90 HAPPY INDIA 



half the necessary quantity, and there is no doubt 

 amongst those who have analysed the soil of India 

 in many places, and who have noticed the crops, 

 and noticed the effects of manures of different kinds, 

 that the mere increase in the amount of cowdung 

 will not supply all the deficiencies of the soil. The 

 soil is notably deficient in phosphoric acid over the 

 greater part of India, and therefore phosphates must 

 be applied, either in the form of superphosphates, 

 or of bone-meal, or of ground phosphate rock, or basic 

 slag, or from some other source. Phosphates in a 

 form available for plant life must be put into the soil. 



To a less degree, a great deal of the soil of India 

 is short of potash, that does not apply everywhere 

 and always, but potash is required in a great many 

 places. And with regard to nitrogen, there is no 

 doubt that in the greater part of India the soil is 

 deficient in nitrogen, and if first-class crops are to 

 be raised, nitrogen must be supplied. It may be 

 in the form of nitrate of soda from Chili, or sulphate 

 of ammonia, or in the form of nitrolin, or some other 

 compound of nitrogen and lime, but this must be 

 supplied in some form if India is to do as well as 

 it might do. 



But the Indian cultivators have had the chance 

 of buying these artificial manures if they wanted to 

 buy them. Well, some do buy these manures, or, 

 if not these identical manures, they buy others 

 that have the same effect. But the enormous 

 majority of the cultivators do not buy any manures 

 at all, at any rate they do not buy artificial manures. 



