men, we believe in it, and why? Simply because we have tried it and find the best results come from such manipulation. We really get phosphoric acid in large quantities from the mass of green refuse used, and from the muck we get from three to five per cent. of ammonia, both of which you are aware have a decided agricultural value.

One word more and I have done. How does this mass work? Go to the pile in the dead of winter, break through the frozen crust of from one inch to three in thickness, (and you never will find it more,) pull out a bunch of brakes, and you will find it covered with myriads of worms who are feeding on it, and thus, by passing it through themselves, rendering it in the best possible condition to be taken up by the growing plant. This process is going on all winter, and in the spring you will be surprised at the changed condition of your pile. The germs of the insect life are in the material and are brought into increased action by the presence of the acids in the bone phosphate which you have introduced in the pile.

But some lazy farmer meets me with the objection, “But all this takes lots of work." True, it does. Do the men whom I see around me to-day, in different positions of honor, trust and the highest respectability, tell you they won these positions through sloth and idleness? Did they, if they had a piece of wet, cold land, sit down and say, "It will take so much work to till and drain that lot that I guess I'll let it go?" Did they, in everything or anything, content themselves to do as their fathers and grandfathers did, and console themselves with the idea that their whole duty was done? Never, no never!

PHOSPHATES AND THEIR APPLICATION.

[Remarks of S. C. Pattee, of Warner.]

Mr. S. C. Pattee, of Warner, is a working farmer who experiments, makes a record of farm-work, and keeps regular farm accounts. He had been making experiments for three years. He had used E. F. Coe's phosphate, A. Coe's, the Cumberland, and Rhoads's, also the Alta Vela guano, and other special fertilizers, and compared them with hen manure composted and sheep manure. He argued that sheep manure must not be exposed to the

atmosphere; it would retain its strength for a long time if left as trodden down by the flock, but when forked over it would lose its force. Hen manure he combined with ashes and kept them dry so that the ammonia should not be thrown off. There is danger of destroying the virtue of manure by allowing moisture to gather in the compost. When covered by the soil the moisture would evolve the ammonia which should be retained in the earth to stimulate the crop. It is questionable whether ashes should be combined with hen manure. He gave a long array of figures showing the amount of fertilizers used and the results.

He had found that E. F. Coe's superphosphate gave the best results with him. He put but a teaspoonful in the hill, sprinkled about over a square foot of space. Corn could be grown for seventy-five cents a bushel. He applies eight cords of stable manure to the acre, keeps the ground up but a single year, and follows with wheat. Has had fifty-five bushels of corn to the acre, on light land, by applying forty loads of manure. Raised seventy bushels of wheat this year on two acres, a specimen of which he exhibited. His manure is all kept under cover. Keeps his cows tied up summer and winter.

Mr. Pattee gives the following as his method of making phosphate: I had on hand about two bushels of bones which had been saved from time to time in the course of a year. These I put into the arch kettle with a bushel and a half of ashes, one peck of lime and three pails of water, and boiled them two hours, when I found them to be completely reduced, with the exception of a few beef shin bones, which were put in whole; the feet and hoofs were completely eaten by the ashes. All the rib, back and head bones entirely disappeared. After boiling, I shoveled the mass into a box, and in the course of a week the work of dissolution will be completed. I shall then mix about the same quantity of muck with it, and use it about my grape vines and dwarf pear trees. There will be about a barrel of it, and it will be equal in value to any of the phosphates in the market, and will not cost me over one dollar in labor. I applied the bone and ashes to my grape vines last year, and the effect was wonderful.

THE APPLICATION OF PHOSPHATES.

[Col. Clough's Statements.]

I have used superphosphate more or less for the last ten or fifteen years, and consider it a valuable acquisition to the fertilizers used in raising any farm crops, more especially the corn crop. I never plant a hill without its application, except a little, sufficient to ascertain its effects.

