56 Alfred J. Ewart : 



to apply to the fine alluvial soil occurrinir on so many river 

 flats and valleys in Victoria. None of the manures as ajDplied 

 in the somewhat excessive quantities given would have paid 

 for their application by the increased crop yield. It will fur- 

 ther be noticed that the apparent loss from all the plots except- 

 ing the slaked lime and unmanured ones (where there is a 

 slight gain) is very much greater than can be explained by 

 the ash removed by the crop. To what extent these apparent 

 losses are real ones, and to what extent they are due to decreases 

 in solubility, to increases in absorptive power, or to changes 

 in distribution, must be reserved for further investigaitinii. As 

 far as they go they seem to show that the fine alluvial, -^andy 

 river-flat soils widely cultivated in many parts of Victoria, ap- 

 pear to be peculiarly liable to exhaustion under the action of 

 all chemical manures excepting slaked lime. Even if the maxi- 

 mal apparent loss (851b.) were entirely a real loss, it wnuld take 

 530 years to remove the top 16 inches, assuming that aul was 

 removed by solution and none by erosion. These soils appear 

 also to be comparatively deficient in humus, but uliei-e 

 this is not so the manurial diagnosis in the case I'f virgin soil 

 would be slaked lime at the rate of h to 1 tim per acre, until 

 the soil begins to sliow signs of exhaustion, then farmyard manure 

 at a probable minimum of 2 to 5 tons per acre, soluble, nitrogen- 

 ous, or phosphatic manures to be used sjjafl-ingly, or not at all 

 unless thie soil shows need fur them. 



PRACTICAL AXIOMS. 



Quicklime binds a clay soil, slaked lime ameliorates^ it. 



Quicklime in excess exercises a v\^asteful solvent action on 

 composite sandy soils. Small (quantities drilled in prior to 

 seeding should, however, stimulate the early growth of seed- 

 lings, ajnd perhaps lessen the danger of infection by fungi. 



The indirect action of a manure on the soil is usually much 

 more important tha.n its direct chemical value as a nutrient 

 substance. This applies not only to those manures which exert 

 a direct chemical action on the soil, but also to thostr nitrogen- 

 containing, acid or alkaline manures which -affect the activitv of 

 the micro-organisms in the soil. 



