No. 6. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



351 



Januarj', . 

 February, 

 March, . . . 



April 



May 



June, 



July 



August, .. 

 September, 

 October, . 

 November, 

 December, 



Total, 



2.03 

 1.08 

 0.88 

 0.27 

 0.10 

 0.16 

 0.01 

 0.11 

 0.07 

 0.51 

 0.83 

 1.51 



7.6 



It is evident that the larger the rainfall the greater will be the 

 amount of drainage, and the greater paH passu the loss of nitrates. 

 Another factor also governs the amount of nitrates in the drainage, 

 and that is the quantity of nitrogen in the soil, particularly in its 

 soluble form. 



The application of considerable quantities of ammonium salts or 

 of nitrates as fertilizers, or of nitrogenous manures as stable manure 

 or rape cake, results in a large increase of nitrates in the drainage. 

 These facts are brought out in the following table from Lawes and 

 Gilbert: 



