muriate of potash. The soluble minerals are readily carried ^^^^ ^°' 

 to the roots of the plants, and the ground bone feeds the ^°^ 

 surface roots, and the Nitrate is absorbed quite as readily ^7 

 as if not used with any other material. This method is to be 

 recommended whenever the land is in good condition, and 

 it is desired to keep up the content of the mineral constituents 

 in the soil, as well as to avoid any danger of overfeeding with 

 Nitrogen, which would have a tendency, particularly in the 

 warmer climates, of causing a softer growth and formation 

 of mildew. This is liable to occur where the Nitrogen is in 

 excess and the ration is not well balanced. A good mixture 

 for top-dressing may be made up as follows: 



Nitrate of Soda 500 lbs. 



( jround bone 200 



Acid phosphate 200 



Muriate of potash 100 



1,000 lbs. 

 Applied at the rate of 200 to 300 pounds per acre. 



The answer to the questions as applied to 

 wheat are, in essence, the same, though 

 modified in particular points, owing to the fact that the 

 wheat is grown for grain, rather than for weight of total 

 produce, as in the case of hay, and also because wheat, being 

 seeded in the fall, has not so large a root system as the grass, 

 and therefore greater care should be used in the application 

 of the material. Nitrate of Soda is, however, the substance 

 that is likely to give the most satisfactory results as a top- 

 dressing, because, as already pointed out, it is soluble, and 

 can thus reach every point of the soil without the necessity 

 of cultivation and it is immediately available, and thus 

 supplies food at once or at the time most needed, energizing 

 the plants weakened by the winter and strengthening those 

 already vigorous and enabling them to secure a larger pro- 

 portion of the mineral elements. The time of application 

 should be early in spring, or after growth has started. 



The results of experiments conducted to ^ . , ^, 

 , . . ^ , . . , , Gains from the 



answer this question show a gain in both . , „. 



grain and straw from the top-dressing of f c ,? 

 Nitrate of Soda. The yields per acre, with- 

 out the top-dressing, ranged from eleven to twenty-seven 

 bushels of grain per acre and from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of 



