MANURES 35 



to the crop immediately preceding the flax crop. Liquid 

 manures are applied during the preparation of the land a few 

 weeks before the flax seed is sown, but this procedure is open 

 to criticism. The use of chemical manures does not find much 

 favour and is seldom practised. In Holland the rotation crops 

 are only manured two or three times during the period of 

 rotation, but a second green crop of clover is sometimes 

 ploughed into the land in lieu of manure. Generally the soil 

 is moderately heavy, moist, well-drained and readily porous 

 so that it probably does not require the same amount of 

 fertilizers as does the land in Belgium. 



37. Manurial Experiments. Mr. F. K. Jackson, Flax 

 Experimental Station, Selby, observes that " In the trials of 

 artificial manures perhaps the clearest and most decisive 

 results have been those following the application of a soluble 

 nitrogenous manure, notably sulphate of ammonia, at sowing 

 time, and at the rate of 1 cwt. per acre. Each year the 

 increase, both in the weight of unthreshed straw and in the 

 resultant seed and fibre, has been very marked, while, in 

 addition, the quality of the fibre was improved. Potash was 

 used but gave no such marked increases as the nitrogenous 

 manures. This is probably due to most of our flax being 

 grown on land tending towards heaviness and therefore pro- 

 bably already well supplied with potash. Superphosphate has 

 given no clear indications of value, but there has not been the 

 tendency to favour weeds which was so marked a feature of 

 its use in Ireland in the Department's experiments. 



Mr. W. J. Megaw (Department of Agriculture and Technical 

 Instruction, Ireland), commenting on results obtained in 

 experiments carried out in Ulster by the Department of Agri- 

 culture, on the manuring of flax, states that they differ materi- 

 ally from those obtained in the trials at Selby. Whilst in the 

 Department's trials a dressing of sulphate of ammonia proved 

 remunerative, much better results were obtained from the 

 use of potash manures. In most seasons, however, a combined 

 dressing of sulphate of ammonia and muriate of potash was 



