15 



is, a nitrogen-gathering crop. After a nitrogen-consuming crop r 

 on the other hand, an. intensive and reasonable full application of 

 mitrate of soda is remunerative. One hundredweight of it, applied 

 in two doses, early, and when beginning to form stems, will produce 

 .3 to 4 cwt. more of wheat and the corresponding straw. Fine loam 

 and clay soils, rich in humus, contain naturally so large an admix- 

 ture of potash, and in so soluble a condition that in their case 

 manuring with potash would be useless. On lighter soils the case 

 is altogether different. We are not overdoing sandy soils if we 

 dress them with 12 to 18 cwt. of kainit per acre; but manuring 

 with kainit has very unpleasant collateral effects, as it promotes 

 clods in the soil and incrustation." Other potash salts are, there- 

 fore, preferable. 



Farmyard dung should not be used in a fresh state at 

 ;all events. In Europe the risk of using it and especially where 

 rusty straw has been used, has long been recognised. There, it is 

 thought, that the combination of acids contained in commercial 

 manures contributes to the destruction of the resting spores of the 

 Tust fungus, and tend to weaken, or even destroy, the rust altogether. 

 The fresh dung is also likely to produce rank, soft straw, which seems 

 much more inclined to propagate rust. But if farmyard dung is 

 used to a previous crop, then with the assistance of commercial 

 manures, good crops can be obtained in South Australia, in some 

 districts with a better rainfall, even splendid crops. The lat Professor 

 Frank expresses the opinion that, while nitrate of soda may be 

 favorable to the development of rust, Thomas phosphate has dis- 

 tinctly the contrary effect, Kainit and other potash salts are also 

 named by others as protecting wheat against rust and other diseases. 

 Frank also mentions the "Eppstein" wheat, according to all farmers, 

 as the wheat which best resists rust. (I forwarded a sample of it to 

 Professor Lowrie, Mr. Roediger, of G-awler River, and Mr. Jos. Cor- 

 rell, of Miiilaton, who think it too late a wheat.) 



As our wheat crops are by far the most important, and may oblige 

 many farmers, impoverished by a cycle of dry seasons, to curtail the 

 quantity of manures they might wish to pur chase, [it is my first duty to 

 ask them to make some experiments of a simple but practical nature. 

 I do not favor analyses of soil as their guide. They are deceiving. 

 Much of the plant food found by the analyst, and recorded, is 

 frequently not at once available ; but the farmer himself should 

 try on a small scale, of one-tenth of an acre, one plot with potash 

 alone, one with a phosphatic manure alone, others with nitrogenous 

 manures, such as sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, and some 

 ammoniacal Peruvian or other guanos. Dr. Lawes pronounces Peru- 

 vian guano one of the best artificial manures for wheat, if 2 to 3 cwt. 

 per acre are sown broadcast. And Voelker, agreeing with him, said 

 that 2| cwt. per acre should increase the wheat crop by 12 bushels 

 of grain and 8 cwt. of straw, provided the brand has a guaranteed 

 analysis to contain from 14 to 16 per cent, of ammonia. If the per- 

 centage is much less, sometimes only 6 per cent., such results cannot 

 be obtained. Many guanos are only rich in phosphates. If the 



