35<^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886. 



EOTHAMSTED. WOliUKN. 



Barley. Wheat. Barley. Wheat. 

 Sulphate of Ammonia — 



Bushels 425 3li 41-'2 29-1 



Weight per bushel (lb.) 45g 60| 52 4 571 

 Nitrate of >Soda — 



Bushels 45 37| 426 28-9 



Weights per bushel (lb.) 4S 59 523 50 9 



Aver, of 13 yrs. Aver, of (i yrs. 

 At Kothamsted the ammonia salts wei e applied in the 

 autumn ; but at Woburn iu the spring. In both cases 

 the nitrate waa applied iu the spring ; and it is evident 

 that there is an apparent superiority of nitrate of soda 

 over sulphate of ammonia (and chlorides, for they 

 were mixed) at Rothanisted. I have, however, brought 

 forward these results because they illustrate very forci- 

 bly how much the value of a manure (and especially a 

 manure like sulphate of ammonia) depends upon the 

 time of its application. Undoubtedly the best time to 

 apply sulphate of ammonia is in the spring — early 

 spring — and in damp weather. And this is why the 

 Woburn experiments yield more favourable results. 

 Had the nitrate of soda at Rothamsted been applied 

 in the autumn, it would have been largely washed out 

 of the soil, and proved useless ; and then the sulphate 

 of ammonia would probably have yielded much larger 

 crops than the nitrate. The fact that the sulphate 

 remained in the land all through the winter, and 

 produced a crop very nearly as good as the nitrate 

 applied in .spring, is a strong proof of its great value 

 as a manure. In fact, the only legitimate conclusion 

 which can be drawn from the preceding is that the 

 nitrogen iu sulphate of ammonia is every whit as 

 valuable as the nitrogen in nitrate, provided the 

 sulphate be properly used. But there is another advant- 

 age possessed by sulphate of ammonia, as opposed to 

 a direct disadvantage under which nitrate of soda 

 labours. It is this: nitrate of soda will often prove 

 of more harm than good on stiff clay soils ; while 

 on such soils, sulphate of ammonia proves a most 

 valuable mauure. Indeed, there is no soil upon which 

 sulphate of ammonia has proved to have any injurious 

 effect ; while there is evidence of farmers having found 

 nitrate of soda injurious on their wet stiff clays. 



It must not be supposed for a moment that in up- 

 holding the value of sulphate of ammonia, I wish to 

 detract from the value of nitrate of soda. E-ich has 

 its proper use ; and each to give good results, requires 

 care and judgement in its use. There are circumstances 

 and conditions when, as shown, sulphate of ammonia 

 is superior to nitrate of soda; but there are equally 

 circumstances and conditions, when nitrate of soda is 

 superior to sulphate of ammonia. This, however, i.s not 

 the place to enter into the conditions. All that I 

 wish to point out to gas companies and sulphate of 

 ammonia manufacturers is this — that sulphate of ammo- 

 nia is most valuable as a manure, and can be applied 

 in the majority of cases with as great advantage as 

 nitrate of soda. The unite value of nitrogen there- 

 fore in these two substances is (for the farmer ident- 

 ical ; so that the price of sulphate can never be above 

 that of nitrate of soda, except in so far as it contains 

 20 parts of nitrogen to 16 parts in nitrate of soda, 

 and the market value of these two articles must regu- 

 late one another. 



But the question of demand mu.st be taken into 

 account ; into the supply of sulphate we need not in- 

 quire. What the manufacturers want is to create — 

 or rather to increase — the demand. Those interested 

 in nitrate of soda have already realised the importance 

 of this ; and hence, no doub*^, the tempting bait of 

 . £500 which has been offered for the best essay on 

 its advantages. That this essay will be in strict ac- 

 cordance with scientific and proved facts is certain 

 from the names of those who have been selected as 

 judges. Hence it will carry great weight and convic- 

 tion; and the impetus which will bo given, not only 

 in England, but throughout the world, to the use of 

 nitrate of soda as a manure, will be immense. Some 

 twelve months at least must elapse before the prize 

 essay can be published ; and the prodncors of sulphate 

 of ammonia will have none but themsi-lves to blame 

 if they refuse to utilise the interim in making more 



widely known the advantages of sulphate of ammonia 

 as a mauure — advantages which are as real, and as 

 well proved, as any of those which can be brought 

 forward in favour of nitrate of soda. — North Uritish 

 Jtpuculturist. 



