The Proper Use of Artificial Manures on a Farm 547 



is a manure of high quality, manufactured by a firm ployed are superphosphate of iime, Peruvian guano, 



of character, and generally remarkably even. rape cake, nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, pot' 



^ '"vsh, &c. The farmer may make such mixtures him- 



^ oisuie 10.76 self, but he is seldom able to ensure such a perfect 



JJrganic matter 22. 28 mechanical mixture. The market value will depend 



diphosphate of lune 29.88 ..p^,, ^he proportions of each material used, which 



(Lqual to b^ne earth rendered ,,„not be shewn by analysis ; hence we must trust to 



^ , , , , ',! '•■"■"'^^ the good faith of the manufacturer, and should pur- 



sThafeTf Hm^^^^^^ -.''? '''^'' °"^^ '"™"' *^°'' "' '''^""^ '"'^ '^"^^ confidence. 



'4U r 1" 35-3° We have found such mixtures answer well. 



-a me sa s 2.15 It should always be remembered that /£;TC/-/r/ri'rt' rt;v 



9"^ >iot lurcssarily cheap niamnrs. Farmers are too often 



the dupes of unscrupulous vendors, who trade upon 



100.00 their culpable ignorance and ve of Ijargains. "Show 



* Containing nitrogen, 3. 17, equal to ammonia, 3. So. me the company a man keeps, and I will tell you his 



PREP.^KATioN CI- ARTIFICIAL MANTREs. l^'^^'-'-^^ter." Let US see the class of agents employed 



to ^•enct a manure, and a shrewd guess may be 



-Manure makers, under the advice of the agricultural hazarded as to the value of the manure. Our advice 



chemist, prepare compounds for various crops on par- is, to go to the principal where it is practicable, other- 



ticular soils. Many of tliese mixtures will be found wise to deal only with reliable men, and, above all, to 



more efficacious than any simple substances, because trade only with those who sell by analysis. On a 



they combine a variety of ingredients all more or less future occasion the application of artificial manures 



useful for plant food. The substances principally em- will be treated of. 



FLAX CULTURE. 



Bv Mr MiniAF.i, Axprfav^, Jrx., Secretary to tie Flax Extens.on Asscoiation, Belfast. 



AS the time is now approaching when farmers, 

 intending to sow tlax next year, will be 

 allotting such portions of their farms as they 

 consider most advantageous to set apart for the 

 cultivation of this crop, a itw observations on the 

 subject may lie useful, more especially in reference to 

 the West and South of Ireland, where there exists so 

 much land adapted to the culture of flax. The success 

 of the crop depends very much on the selection of the 

 land and its preparation. Hitherto too little importance 

 has been placed on these points. 



Farmers in Ireland do not sufficiently attend to grow- 

 ing the description of fibre most suitable to the require- 

 ments of the spinner: they aim at producing weight 

 not quahty. 



I do not intend to enter into how the operations con- 

 nected with flax culture are to be conducted. I have 

 done this before; but what I would now wish to 

 dwell upon is the selection of land and most judicious 

 rotation, and at no period of the year could a few hints 

 be given with more benefit than now, when wheat- 

 sowing is about to be commenced. 



In Ulster, where flax cultivation has been prosecuted 

 to such an extent for many years that the produce has 

 been materially lessened per acre, I would impress upon 

 farmers, who have been in the habit of growing it, to 

 reserve some of the land which has been this year in 



potatoes, and put it in flax next spring. I am sure the 

 result would l)e an increased yield of the fibre and of 

 superior quality. 



In tlie South of Ireland flax is too frequently put into 

 lea land, which will produce a strong, coars'?, uneven 

 fibre. It v.'ould be most difficult and laborious to bring 

 lea land into a proper state of tillage to produce a crop 

 of flax to the best advantage. Nothing can be a better 

 rotation for flax than, after oats grown on old lea, and 

 those farmers who have grown oats off lea this year, 

 should not fail to put a portion of their stubble land 

 this year in flax. In Belgium uniform tillage is con- 

 sidered necessary to obtain an even crop ; this tillage 

 should hQ given in the autumn, thoroughly pulverizing 

 the ground, and allowing it to remain and consolidate 

 in the ploughed state till seed-time comes round, 

 always selecting, when practicable, flat lying ground 

 with a cool bottom. Fine and medium flax is what is 

 most in demand by the spinner, and to produce this 

 description should be the farmer's study. If grown on 

 the stubble land I have before mentioned, and more 

 seed sown than is usually done in Ireland, I think crops 

 more satisfactory to the farmer would be produced. 

 Much however, depends on the character of the season. 

 Notwithstanding the drj-ness of the past summer, 

 the average production of the South of Ireland has 

 been most satisfactorj^ In some instances, such ha . 



