88 



Food for a t $12.00 and the second cutting at $10.00; while 

 ! $16.00 and $12.00 were the values given to the first 

 and second cuttings respectively on the plot receiving 

 the full ration of Nitrate. 



But the reduction in the percentage of clover was 

 not the only benefit to the quality of the hay. The 

 Nitrate also decreased the proportion of red top as 

 compared with the finer timothy. This tendency was 

 noticed in the second year, when a count of the stalks 

 on selected equal and typical areas showed 13 per cent, 

 of timothy on the 150 pound plot, and 44 per cent, on 

 the 450 pound plot. In the third year the percentages 

 of timothy were 39 per cent, and 67 per cent., respec- 

 tively, and in the fourth year the differences were even 

 more marked. 



Timothy is a grass which will not tol- 

 An Alkaline erate an acid soil, and it is probable 



f 0il Grass SSary tliat the limin S g iven tnese P lots in 



1897 did not make them as "sweet'' as 



would have been best for this crop. Now, when Nitrate 

 of Soda is used by plants, more of the nitric acid is used 

 than of the soda and a certain portion of the latter, 

 which is an alkali, is left to combine with other free 

 acids in the soil. This, like lime, neutralizes the acids 



and thus "sweetens" the soil for the 

 How Nitrate timothy. Red top, on the contrary, 



Neutralizes Soil does we \\ on so [\ s which are slightly acid, 

 Acids and an( j go wou y j iave the advantage over 



Sweetens the Ll .-. , £ , i „ . 



Soil timothy m a soil not pertectly sweet. 



With the assistance of the Soda set 

 free from the Nitrate, the timothy was more than able 

 to hold its own and thus to make what the market calls a 

 finer, better hay; and since the market demands tim- 

 othy and pays for it, the farmer who sells hay is wise 

 if he meets the demand. 



Financial Profit from Use of Nitrate. 



T „ Frequently more plant food is paid 



now it pays. for and put on the land than the crop 



can possibly use, the excess being entirely thrown away, 

 or, at best, saved to benefit some subsequent crop. 



