38 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



hills if applied to cabbage, but for spinach or similar crops 

 it should be sown broadcast when the plants are perfectly 

 dry or during a hard rain. If it sticks to the leaves it is 

 likely to burn them. If sown during a hard rain it is 

 quickly dissolved and washed to the roots of the plants 

 without injury to the leaves. It is expensive and should 

 never be used when a cheaper supply of nitrogenous manure 

 will do just as well. It may occasionally be used to good 



Fig. 7. Spinach plants grown on land rich in rotten stable manure. 

 The larger plant received, in addition to the stable manure, nitrate of soda at 

 the rate of 150 pounds per acre. 



advantage in water at the rate of one-half ounce of nitrate 

 of soda to one gallon of water. Such a solution will not 

 injure the foliage and is of sufficient strength. 



The extensive or long-continued use of nitrate of soda 

 injures the tilth of the soil, especially of clay soils. This 

 effect may be overcome by adding organic matter or by 

 using acid fertilizers, like acid phosphate or ammonium 

 sulphate. 



