per acre, of wheat, but 13 bushels per acre, and but 15 |j a °^ ts for 

 bushels of rye. The aggregate production of these - 

 crops is, however, very large, and, because of the con- 6 3 

 ditions which prevail, it is likely that their growth will 

 continue for some time to come, though it is eminently 

 desirable that the average yield should be increased. 



One of the chief reasons for the low average yield 

 is that the farming is on the "extensive" rather than 

 on the "intensive" plan. The relatively large areas 

 used are not well prepared for the seed, and the fer- 

 tilizers applied do not fully supplement soil supplies of 

 plant-food. These conditions, too, are not liable to 

 change at once, because the farmers are not yet pre- 

 pared to adopt the more rational intensive system; the 

 adjustment to new conditions requires time. The sug- 

 gestions here given as to the use of top-dressings of 

 nitrogenous substances are therefore of primary im- 

 portance, because, if followed, they will enable the farmer 

 to obtain more profitable crops, and will encourage the 

 gradual adoption of better systems of practice. 



The farmers have, however, reached the point 

 where they are asking the general question: "How 

 shall I profitably increase the yields of these crops?" 

 They are not satisfied with present conditions, nor 

 with the general advice to supply the crops with addi- 

 tional plant-food. The advice is not definite enough, 

 and they are not sure that the cost of expensive plant- 

 food will be returned in the immediate crop, and they 

 cannot afford to wait for future crops to return an 

 interest on the invested capital. As soon as it is made 

 clear that a profitable increase in crop from the use 

 of fertilizers is a reasonable thing to expect, then the 

 questions are— first, "What shall I use?" second, "How 

 much shall I use per acre?" and third, "When and how 

 shall it be applied?" Experiments that have been 

 conducted with the use of Nitrate of Soda answer all 

 of these questions in a definite and specific way. 



In the case of hay, from timothy 

 and other grasses, the experiments that y ' 



have been conducted answer the first question — "What 

 shall I use?" — as follows: Use Nitrate of Soda, because 

 it is a food element that is especially needed; it is 



