WHAT MANURES TO APPLY. 269 



200 jiounds per acre. A very useful top dressing for the hay 

 crop may be made of three parts of Peruvian guano, one part 

 nitrate of soda, and one jiart of ammonia, using annually 200 to 

 250 lbs. per acre. With this apply 10 to 12 tons per acre of 

 rotton dung once in four or five years." This is for permanent 

 grass land. 



On this important point, let us read another excellent author- 

 ity, Dr. A. Voelcker, in Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, p. 459, 1866: 

 " Where good farmyard manure can be obtained at a reasonable 

 price, I have no hesitatior in saying I believe it will be found 

 the most efficacious and economical manure, both for seeds (of 

 clover) and permanent j)asture. Sometimes common salt has 

 had no effect. In one experiment the heaviest crop of clover 

 was produced by a mixture of superphosphate of lime and muriate 

 of potash." 



In 1874 of the same Journal, he says: "On some soils, more 

 especially on poor, light pastures, the effect of bone-dust on the 

 herbage is truly marvelous ; whilst in other localities bones do 

 not show any marked effect upon meadow land. I would advise 

 making field trials on a limited scale, before heavy expense is 

 incurred in manuring pastures. Bone meal is often wasted on 

 cold clay soils. Sinclair's remarks may be made with regard to 

 the application of lime to grass land. Some soils are deficient in 

 lime and will be much improved by its use. Pasture soils vary 

 much in composition and physical character, and hence the same 

 manures which effect a radical improvement on pastures in one 

 locality are often found to be of little use in another place. For 

 this reason it is difficult and hazardous to prescribe manuring 

 compounds for grass land. In a general way it may be stated 

 that manures rich in nitrogen and readily available phosphoric 

 acid produce the greatest and most beneficial effect on grass land. 



^' There is no pasture the productiveness of which may not be 

 largely increased by a heavy dressing of farmyard manure or by 



