated
trials what the conditions of success are.
Very little cln be lost by trying a new
plan on an acre il it succeeds then it is
easily extended to f ty, aud if sill giving
good results can then be carried through
the whole estate. This method also Gu
ables a painter to give the plan a longer
trial. If 1t should fail on a single acre,
the loss is so small that he will not be
afraid to repeat. it with the conditions
somewhat altered, and may perhaps, on
the second or third trial, bring out a sue
cess:ul result. We s1Spec. that many a
good plan has been Condemned for want of
su6fci ut trial. After publishing in April
last a short article OH returning he megass
to the soil, W. were told that the plan
hal already been tried here and had failed,
because the megass covering the land had
noted like a sponge, absorbing The rain
and thus preventing it from sinking into
the ground below. Tais was no doubt the
case in the trial made bGtwe suspect that
the covering was too thick, the crop was.
XII He'd by kindness aud hal a second trial
been made, with porh4ps half or third of
the quantity a better result woull have
been Obtained. Experiments no doubS
require a grent deal of patience. There
must be accurat me S Eng, accurate w Ugh.
ing, correct notes Of every step, and, as far
as possible, of all the conditions
which surround the experiment. Expert
ments give trouble aud lead to some ex-
,pensa, but We sand on the broadcast pvin-
ciples of economy when we say that, con-
dacted inteligently, they must pay. In
this connection we may refer to an inter.
es Ing article on the subject of fertilizers
which was published ia the "American
Asgiculturist" for July of last year. The
writer points out that the experiments Of
Lawes and Gilbert in England had led
them 10 the conclusion that the oh ief
fertilizers required by the soil of tFeir farm
We're nitrogen and phosphate Of lime, and
that potash was generally found in sufi-
cient quantities in the soil, no artificial
supply therefore being required. Professor
Storer, on the other hand, experimenting
on the soil of the New England States
found that manures containing potash
yielded the best crops, and that the nitro
gen and phosphate manure without potash
were of little use. The writer then en-
lquires how it is that these two sets OF ex-
perlments, the one carried on in England
for thirty years, and the other in America
for four years, contradict each other. The
answer of course is that the soils we re
different. Hence in buying artificial ma
nure a farmer must know what his par
ticular soil requires The writer CON
eludes by showing that the simplest way
to fad this outlis by experiment on a small
scale to be extended as the rig ht thing ia
hit upon. While writing Of small expsr l.
7ments we are reminded of one which il
worth mentioning for the sake Of the am :
teur gardeners among our readers, . ella IS
which we should like to see on the increase.
It may be remembered that we published