Adulteration of Manures 



Remembering what they have accomplished in the 

 matter of breeding, how greatly they have improved 

 the breeds which they have raised, and calling to 

 mind that a great part of this improvement has 

 been obtained by good feeding, it is very obvious 

 that they should persevere in the improvement of 

 the quality of their crops. In improving the methods 

 of cultivation and providing the soil with a concen- 

 trated manure just as they give cattle concentrated 

 nutriment, they will increase to a great extent the 

 quality of their products. These products in their 

 turn will be more nutritious for the cattle, making 

 each beast of better quality, and thus the improve- 

 ment in cultivation will have a direct effect on the 

 stock. 



The use of artificial manure will promote the 

 cultivation of enormous tracts of land till now un- 

 reclaimed. It will suffice merely to use the manures 

 at our disposal, and, if they are used judiciously, 

 the sterile land will disappear and give place to 

 cultivation which will graze a much larger head of 

 cattle. Sometimes it is said that certain chemical 

 manures, nitrate for example, impoverish the soil. 

 This is absolutely wrong. It is, on the contrary, 

 the fanner who does so by not returning to the soil 

 what his crops have taken out of it. This is the 

 way nitrate works. The soil contained a reserve of 

 Potash and Ph. Ac. or had received of these two 

 manures in restitution more than the law of mini- 

 mum had permitted the crops to take out, because of 

 a lack of nitrogen. Apply nitrogen to this land and 

 magnificent crops will result, but continue to apply 

 nitrogen and they will get poorer and poorer if Potash 



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