92 HAPPY INDIA 



practical agriculturalist that if by the stimulation 

 of artificial manures there is a great increase in the 

 production of the soil, more grain, more straw, more 

 roots, more rice, more cotton, more oil, etc., then 

 there will be a greater demand upon the soil and a 

 greater extraction from the soil of those constituents 

 which are necessary for its fertility. Therefore it 

 is not sufficient to supply manures which are only 

 stimulants, like nitrate of soda or sulphate of 

 ammonia. These would do more harm than good 

 in the long run, unless at the same time other manures 

 are applied which will restore to the soil the necessary 

 constituents, that is why phosphates must be applied 

 and potash, and in some places lime. That is why 

 farmyard manure is so valuable, why fish manure 

 gives such good results ; a complete manure is what 

 must be applied to the soil. Such a complete manure 

 was found in Peruvian guano, such a complete 

 manure is sometimes found in stableyard and cow- 

 yard manure, but not always ; cowdung contains 

 the greater part of what is required, and the applica- 

 tion of manure in that form supplies the organic 

 material which is required to make the soil work 

 so as to encourage the growth of vegetation. 



The reason why cowdung is not always a complete 

 manure is this : The milk of the cow contains a 

 good deal of phosphorus, and this milk is not restored 

 to the soil, it is consumed for the most part by human 

 beings, and therefore the phosphorus has to be 

 found from some other source in order to restore 

 the fertility of the soil. Phosphoric acid is needed 



