288 EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS— REPORT FOR 1879. 



iilthough when growing it seemed as if the nitrate had it. It 

 is possible that the excessive wetness of the season may have 

 injuriously affected the nitrate plot by carrying some of the salt 

 below the level of the roots. 



The failure of shoddy as a nitrogenous manure has been very 

 marked in both the turnip and the barley crop. It is evident 

 that shoddy in its natural state is not a suitable manure. If 

 dissolved with sulphuric acid, which w^ould . greatly reduce its 

 bulk and destroy the greasy matter with which it is impregnated, 

 it would no doubt be a much more active manure. Dried blood 

 (plot 16) has yielded a fair crop, but it woidd also be much 

 improved by a similar treatment. On plot 17 the want of 

 nitrogen is very apparent, and on plot 18 there is shoM-n the 

 want of phosphoric acid. The result of applying nitrate of soda, 

 where the soil is poor in mineral food, is to produce a poor 

 quality of grain and greatly to increase the proportion of light 

 grain. A "comparison of plots 19 and 20 seems to show that 

 sulphate of potash is superior to muriate, but it is probable that 

 the superiority is by no means so great as here indicated, for the 

 former gives a result rather higher than its duplicate (13), and 

 the latter a result rather lower than its duplicate (34 a, IS), while 

 on the other station the yield in 19 and 20 is nearly the same. 

 The want of potash on Pumpherston seems to be very little felt, 

 for plot 21, which got none, has produced an excellent crop, while 

 plot 22, which received sulphate of potash alone, seems to have 

 been considerably the worse for it. 



Of the guano plots No. 23, which received Peru\aan guano, 

 is much the best. It was a very even and handsome crop as it 

 stood ripe on the ground, the length and shape of the straw and 

 the colour of the grain being much admired by visitors to the 

 station. Fish guano failed although it was a well-made manure, 

 and that no doubt on account of the large percentage of oil 

 contained ia it. The" disadvantage of oil in manures deserves the 

 careful attention of manure manufacturers, for there is no 

 doubt that its extraction, if it could- be done profitably or at 

 small cost, would greatly enhance the value of this very im- 

 portant and unfailing source of phosphatic manure. Ichaboe 

 guano (plot 25) has not realized the hopes entertained of it. It 

 is a highly nitrogenous manure, but the nitrogen is present in a 

 form difficult to decompose, much of it being in the feathers 

 which abound in that manure, and which remain in the soil 

 nndecomposed for many months. This no doubt is another 

 form of manure which would be greatly improved by being 

 dissolved. 



The imitation guano in plot 26 was made of bone ash, dried 

 blood, and rape cake, dissolved so as to contain 10 per cent, 

 soluble phosphate after the addition of a small proportion of 



