AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 559 



of nitrate of soda has been very much increased, and many 

 farmers now use it as a top-dressing for wheat and barley. 

 For the latter crop it is usually employed, in conjunction 

 with superphosphate of lime, two to three hundred-weight 

 of superphosphate and one and a half to two hundred-weight 

 of nitrate of soda being considered a good dressing per acre." 



Manures for Permanent Pasture. 



Of the relative merits of artificial and farm manures for per- 

 manent pasture, Dr. Voelcker says: 



" Unfortunately, the application of artificial manures to 

 permanent pastures is often disappointing in an economical 

 point of view. As a rule, no artificial manuring mixture 

 gives so favorable a return as good farm-yard manure, or 

 the manure produced by the consumption of cake, more par- 

 ticularly decorticated cotton-cake, on the pasture. In many 

 cases the most profitable way to improve permanent pasture 

 is to feed off the grass, giving from three to four hundred- 

 weight of decorticated cotton-cake per head of cattle ; and, 

 on the whole, those farmers who apply farm-yard, manure 

 liberally to pasture-land, and grow their roots and cereal 

 crops with artificial manures, derive more advantage from 

 this practice than others who apply artificial manures to 

 pasture-land, and common dung to cereal and root crops." 



Potash Salts. 



" Potash salts are not much used in England for manuring: 

 purposes. Experience has shown that on the great majori- 

 ty of soils, in fairly good agricultural condition, the addition 

 of potash salts to other manures produces no decidedly bene- 

 ficial effect upon the crops to which it is applied. On poor, 

 sandy land, and on worn-out pastures and peaty soils, how- 

 ever, potash salts, in conjunction with dissolved bones or 

 superphosphate, or a mixture of superphosphate and guano, 

 have been used in England, as in other countries, with marked 

 beneficial effect. In artificial manures for potatoes the ad- 

 mixture of potash salts to phosphatic and nitrogenous fer- 

 tilizing matters has also been found useful." 



C3 



Common Salt. 



"Common salt is used in England principally as an addi- 



