244 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



PKOF, MASSEY: I would never apply nitrate of soda except 

 when the plant is in active growth and then would not apply it 

 when it is moist from rain or dew. 



QUESTION: Is it not well to apply the nitrate of soda early in 

 the season? 



PKOF. MASSE Y: Yes, you ought to apply it at the time of active 

 growth, because otherwise you lose a great deal of it. It is washed 

 away in the drainage water. 



QUESTION: Is not nitrate of soda more beneficial by putting it 

 on in a dry season? 



PEOF. MASSEY: No, I think not; if it is very dry, you must have 

 moisture enough to dissolve whatever you put there, even so avail- 

 able an article as nitrate of soda. I do not think a dry season would 

 increase its effect. Heavy rains might wash it away; there is no 

 doubt about that. 



QUESTION: How much commercial lime would you apply per 

 acre? 



PKOF. MASSEY: That depends upon the kind of lime. Some- 

 times it is very strong in magnesium and not so good for some soils. 

 Magnesium is a plant food, but we do not want too much of it. With 

 good, pure lime, I think that 20 to 25 bushels is a plenty, if you are 

 practicing a short rotation, and liming in about once in four to six 

 years. 



QUESTION: Would not the amount of lime that would be bene- 

 ficial to the land depend very largely upon the kind of soil? For 

 instance, a very heavy clay soil will respond well to a large applica- 

 tion of lime than a looser soil will. Won't the amount of lime de- 

 pend more upon the character of the soil than it does upon the 

 quality of the lime itself? 



PKOF. MASSEY: It depends very largely upon the amount of 

 organic matter in the soil, because some experiments seem to show 

 that the reason why lime acts beneficially in the promotion of the 

 nitrification of this organic matter, is, that these bacteria can get 

 carbon from the calcium carbon which green plants can't do. Now 

 wliether that is exactly true or not, I am not prepared to say at 

 present, but that their growth is promoted by the presence of an 

 excess of lime in the soil, and that where then there is a great abund- 

 ance of organic matter, lime is more apt to give good results, than 

 where there is but little. 



MR. KODGERS: Would the beginning of May— the first two or 

 three weeks in May be too late? 



PKOF. MASSEY: That would depend very much upon the lo- 

 cality. 



QUESTION: Do you think that clover failures are due as much 

 to a poor, mechanical condition of the soil, that is the lack of humus, 

 as to any other cause? 