I plant from eighteen to twenty acies of corn yearly. Upon the field I spread all the manure I make upon the farm, which amounts to between three and four hundred ox-loads, of about half a cord each. This, with the addition of the phosphate, makes a good crop of corn, seldom failing. I consider my corn crop, with the field thus supplied with fertilizers, the most certain crop, and a very valuable one. The corn I feed mostly to my neat stock and hogs. The fodder I think pays nearly half the expense of raising the corn, especially the present year. I think I could not profitably raise corn to the extent I now do without the aid of phosphate. A little old, pulverized manure might measurably supply its place, but this would not be practicable even though I had the manure at hand, as it would require too much labor. I am confident it is economy to buy the phosphate rather than apply the manure to the hill, even though the manure were a gift, considering the present high price of labor.

To ensure a good crop of corn some good fertilizer must be applied to the hill, unless a larger amount of manure is spread upon the land than we usually apply. When the plant is small some concentrated fertilizer is wanted to give the early start so much needed to make a good crop, and in my experience I have found none so economical and successful as superphosphate. It not only gives increased crops, but often saves the entire crop from being ruined by the early frost, ripening about two weeks earlier than corn where it is not applied. It is equally good for potatoes, though not quite as necessary, as the potato does not require as long a season to mature. My gardener uses a portion of it every year, and thinks the garden vegetables would not succeed without it, or at least it adds greatly to their growth.

LIVE STOCK.

This subject has been freely discussed, not only in sessions of the board but at nearly every public meeting, and in one branch or another horses, neat cattle or sheep-has created a great degree of interest. We print several of the papers read at diffferent meetings, and, in some cases, brief reports of discussions that followed.

SHEEP BREEDING.

[Remarks of Dr. W. H. H. Mason.]

The first questions for our farmers to decide in relation to this subject are: does wool culture and sheep raising pay as well as the raising of other kinds of stock? and if it does not how can it be made to do so? or if it pays as well, how can it be made to do better?

A few years ago a great furore possessed the minds of our wool growers on this subject; fabulous prices were paid for what was denominated "blooded animals." Speculators took advantage of this state of the public feelings; much money was pocketed and many found, when too late, that they had been "wooling and got fleeced." It needs but a glance upon our flocks at the present day to see the effect of the past effort to improve them. A large number have become extinct, while the remainder have essentially deteriorated. It is very clear that the attempts at improvement have been a failure; yet not without leaving us an important lesson for the future, which may repay for all the disadvantages. I shall not take the position that the crossing of sheep or any other stock deteriorates or is without its benefit; on the contrary, I believe they can be essentially improved by it. The fault and

failure consist in not attending to the process in a proper manner, and by a promiscuous crossing, without regard to the proper species or varieties that should be united. We frequently find herdsmen, in their anxiety and haste to get the different "bloods," mixing in the Leicester, Cotswold, South Downs and Merino with their natives. And after a few years we see their flocks presenting characteristics of each of these varieties with all their bad qualities well developed, while the better are lost. In every case the bad qualities have the advantage, especially when the crossing is promiscuous. In the crossing of sheep we should select from a few varieties only, and we should be governed by the grade of wool we wish to grow. Yet, while there are breeds that can be improved by crossing, there are others that cannot be, and which are more profitably cultivated in their own native state. Such is the case with the Merino and South Downs, the reason of which you will see before I close.

In selecting a species for improvement, especially from foreign countries, care should be taken to get an authentic history of the breed in its nativity. Its health, hardiness and fecundity should be well studied. It is by this neglect that so many diseases have been introduced to our herds. A perfectly healthy animal may transmit the diseases peculiar to its species, so that we must look far beyond the present generation before we risk any new breeds with our flocks; hereditary diseases and peculiar qualities may lie dormant for several generations and then be developed without any loss to its virulence.

In starting the business of sheep raising, we should select our native ewes of the largest size for a basis. The propriety of this is obvious, from the fact that a certain amount of acclimation is necessary to a successful raising of any genus of animals; it is with them as with the human race-every species flourishes best in its own climate. Then arises the question, Can these natives be improved by mixing them with some other blood? This question has been already answered in the negative. Then what is that blood?

This is a question upon which there is great difference of opinion, and this difference is governed much by interest. With us there is no question of interest; being appointed by the state, it is expected that no favoritism be practiced, but that course advised which will be for the best interest of our farmers as a whole. In writing upon this question we are involved in considerable com