♦ 



O.VKD.\MO!^s IN QuKENsL-VND. — The Acclimatisation 

 Society have just receivedj from India a small parcel 

 of the seeds of those valuable plants iVettarla caida- 

 Monium and E. rohu.sta. The cardamom, being of a purely 

 tropical nature, is unfitted for cultivatio.j in the sou- 

 thern portion of the colony ; but iu the far North 

 many favourable localities an be found where the 

 plant would luxuriate. The Society will therefore be 

 pleased to supply with a small quantity of seed any 

 of our Northern settlers who are desirous of giving 

 this plant a trial ; application should bo made to the 

 overseer, Bowen Park. It may be interesting to note 

 that a plant of iJ. /■oliustd was wintered at Bowen Park 

 (in the bush-house) without any protection, the lowest 

 temperature being 30°. This proves the plant to be 

 much hardier than is generally supposed, although the 

 higher the temperature the more success will attend 

 its culture. — Qncensla/ider. 



The Sub.)Ect of Tropical Frdits, and a probable 

 future market for them, is oneof gre it moment to Queens- 

 land settlers ; therefore, we have watched with in- 

 terest the doings of the sister colonies in their ex- 

 perimental shipments of fruit to Europe, and have 

 from time to time informed our readers of the success 

 or otherwise of these ventures. Considerable interest 

 also has been felt in Britain at this sight of splendid 

 fresh fruit " all the way from Australia." The other 

 of the British colonies have not been behind and also 

 iu forwarding fruits, and notably from the West 

 Indies have fine specimens of tropical fruits been 

 sent. Being the nearest colony possessing a tropical 

 climate, the West Indies will naturally supply the 

 English market with pineapples, bananas, mangoes, 

 &c.; still there is abundant room for Queensland com- 

 petition, and the ease and success with which such 

 a perishable fruit as the banana can now by the aid 

 of cool store-rooms and swift steamers be landed in 

 London argues well for a similar success from this 

 colony, though the distance is somewhat greater. 

 The taste for tropical fruits is one which increases 

 the more they are eaten. Few people think much 

 even of the banana the first time it is tasted, but 

 soon the fruit "becomes almost a necessity. The same 

 with mangoes, &c. Once let the liking for these 

 fruits get hold of the populous countries of the 

 temperate portions of the world, and the demand for 

 them will be insatiable. — Queenslcouler. 



Peermaad. — A correspondent wrii.es: — "The rise in 

 the coffee market has cheered planters both iu this 

 district as elsewhere, but owing to the transformation 

 of many coffee properties into tea and cinchona, there 

 are not many proprietors who will benefit by the rise 

 To those a golden future is in store, as the rise, from 

 all accounts, promises to be a permanent one. Tea 

 cultivation is increasing, and that too in the face of a 

 fall on the market of 20 to 25 per cent, and a good 

 deal of tea finds its way down to the Coast. Tea and 

 cinchona have done much to save planters here from 

 shipwreck, and were it not for the illiberal condition 

 of the Travancore cardamom monopoly, that product 

 would also have materially assisted them, as it grows 

 well iu the forests and belts attached to estates. 

 Under the present rule, growers have to hand over 

 their crops to Government agents, au<l when the card- 

 amoms, are sold receive one third of the value for 

 their expense and trouble. This rule is, however a 

 dead letter, and the crop picked by planters nearly a 

 year since has not been yet settled for, while the Gov- 

 ernment has realized on the sale as far back as April, 

 lender these circumstances, it is not to be wondered 

 at that planters scarcely care to work their holdings, 

 and the cultivation of the spice must eventually be 

 given up. The fault does not appear to be at the 

 door of the manager of the department, who is a 

 well meaning man and anxious to do his best for the 

 growers, but the blame seems to rest with the up^er 

 admiuistratora of the State." — Jtfadras Mail. 



