IRISH GARDENING 



Artificial Manures. 



By Edmund Turner, A.R.CSc.I. 



When the wind manure was first used in print 

 its meaning was very different to what it conveys 

 to our minds to-day. Then it meant to work by 

 t he hand ; t hough nearly all our garden operat ions 

 with the soil arc done by hand, yel we would not 

 consider it manuring at the present day. 



At what date a commencement was made to 

 use certain materials, such as chalk, mail and 

 sand, for tin- improvement of soils and the better 

 growth of plants we do not know. The lir.-t 

 record of it is found during the latter half of the 

 sixteenth cent ury. During the eighteenth century 

 many organic materials were used. Some of 



these .i'e still applied, and include soot, wood- 

 ashes, horn shavings, hoofs and malt dust. In 

 L838 we heard of the application of an artificial 

 fertiliser, nitrate of soda being the first, and it 

 was followed in L840 hy sulphate of ammonia. 

 and in 1842 superphosphate was being tried. 

 The Stassfurl potash deposits were developed 

 about I860, and the fertilising properties of basic 

 slag were discovered in 1879. During the past 

 few years these have Keen followed by various 

 processes to bring the atmospheric nitrogen into 

 a combined form. 



Although many of our artificial manures have 

 been in the market for many years, yei how few 7 

 ((four gardeners use them ' They usually, if they 

 do need any concentrated fertiliser, use some 

 form of guano, or else a manure merchant's 

 mixture. It is by no means uncommon to find 

 some of them sold at three 1o live times their 

 market value, and few are sold at or near their' 

 market value, even after an allowance has been 

 made for any incidental expenses. 



It is impossible to Lay down any definite rule 

 for applying artificial manures; for to say that 

 any mixture, or series of mixtures, will suit all 

 soils has been proved to be incorrect, as 

 manure which may give good returns on one soil 

 may not influence the same crop to any extent 

 on a slightly different soil. 



To know definitely what fertilizers to use. and 

 in what proportions thej require to he applied, 

 to gel the besl results, it is necessary to carry out 

 some simple experiments with each crop, using 

 different proportions of the fertilisers. Only a 

 general rule can he given, which each -rower will 

 have to vary more or less to suit his own con- 

 ditions : for instance, in the case f vegetables, il 

 has been found that for most crops, lift ecu tons 

 farmyard manure, four cwt. superphosphate, one 

 ewt. sulphate of potash and one cwt. nitrate of 

 soda per acre, give 1 he besl ret urns on some soils. 

 yet on clay soils t he sulphate of potash can he left 



out with most crops and t he return is equally good. 



or the elements necessarj tor plant growth, 



in ordinary practice :;. or at t he most I. are all 



that need he applied t,, get I he most out of our 



garden soils, if one of these i- absent, or not 



present in excess f what is needed by the plant. 

 lio excess of one or mole of the others call take 



its place, and it is the ease with which these 

 fertilisers can supply the necessary element in 

 cases of shortage in which lies their chief value. 

 The shortage may not he due to the absence of 

 the required constituent. It may he so combined 

 chemically with the other constituents of the s,,il 

 that 1 he plant cannot obtain it. and may, there- 

 fore, starve. The fertilisers are. ,,,, the other 

 hand, readily available for the use ,,f the plant. 



Some are undoubtedly quicker than others, and. 

 in the majority of cases, it is the quickest acting 

 ones which are the most useful to the gardener 

 in helping him to gel the best results in the 



shortest possible t line. 



Of the fertilisers applied, the nitrogenous ones 



are the most liable to he lost by drainage. The,j 

 should only he applied when growth is rapid, or 

 well started: never should the} he applied as the 

 crop is finishing its growth lor the season. They 

 reduce the plant's power of resistance to disease 

 and increase the production of foliage; hence 

 their beneficial effect on such crops as cabbage, 

 celery, and asparagus. 



The most important in this group are nitrate 

 of soda (NaNO s ), and sulphate of ammonia 

 I ( x 1 1 , )., so,:. 



Nitrate ol soda, or " Chili Saltpetre." is found 

 in Chili in beds known as caliche, where it is 

 mixed with gravel and other impurities. Hefon' 

 it is exported it is purified hy crystallisation, and 

 then contains 15.5 per cent, nitrogen. It is ex- 

 tremely soluble and diffusible, and readily avail- 

 able to plants; should he applied as a top- 

 dressing, and then not allowed to remain in con- 

 tact with the foliage, else it will scorch it- Its 

 action can he seen in the course of three or four 

 days on growing plants, hy their showing a deeper 

 green colour. 11 has one serious drawback, 

 especially on heavy or clayey soils, when regularly 

 applied, for it deflocculates the soil ■- i.e., the 

 little aggregates of very line particles which cause 

 the clay to crumble down when dry. to allow the 

 water to drain through it. are immediately re- 

 solved into their finest state of division, and hence 

 I he tilth is injured. An applicat ion of lime makes 

 matters worse. The best course to pursue is 

 either to apply il in equal proportions with 

 sulphate of ammonia or applj them alternately. 



This salt is deliquescent, and should, therefore, 

 he stored in a dry place, where it cannot absorb 

 moisture from the atmosphere. 



The soda base of this fertiliser is also valuable : 

 not that it is in any way necessary for planl nutri- 

 tion, hul the soluble soda sail reacts with the clay 



in t he soil, and thus brings a little of the potash 

 contained t here into Solution, and t here fore oft ell 



dispenses with the necessity of a potash dressing. 



Ammonium Sulphate is a bye-product of the 



gas works, and is soluble in water. It contains 

 twenty per cent, of nitrogen, hut it is slower in 



its action than 1 he nitrate of soda, and is not so 

 easily washed out of the soil and into the drains. 

 It tends lo increase the acidity of the soil. and. 

 where it is used, a fair dressing of lime will be 

 needed ; but the lime should not he mixed with 

 it or applied at the same time, else there will he 

 a loss of nitrogen in the form of a gas. It is 



generally applied before the seeds are sown, if 

 of a quick germinating species, or he fore t he crop 

 is pul out. Sometimes it is used as a top-dressing 



1 he same as the nit rat e of soda. 



Phosphatic Fertilisers. These tend to in 



crease the production of wood and llowers. Their 

 action is not seen by 1 he sudden increase in the 

 growth of a plant. They stimulate the ripening 



process of plants. All these fertilisers can he 

 applied he fore the crop is sown <>r plant ed. as t hey 

 are never washed out of t he soil into the drainage. 



Basic Slag. Tetracalcic phosphate (Ca 4 Pj0 9 ) 



is one ol' the most useful phosphatic fertilisers for 

 t Ic gardener. It contains a small amount of free 

 lime, and thus often saves a direct application. 

 It is a hye-product in the manufacture of pig- 

 iron into st eel. and usual lv contains thirty to forty 



