the barn in the afternoon, the product of each parcel being separately weighed on a Fairbanks' scale.

September 1st the second crop of clover was cut, but on account of unfavorable weather it could not be gathered till September 14th. The clover was very much damaged by long exposure to rain.

The product of these two cuttings, the kind of dressings employed, and the gain and loss per acre, are all exhibited in the following table:

There was a wide diversity in the productiveness of the soil, and many of the results are surprising. Thus, ashes and gypsum together, produce less apparent influence than gypsum alone. The large yield on the piece dressed by muck and leached ashes, and the yield on the piece dressed with muck

and ashes, will attract attention. The apparent loss from the use of muck, lime and salt, will also attract attention.

EXPERIMENTS IN CORN.

The piece of ground set apart for experiments in corn, was an unfortunate selection

never been underdrained.

It is a very stiff clay, which has

It has lain in pasture for several

years, and the large number of "cut worms" which had harbored in the old sward, nearly destroyed the corn, "cutting it badly in the early stages of its growth.

Ground was prepared for planting after stumps had been grubbed and stones removed, by ploughing and harrowing. The corn was planted the 18th of May, in rows four feet apart. Three rows had no manure; the next three had a shovelful of the compost of muck and leached ashes applied to each hill before planting, the compost and soil being thoroughly mixed by a hoe. The next three rows had no manure; then two rows had a shovelful of muck and lime in each hill, and mixed with the soil by the hoe; then two rows with no manure; then two rows with a shovelful of compost of muck, lime and salt, mixed as before; then two rows with no manure; then two rows with a shovelful of compost of muck and ashes. The rest of the piece received no dressing, except eight hills reserved for experiment with volatile elements of manures.

The corn was cultivated and hoed twice; cut up September 29th, and husked when quite dry.

The compost employed, the number of rows and yield, are embodied in the following table. For convenience of comparison, the whole will be given on the basis of two rows to each experiment.

In these experiments the relatively large gain from the use of muck and leached ashes will attract attention. The composts used in these experiments were prepared in the same proportion as those used in the experiments on clover.

The above table presents the results so clearly, that no additional explanation will be required. The results would have been much more striking, if it had not been for the ravages of the "cut worm," which was far more destructive on the rows treated with compost, than on those left in their natural state.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS OF MANURES.

Two series of experiments were made in respect to the volatile parts of manures; one to test the influence of these volatile portions upon the production of grain, and the other to test the relative amount of ammonia which will escape, when manure is left exposed on the surface of a soil or placed beneath the soil.

The first experiments were merely a repetition of the experiments performed two years since. Four jugs, capable of containing two gallons each, were filled three-fourths full with fresh stable manure and water. In the mouth of the jug a

perforated cork was inserted, in which was placed a curved lead pipe, through which pipe all the volatile gases and vapors must pass. The open extremity of this pipe was made to descend two inches into the soil, in the centre of a hill of corn. In this way four hills of corn were fed with the volatile exhalations arising from the decomposition of the manure contained in the four jugs, and this amount of plant food they received in addition to what the soil would yield in its natural state. In like manner four other jugs were filled with hen manure and water, but in all other respects treated in the same way as the first four jugs.

The eight hills of corn thus treated exhibited a much more vigorous growth than any other hills growing in their vicinity, the color of the leaf a much darker green, and the stalks tasseled out nearly a week before any in their neighborhood.

The four hills each fed by the volatile matters given off from a jug filled with horse manure and water, yielded six pounds thirteen ounces of corn, or at the rate of sixty-six bushels per acre, a gain of 270 per cent. over the corn that grew in the neighborhood. The four hills fed with volatile elements given off from the four jugs filled with hen manure and water, yielded seven pounds nine ounces of corn, or at the rate of 75 bushels per acre, a gain of 350 per cent.

To determine the relative amount of ammonia given off in the atmosphere by manure when buried in the soil, or left on its surface, I used six boxes twelve inches on each side, having a projecting cover to prevent entrance of rain water. These boxes were placed near each other, on good garden soil. Inside each box was an "iron-stone china" breakfast plate, raised five inches from the surface of the soil, and in each plate was placed 75 cubic centimetres of standard sulphuric acid, to unite with and retain the ammonia which might be set free in the experiment.

The first and sixth box contained no manure, these serving to determine how much ammonia the acid would naturally gather from the air or soil. Box No. 2 contained half a wheel

barrow load of fresh horse manure, covered with four inches depth of soil. No. 3, the same amount of horse manure laid on the surface of the soil. No. 4, one inch depth of hen manure, laid on the surface of the soil. No. 5 had one inch depth of hen manure, covered with four inches depth of soil.

The boxes covering the manure, and also the plates containing the acid, were placed in position May 12th, and left undisturbed till Sept. 19th, when the contents of each plate were carefully removed, and the amount of free acid which each contained was carefully ascertained by volumetric analysis. The experiment was conducted in such a way that the whole of the standard acid would remain as free acid, unless some portion was neutralized by the ammonia present, either in the form of the minute amount always found in the atmosphere during the summer months, or the ammonia formed from the decay of manure in the boxes, and escaping into the air contained in the boxes, and as a waste product when manures are so treated. The following table exhibits the results:

From these experiments it appears evident that when manures, even of the highly nitrogenized varieties are buried four inches beneath the surface of the soil, the loss of ammonia during the season's growth is very small; but that when left exposed on the surface of the soil, the loss by the ammonia dissipated in the atmosphere, becomes very large. The bearing