soo 



SOR 



" In general, it may be assumed 

 that where ammonia or its salts will 

 benefit the crop, soot also will be of 

 use, and hence its successful appli- 

 cation to grass lands. From its con- 

 taining gypsum, it should also espe- 

 cially benefit the clover crops ; yet 

 Dr. Anderson says, ' I have used soot 

 as a top-dressing for clover and rye 

 grass in all proportions, from one 

 hundred bushels per acre to six hun- 

 dred, and I cannot say that I ever 

 could perceive the clover in the least 

 degree more luxuriant than in the 

 places where no soot had been ap- 

 plied ; but upon rye grass its effects 

 are amazing, and increase in propor- 

 tion to the quantity, so far as my tri- 

 als have gone ;' and his general con- 

 clusion is, that soot does not effect the 

 groiDth of clover in any way, while it 

 wonderfully 'promotes that of rye grass. 



" The presence of ammonia in soot 

 causes it, when laid in heaps, to de- 

 stroy all the plants upon the spot. 



" This ammonia also causes soot 

 to injure and diminish the crop in 

 very dry seasons. Thus the produce 

 of a crop of beans, after oats, in 1842, 

 upon an 



Unmanured part of the field was . . 29i bush. 

 Dressed with iourbushels of soot . . 28 " 



" It also diminished, in a small de- 

 gree, the potato. 



With manure alone, the pro- 

 duce was . . . .11 tons 17 cwt. 



With thirty bushels of soot 



sprinkled over the dung . 11 " 4 " 



" Like rape-dust and saline sub- 

 stances, therefore, soot seems to re- 

 quire moist weather, or a naturally 

 moist soil, to bring out all its virtues. 



" Yet even in the dry season of 

 1842, its effect upon wheat and oats 

 in the same locality (Erskine) was 

 very beneficial. Thus the compara- 

 tive produce of these crops, when un- 

 dressed and when top-dressed with 

 ten bushels of soot per acre, was as 

 follows : I 



Unmanured . . . Wheat 44 Oats 49 i 

 Top-dressed with soot . " 54 " 55 



" But the dressed wheat was infe- 

 rior in quality to the undressed, the 

 former weighing only 58, the latter 

 62 pounds a bushel. In the oats there 

 was no difference. Are we to infer 

 738 



' from these results that, even in dry 

 seasons, soot may be safely applied 

 to crops of corn, while to pulse and 

 roots it is sure to do no good \ Far- 

 ther precise observations, no doubt, 

 ' are still necessary, and the more es- 

 pecially, as the experiments upon oats 

 I and wheat made in a drier locality 

 ■ gave a decrease in the produce of 

 ' grain, while in Mr. Fleming's exper- 

 iments upon turnips, 50 bushels of 

 I soot, applied alone, gave an increase 

 of four tons in the crop. 



" Another experiment enables us 

 to judge of tiie efficacy of soot in a 

 dry season, compared with that of ni- 

 trate of soda and of guano, upon the 

 produce of hay. Thus the crop of hay 

 per acre from the 



Co-st 

 - tons. cwts. j£. e. d. 



Undressed portion, weighed ..18 



Dressed with 40 bush, of .soot . 1 15 11 8 

 " " leoibs. nitr. ofsoda 1 19 1 15 9 



" " 160 lbs. of guano .2 2 I 15 9 



" In this experiment the soot pro- 

 ved a more profitable apphcation than 

 either of the other manures. 



" In regard to this substance, I 

 shall only advert to one other obser- 

 vation — but it is an important one — 

 made by Mr. Morton, when describing 

 the management of a well-conducted 

 farm. ' The quantity of soot used 

 upon this farm amounts to 3000 bush- 

 els a year, one half of which is ap- 

 plied to the potato, the other half to 

 the wheat crop.' All the straw grown 

 upon this farm is sold for thatch, and 

 for the last thirty years the only ma- 

 nure that has been purchased to re- 

 place this straw is soot." — (Johnston.) 



The amount applied is from twen- 

 ty-five to fortv bushels the acre. 



SOPORIFICS. Drugs which pro- 

 duce sleep. 



SOREDIA. Masses of powdery 

 bodies lying on the thallus of lichens. 



SORI. The small heaps of repro- 

 ductive granules found growing upon 

 the fronds of polypodiaceous ferns. 



SOROSIS. a' fruit resembling the 

 mulberry, being a succulent spike. 



SORREL. Rumex acetosella. A 

 small perennial weed of the dock 

 family, with a sour taste, arising from 

 the binoxalate of potash. It grows 



