1907.] DISCUSSION. ' 163 



it all to pieces and thoroughly distributes it. In top dressing 

 for grass lands, therefore, a manure spreader puts that on 

 much better than it can be put on by hand. If a man has no 

 other work to do, I question whether the difference is so great 

 or not. Still, I think that the spreader breaks it up more 

 uniformly, but whether it is applied by hand or by the spreader 

 I think it gets through the soil pretty well even when dis- 

 tributed by hand. 



Mr. Marsh. Can it be applied to grass lands at any time ? 



Mr. Clinton. It can be applied at any time unless it is 

 when the ground is so soft that the wheels of the farm wagon 

 cut in. I do not like to haul it out at such a time. I think 

 it is better, and I like to apply it in the spring after the snow 

 is off but before the season has advanced so as to make the 

 ground soft. 



Mr. HoYT. As regards that other matter that I referred 

 to I could give two instances in my own experience where 

 the use of it was detrimental. One was in a house of carna- 

 tions, and the other a bed of nasturtiums. In both cases they 

 were killed because of its use. I had been using nitrate of 

 soda successfully in growing carnations, and I think I had the 

 finest carnations that were to be seen in that part of the 

 country, that is, so far as the variety which I was growing was 

 concerned. That was some twelve years ago. A friend of 

 mine came along, and he wanted to know how I produced that 

 result, I told him. He went off and claimed to use the same 

 amount that I did but he had not a carnation left. 



A Member. I know of one man who killed several thou- 

 sand hills of cucumbers. He wrote to the agricultural college 

 in his state and asked them about fertilizers for cucumbers, 

 and they told him to apply a handful of nitrate of soda to each 

 hill. He did and killed every hill. 



Mr. Clinton. I want to say in reference to that, that it is 

 well to take care not to leave nitrate of soda where farm ani- 

 mals can get at it. It should be kept away from all farm 

 animals. 



