HOW CROPS ARE BUILT UP. 



133 



following is a fair estimate of the quantity of vegetable 

 matter from various crops ploughed in. Their nitrogen- 

 ammonia contents are gathered mostly from the air : 



Artificial Manures. Very excellent compounded 

 manures are supplied by Australian manufacturers. 

 Their value is mostly in the ammonia, potash, and phos- 

 phate contents, all of which are obtainable now 

 by Australian agriculturists, at rates which put us on 

 an equality for feeding crops with any part of the world. 

 Sulphate of ammonia, got from what was formerly a 

 waste product of gas works, is excellent in quality and low 

 in price. Sulphate of potash and kainit, or salt of potash, 

 supply this essential of plant life. Bones supply phos- 

 phates in their very best form. The tables of what crops 

 take from the soil supply the needful information of the 

 proportions required for various crops. When mixed in 

 the compost heap with one or more of the coarser manures 

 described, we get the best result from artificial manures. 



Waste in Ordinary Farm Manure. It has long been a 

 matter of concern in countries where farm-yard manures 

 form the foundation of the general manuring, that there is 

 such a loss of labor in bringing it into use. Thus, an 

 ordinary average ton (2240 Ibs.) of farm-yard manure, as 

 made after the careful manner followed in Scottish 

 farming, is composed as follows : solid matter, say, G40 Ibs., 

 which contains about 50 Ibs of soluble matter; some 

 1600 Ibs. of water make up the ton. The water is of very 

 little value to the fanner in that country, and he has not 

 the dry soil that is available here for our manure-making. 



