MANURES 



37 



a dressing of muriate of potash at the time of sowing the flax. 

 The good effect of potash manures appeared to be largely due 

 to their action in preventing the flax brairds from being 

 affected with "yellowing" a disease which seriously retarded 

 the growth of the young flax plants and which was very 



Fertilisers and Time of Application. 



3cwt. 



Kainit. 



Z^cwt. 



Rape Meal 



Medium Loam 



FIG. 16 



common in Ulster. Some years ago, flax buyers had a strong 

 prejudice against the use of chemical manures for the flax 

 crop, as they considered such dressings lowered the quality 

 of the fibre. It was, however, now well recognized that the 

 use of potash manures, or of light dressings of sulphate of 

 ammonia, tended to improve this fibre, and this was borne out 

 by the values placed by skilled flax buyers on the various lots 

 of flax from the Department's experiments. 



Obviously, the nature and quality of the soil combined with 

 the constituents of the flax plant are the prime factors for 

 determining the necessity of manure or fertilizer, quantity and 



