THE WAY TO USE POTASH. 9 



What has been said about potash and phosphoric acid does not 

 apply to nitrogenous fertilizers, especially in the form of nitrate of 

 soda. Nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia and like fertilizers are 

 more quickly and easily washed out of the soil and lost than any other 

 manure. Therefore such fertilizers should be applied as a top-dress- 

 ing to crops in the spring, and not in the fall and winter, and in many 

 cases they can be applied with advantage during the growing season. 



7. THE PLACE OF MAGNESIA. 



This element, which is deficient in some soils, is often needed in 

 plant-growth and plant-life. The potash salts containing a large per- 

 centage of magnesia are kainit and sulphate of potash magnesia. 

 These materinls may be supplied with good results, especially upon 

 very sandy soils, and also upon peaty soils. The magnesia in kainit 

 has another valuable quality, as it is very effective and extensively 

 used for the purpose of destroying insects, pests and fungi (grub-worms, 

 root-lice, etc.) present in the soil. 



8. THE EFFECT OF CHLORINE. 



The Potash salts containing chlorine are kainit, muriate of potash 

 and Potash manure salt. The sulphate of potash and sulphate of pot- 

 ash magnesia are free from chlorine. Where quality of some 

 fruits and some crops is to be considered, and where direct applica- 

 tion is to be made, it is best to use the sulphate of potash or sulphate 

 of potash magnesia, instead of the muriate or kainit. This applies to 

 tobacco, perhaps oranges, and some other fruit and vegetable crops. 

 It is easy, however, to avoid the objectionable effect of muriate of 

 potash or kainit by applying the fertilizer several months previous 

 to planting, or better still to the preceding crop. 



When land inclines to sourness Sulphate of Potash has been found 

 more economical than the Muriate, notwithstanding the somewhat 

 higher price per ton of the former. This is because the Sulphate does 

 not have a tendency to exhaust the lime of the soil as does Muriate. 

 A saving will be effected on such soils through the use of Sulphate of 

 Potash. 



9. THOROUGH CULTIVATION IS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS WITH 



FERTILIZERS. 



A plant can only do its best when all the elements upon which it 

 feeds are presented to it under the most favorable conditions. For 

 if, by neglect of proper cultivation, the soil becomes hard, it offers re- 



