Chapter XXXIII

MANURES ON PERMANENT MEADOWS AND PASTURES.

In this country, where labor is comparatively high, and hay often commands a good price, a good, permanent meadow frequently affords as much real profit as any other portion of the farm. Now that we have good mowing-machines, tedders, rakes, and loading and unloading apparatus, the labor of hay-making is greatly lessened. The only difficulty is to keep up and increase the annual growth of good grass.

Numerous experiments on top-dressing meadows are reported from year to year. The results, of course, differ considerably, being influenced by the soil and season. The profit of the practice depends very much on the price of hay. In the Eastern States, hay generally commands a higher relative price than grain, and it not unfrequently happens that we can use manure on grass to decided advantage.

The celebrated experiments of Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert with “Manures on Permanent Meadow-land” were commenced in 1856, and have been continued on the same plots every year since that time.

“You need not be afraid, Deacon,” said I, as the old gentleman commenced to button up his coat, “I am not going into the details of these wonderful experiments; but I am sure you will be interested in the results of the first six or seven years.”

The following table explains itself:

The following table is shown in “thumbnail” form. The full-width version is given in a separate file.

Experiments with Manures on Permanent Meadow land at Rothamsted, England.

DESCRIPTION AND AMOUNT OF MANURES PER ACRE. ANNUAL PRODUCE OF HAY PER ACRE IN LBS. AVERAGE HAY PER ACRE. HAY PER ACRE THE 20TH SEASON, 1875.

1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1st 7 Yrs 1856-62. 20 Years. 1st Crop 2nd Crop Total Hay per Acre.

1 No manure 2433 2724 3116 2558 2822 3074 3238 2824 2534 2436 1491 3927

2 400 lbs. ammonia-salts = 82 lbs. of nitrogen 4028 3774 3982 3644 2940 3808 3854 3719 2940 2702 2016 4718

3 Superphosphate of lime 2828 3176 3400 3252 (4 yrs.) 3164 (17 yrs.) 2492 2352 1722 4074

4 400 lbs. ammonia-salts and superphosphate of lime 4996 4788 4968 4756 (4 yrs.) 4877 (17 yrs.) 3612 4102 1610 5712

5 Mixed mineral manures 3429 3666 4082 3416 3928 4488 4424 3919 3948 4564 2688 7252

6 400 lbs. ammonia-salts and mixed mineral manures 6363 6422 7172 6198 5624 6316 6402 6357 5712 5824 2744 8508

7 800 lbs. ammonia-salts and mixed mineral manures 7054 6940 7508 7150 5744 6710 7108 6876 6454 6222 5684 10,906

8 800 lbs. ammonia-salts and mixed mineral manures, including 200 lbs. each silicates, soda, and lime 7120 7000 6720 4592 11,312

9 275 lbs. nitrate of soda 2952 3588 3948 4092 4446 1858-62 3805 (18 yrs.) 3794 3360 1456 4816

10 550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 82 lbs. of nitrogen 3564 4116 4410 4452 4086 4126 (18 yrs.) 3962 3276 1470 4746

11 Mixed mineral manures and 275 lbs. nitrate of soda 4236 4956 4812 5514 5178 4939 (18 yrs.) 5208 5040 1862 6902

12 Mixed mineral manures and 550 lbs. nitrate of soda 5636 6072 5586 5892 5718 5783 (18 yrs.) 6384 7028 1974 9002

13 14 tons farmyard-manure 4030 5328 4164 4584 5208 5052 5060 4775 4130 2996 1316 4312

14 14 tons farmyard-manure and 200 lbs. ammonia-salts 5009 6008 5320 5356 5704 5320 5556 5468 4816 3766 1960 5726

These are all the figures I will trouble you with. The “mixed mineral manures” consisted of superphosphate of lime (composed of 150 lbs. bone-ash and 150 lbs. sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1.7), 300 lbs. sulphate of potash, 200 lbs. sulphate of soda, and 100 lbs. sulphate of magnesia. The ammonia-salts consisted of equal parts sulphate and muriate of ammonia, containing about 25 per cent. of ammonia. The manures were sown as early as possible in the spring, and, if the weather was suitable, sometimes in February. The farmyard-manure was spread on the land, in the first year, in the spring, afterwards in November or December. The hay was cut from the middle to the last of June; and the aftermath was pastured off by sheep in October.

“It is curious,” said the Deacon, “that 400 lbs. of ammonia-salts should give as great an increase in the yield of hay the first year as 14 tons of farmyard-manure, but the second year the farmyard-manure comes out decidedly ahead.”

“The farmyard-manure,” said I, “was applied every year, at the rate of 14 gross tons per acre, for eight years—1856 to 1863. After 1863, this plot was left without manure of any kind. The average yield of this plot, during the first 8 years was 4,800 lbs. of hay per acre.”

On the plot dressed with 14 tons of farmyard-manure and 200 lbs. ammonia-salts, the average yield of hay for 8 years was 5,544 lbs. per acre. After the eighth year the farmyard-manure was discontinued, and during the next twelve years the yield of hay averaged 3,683 lbs., or 1,149 lbs. more than the continuously unmanured plot.

In 1859, superphosphate of lime was used alone on plot 3, and has been continued ever since. It seems clear that this land, which had been in pasture or meadow for a hundred years or more, was not deficient in phosphates.

“It does not seem,” said the Deacon, “to have been deficient in anything. The twentieth crop, on the continuously unmanured plot was nearly 1¼ ton per acre, the first cutting, and nearly ¾-ton the second cutting. And apparently the land was just as rich in 1875, as it was in 1856, and yet over 25 tons of hay had been cut and removed from the land, without any manure being returned. And yet we are told that hay is a very exhausting crop.”

“Superphosphate alone,” said the Doctor, “did very little to increase the yield of hay, but superphosphate and ammonia produced the first year, 1859, over a ton more hay per acre than the superphosphate alone, and when potash is added to the manure, the yield is still further increased.”

“Answer me one question,” said the Deacon, “and let us leave the subject. In the light of these and other experiments, what do you consider the cheapest and best manure to apply to a permanent meadow or pasture?”

“Rich, well-decomposed farmyard or stable manure,” said I, “and if it is not rich, apply 200 lbs. of nitrate of soda per acre, in addition. This will make it rich. Poor manure, made from straw, corn-stalks, hay, etc., is poor in nitrogen, and comparatively rich in potash. The nitrate of soda will supply the deficiency of nitrogen. On the sea-shore fish-scrap is a cheaper source of nitrogen, and may be used instead of the nitrate of soda.”