Food for 

 Plants 



But the reduction in the percentage of clover was not 

 t h e on jy b ene fi t to tne 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 plat, and 

 44 per cent, on the 450 pound plat. In the third year the per- 

 centages 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- 

 erate an acid soil, and it is probable that 

 the liming given these plats 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 



An Alkaline 

 Soil Necessary 

 for Grass. 



Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (2). 



certain portion of the latter, which is an alkali, is left to com- 

 bine with other free acids of the soil. This, like lime, neu- 

 tralizes the acids and thus "sweetens" the 

 soil for the timothy. Red top, on the con- 

 trary, does well on soils which are slightly 

 acid, and so would have the advantage 

 over timothy in a soil not perfectly sweet. 

 With the assistance of the Soda set free 



How Nitrate 

 Neutralizes Soil 

 Acids and 

 Sweetens the 

 Soil. 



