having, indeed, the same constituents, but it is difficult to broad- 

 cast, and only enough should be mixed for the day's requirements." 

 We have sumcient proof that we need not fear to apply certain 

 substances to the soil in almost any quantity. These contain 

 plant food, but not altogether in a form at once soluble. Time is 

 required for a large portion to be absorbed first by the soil and 

 they are frequently utilised only by a subsequent crop. Such manurial 

 substances are : Blood manure, green manure, tankage, &c., and 

 perhaps farmyard dung, not quite fresh, or not applied direct to 

 cereals. It is different with many commercial fertilisers, such as 

 potash salts, superphosphate, sulphate of ammonia, and nitrate of 

 soda. These act more or less quickly, and seem to require more 

 frequent applications than others, such as Thomas phosphate and 

 bonemeal, which it is known are stored up fin the soil, and not at 

 once dissolved. They (Thomas phospate and bonemeal) suffer no 

 deterioration in the soil and remain always active, a reliable and 

 profitable investment. It is also quite certain that excessive quan- 

 tities of the first-named chemical fertilisers not only do not increase 

 the crop sufficiently to make it ,a paying crop; it is actually 

 observed that at times the crop is greater where smaller quantities 

 had been applied (see farther on). Professor Maercker states as a 

 fact that the percentage of sugar in beets is lower if you use an 

 excess of nitrogen. Again, if the entire dressing of nitrate of soda 

 is applied at one time we have to reckon with formidable enemies to 

 plant nutriment in the form of bacilli that live on nitrates, which 

 they decompose into the form of gaseous nitrogen. If nitrate of 

 soda is applied to a green crop it must be quite 

 dry, or the leaves will be injured. Where the soil is either too 

 wet or too dry you cannot expect maximum crops; in fact, in 

 extreme cases the fertilisers will not act at all, or easily soluble salts 

 may, with little moisture in the soil, act injuriously. 



Then, again, in ever so many cases manures are applied at the 

 wrong time, or not sufficient time has been allowed for slower-acting 

 manures, or too great quantities of highly concentrated fertilisers 

 come into close contact with tlie seeds and roots. Yet the pickling 

 of wheat with superphosphate in a tube when afew pounds will stick 

 to the seed does not seem to be sufficient to do any harm nor much 

 good either. The more soluble the smaller should be the quanti- 

 ties used in dry districts with the drill. Broadcasting is a different 

 thing, and my own leaning, supported by a few intelligent farmers, 

 is to broadcast larger quantities of fertilisers, and more so in dry dis- 

 tricts. I base my opinion on the following : Fertilisers broadcasted do 

 not force on the young plants at first like those where the manure is 

 drilled in with the seed. Afterwards when the roots spread the manure- 

 drilled plants do not find so much plant food to sustain them away 

 from the drill, and this is important at the time of flowering and the 

 formation of the grain. Mr. A. H. Ward, of Boston, TJ.S., says 

 that the germinating seeds and the plants exert and keep up an elec- 

 trir action to obtain plant food ; but to what distances is at least 

 Tindetermiiied as yet. I believe more in contact ; a transfer of remote 



