Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1881-08-11
Maruros and Chemical Fertili-
2orS.

Among the experiments madc on the
RothamSl cad turI, Of the Messrs. Llwcs
and Gilbert, twn of the most celebrated
farmers of England, there were none to
exceed those in the interest Of farmers
which show tie difference bctwccn barnyura
manure and chemical fertilizers iu their
effects upon lands. In England there is
no crap That receives more careful
or moro profitable treatment than the
grass. Not so in this country, although
it is The crop on which largely depends the
profitable culture Of all other crops. Grass
is the real basis of profitable farming any
where in this country, yet it is the last
crop to receive the attention il deserves
Wherever there is good grass, there you
Invariably see the best crops Of grain, the
best live stock and the largest profits in
farmiog. SHOW US q farmcr's grass fields
and we can tell tho state Of lis finances
In our climate, and with the risks We run
from chnngcatlc seasons, no crop will pay
better io a series of years than grass
Hence our idea Of posting our farmer
readers on the subject which heads this ar.
tc!c.
In the first place the land on Which these
experiments of Mcssrs. Lawes and Gilbert
wcro carried on for twenty years is stated
to have been in grass fol some centuries,
probably never having been what wo call
"brokcn up but for two or three hundred
years had been either pasturcd CT mown
No fresh seed had been sown upon il fov al
least forty years previous to 1856, when
the experiment. began. This much was
learned to ccrtniaty; nor could it be
learned that any seed had ever been sown
upon it since it was first laid down to grass
At the time The field upon which these OK. !.
pcrimcnts were tried was divided into plots,
the heritage upon it appeared uniform all
over. The plots we're each treated with
the same manure continuously during the
time the experiments were being made, and
IN the same manner year after year, and
the yield carefully weighed and recorded
All weights and measurements were actual,
and not cstimutod llcnco about the re-
suits there can be no doubts, and their
value to agriculture is ncstimabe. We
do not give tho whole series of chemical
manuros applied, for they aro not appica.
cable here, nor likcly to be, on account Of
their high cost. But We shall name few
OF such as would aid our agricuiturists in
their work on tho farm, being satisfied that
grass viii repay all that may be laid out
upon it. But to the experiments:
ca plot No. l, on which no manure OF
any kind was applied, the average yield
during he whole twenty years was at the
rate Of 2,l25 pounds per acre.
Plot No. 2, on which an annual topdross
ing of 10 tons Of barnyard manure vas
applied for eight successive years, or from
1886 to 1878, produced an average OF 42S
Lundrcdwcight of hay, the huudrcdwcig!is
here quoted representing liz pounds
Thon, from 1868 to 1876, inclusive, dul-
ing which period of II years no manure
was applied, the product in hay vas at the
rate of 325 hundrcdweisht per acre, show.
ing tho effect Of tho manure previously
applied had increased tho crop over
unmanured part fifty per cent. The
average product of this plot for the
whole twenty years was 35J hundredwoighl
against 2ll hundredweight averaged by
tho plot that lad received no manure, the
whole product of the unmanurcd plot for
the twenty years being at the rate OF 425
lundredwcght per acre.
Plot No. 8 had an application of 81
hundrcdwoight Of supcrphosphato of limo,
composed Of 200 pounds of boncash and
$50 pounds Of sulphurio acid Tho ave
| rage product Of hay on this plot was at the
! rate OF 22i hundrcdwcight per aero.