IT \ov.. iQiJ.l Wheat audits Cultivation. 705 



vetches, and other leguminous crops, or nitrogen consumers, such as 

 rye, rape, mustard, &c. 



The former crops restore to the soil all the organic matter secured 

 from the carbon dioxide of the air during the course of their growth, 

 but they also secure, for the use of the succeeding crop, a large quan- 

 tity of combined nitrogen from the atmosphere. Thus they enrich the 

 soil in organic matter and in nitrogen. 



On the other hand, crops like rye, rape, mustard. &c., produce large 

 quantities of organic matter, but they cannot make use of the free 

 nitrogen in the air in the same manner as leguminous crops. In the 

 M'hcat areas, however, at the present time, the most important require- 

 ment is organic matter. The increase of the nitrogen reserves is at 

 present a secondary consideration. The important point to bear in 

 mind is that crops which produce a maximum weight of green stuff that 

 can be turned under in early spring, before the soil becomes too hard 

 and dry to plough, should be grown rather than crops which give a 

 relatively small yield of green stuff of high quality. Such crops re- 

 quire for our conditions to be sown early in autumn, so that they may 

 be ready by August or September. 



The immediate effect of these green manures is to greatly increase 

 the water-holding capacity of the soil — a point of fundamental im- 

 portance in arid agriculture — and to improve its mechanical condition. 



Feeding Down of Forage Crops. 

 The system of feeding down of crops, specially grown for ii\'estock. 

 provides a means for increasing the organic content of the soil. As the 

 feeding value of a green crop is usually greater than its manurial 

 value, the practice of raising green crops and converting them into 

 mutton, beef, or milk, instead of ploughing them under, will be pre- 

 ferred to the practice of green manuring. For this purpose rape,, 

 mustard, peas, rye, vetches, &c., will be found extremely useful. 

 Summer crops such as sorghum, millet, and maize, cannot be recom- 

 mended in the drier wheat districts under ordinary farming conditions, 

 as the yield of the succeeding wheat crop is invariably lowered, 

 especially if the rainfall is short. Winter growing forages are most 

 suitable for the wheat areas, and if these are sown early in autumn 

 so as to germinate with the first rains they make a large amount of 

 growth while the soil is still warm, and make invaluable winter forage 

 for stock. 



NOTES ON THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 



Always Buy on Guarantee Analyses. — In purchasing artificial 

 manures farmers should always study closely the guaranteed analyses 

 of each manure. In the January number of the Journal of Agriculture 

 each year the Chemist for Agriculture publishes a statement of all 

 manures, registered under the Artificial ^lanures Act, together with 

 their guaranteed percentages of the fertilizing ingredients present, and 

 the unit values of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. These tables 

 should be closely scrutinized by each farmer. The unit values will 

 enable him to calculate the commercial value of any artificial manure 

 selling: on the market. 



