oats were sown too late to obtain the
best results. On another field, where the oats were sown two weeks
earlier, the crop was decidedly better. The oats were cut August 28.

The following is the result:

Experiments on Oats at Moreton Farm, Rochester, N.Y.

------+-----------------------------------+--------+-------+--------
| |Bushels |Weight/| Straw
Plots.| Manures per Acre. |of Oats/|Bushel |per acre
| |acre. |in lbs.| in lbs.
------+-----------------------------------+--------+-------+--------
No. 1 |No manure | 36 | 22 | 1,958
2 |600 lbs. Gypsum (Sulphate of Lime) | 47 | 26 | 2,475
3 |300 lbs. Superphosphate of Lime | 50 | 21 | 2,475
4 |300 lbs. Sulphate of Ammonia | 50 | 22 | 2,730
5 |300 lbs. Superphosphate of Lime, | | |
| and 300 lbs. Sulphate of Ammonia | 51 | 22-1/2| 2,575
------+-----------------------------------+--------+-------+--------

These experiments were made when my land was not as clean as it is now.
I presume the weeds got more benefit from the ammonia than the oats. To
top-dress foul land with expensive artificial manures is money thrown
away. If the land had been plowed in the autumn, and the seed and
manures could have been put in early in the spring, I presume we should
have had more favorable results.

"Are you not ashamed to acknowledge," said the Deacon, "that you have
ever raised oats weighing only 22 lbs. per bushel."

No. I have raised even worse crops than this--and so has the Deacon. But
I made up my mind that such farming did not pay, and I have been trying
hard since then to clean my land and get it into better condition. And
until this is done, it is useless to talk much of artificial manures.

The most striking result is the effect of the gypsum. It not only
gave an increased yield of 11 bushels per acre, but the oats were of
decidedly better quality, and there was nearly half a ton more straw per
acre than on the plot alongside, where no manure was used.

The superphosphate was a good article, similar to that used in Mr.
Lawes' experiments.

CHAPTER XXXI.

MANURES FOR POTATOES.

Some time ago, a farmer in Pennsylvania wrote me that he wanted "to
raise a first-rate crop of potatoes." I answered him as follows through
the _American