FERTILIZERS. 69 



the germ. It will destroy the eyes of potatoes, when put in contact with them in the hills at 

 planting. A western farmer and writer states that he has never seen any damage done the 

 wheat-crop by the chinch-bug where there had been two hundred pounds of salt to the acre, 

 sown broadcast, and that the best time for sowing it is when the wheat is about four inches 

 high. The refuse salt from packing-houses is often used for this purpose. Prof. Whitney 

 states that there is no manurial substance of less reliability than salt, for the reason that its 

 effects depend not only upon the kind of crops raised, but upon the character of the land 

 itself, and in no less degree on the other fertilizers with which it may be used. On sandy 

 soils, devoted to the growth of the mangold- wurtzel, the results of its use are often marvelous; 

 under these conditions its application is very common and profitable in England. It rarely 

 benefits stiff clay soils, as it renders them too wet. It is thought by most farmers to be 

 adapted to light soils, such as a light sand or loam ; also to those soils that are rich in organic 

 matter, and which contain considerable humus. It is not, however, of advantage to apply it 

 to very loose, sandy soils, or what are termed gravelly soils. 



According to Dr Voelcker, the good effect of applying salt is in its power of liberating 

 the ammonia from soils which have been highly manured with decomposed stable manure, 

 and that it is most beneficial when applied to light land after a good dressing of this manure, 

 either alone or with Peruvian guano. English writers generally favor its use in combination 

 with some other fertilizer, such as lime, soot, nitrate of soda, etc. The following are the 

 results of Dr. Voelcker s experiments : 



On a sandy soil, containing only a moderate quantity of soda and potash, and with a 

 deficiency of lime, from a given area, without the use of salt, there was obtained 12 tons, 

 2 cwt., and 76 pounds of mangolds. When salt had been applied at the rate of two hundred 

 pounds per acre, 18 tons, 19 cwt., and 93 pounds were produced, showing an increase per 

 acre, from the use of salt, of 58 tons, 14 cwt., and 20 pounds. Three hundred pounds of salt 

 per acre were applied, and the increase was slightly less than the preceding. On increasing 

 the amount of salt to eight hundred pounds per acre, the yield was 21 tons, 18 cwt., and 84 

 pounds, or an increase of over nine tons as compared with the area that was unmanured with 

 salt. From one hundred to two hundred pounds of salt per acre are often beneficial to 

 pasture-lands ; cattle and sheep greatly relish such grass. When applied to coarse grasses^ 

 it has a tendency to greatly improve the quality of the herbage. 



The quantity of salt to be applied must be determined, in the main, by experiment, as 

 well as the kind of soil to which it is adapted. It would be well for the farmer to apply it 

 to a portion of his field, and carefully note the result. Some writers speak of using at the 

 rati of two bushels per acre with good effect; but it seems to us that this is an unusually 

 large quantity; four hundred pounds is about the quantity generally recommended by Eng- 

 Irh. authorities, while many agriculturists of our own country recommend two hundred or 

 three hundred pounds per acre as a sufficient quantity. The quantity required will, of course, 

 depend upon the nature of the soil, the same as with all other fertilizers. 



Potash Sources of Supply The Stassfurt Potash Mines, etc. Since 

 potash is such an essential element in plant-production, and consequently an element greatly 

 needed in the soil, where it is rarely found in sufficient quantities, it is a question of no small 

 import to the farmer as to how this necessary substance can be obtained. Wood-ashes are 

 valuable in this respect, but cannot always be procured in sufficient quantities, or at a rate to 

 render their use an economical fertilizer. Very fortunately for the agricultural interests of 

 the world, an immense deposit of the salts produced from the evaporation of sea-water, and 

 containing a number of compounds, including potassium, has been discovered in northern 

 Germany, which is supposed to be the remains of an ancient sea. An all-wise and kind 

 Providence has thus provided for the wants of man in this respect, as in all others, and has 

 left them there for him to discover and apply to use through the patient labor of his hand 



