ammonia ; while all ammoniates are in time converted Nitrate of 



into the Nitrated form in the soil, the action is always Soda for 

 irregular and is accompanied by a heavy loss of ammonia. ugar 

 With Nitrate of Soda all these disadvantages disappear. 2 9 

 It is estimated that sulphate of ammonia loses fifteen per 



cent of its ammonia in this process of ^ . 



c , Great Losses 



transformation, and that packing-house n IT ff 



u . & c from Use of 



ammoniates lose thirty-five per cent, farm- 



yard manures lose from forty to eighty per 



s 111* 1 1 1*1 



cent, l<or all this great loss, the disadvan- 

 tage is probably not so much the actual loss of ammonia as 

 the irregularity with which the plant food ammonia is 

 supplied the crop. If the Nitrated plant food is not present 

 when wanted, the crop must wait for it, and nature in 

 agriculture waits with very bad grace. Perhaps the best 

 application of Nitrate of Soda on farms carrying the stock 

 usually necessary to do the work of the farm and supplement 

 natural losses, and the resulting manure regularly fall- 

 plowed down, is 300 pounds per acre. It is claimed to be 

 proved that for an average year, 100 pounds of Nitrate of 

 Soda will produce an increased crop of sugar-beets of 2,500 

 to 3,000 pounds per acre. Experiments conducted by 

 Professor Maercker gave an increased yield of from 4,000 

 to 4,800 pounds for an application of 150 pounds of Nitrate 

 of Soda per acre, a second application of the same amount 

 also resulting in an increased yield of 4,000 to 4,800 pounds 

 per acre, but a third application of the same amount gave 

 an increased yield of but 1,600 to 2,000 pounds; hence, 

 the utility and profitableness of Nitrate of Soda applications 

 on soils of fairly good condition, commence to be subject 

 to question only after an acre application of 300 pounds has 

 been reached. 



This Nitrate of Soda is not all applied ~. 



c r Time and 



at one time ; in fact, from i CO to 200 ,, ., , - 



n u u i_ i-'j Method of 



pounds are all that should be applied at A t . . 



XT r o j i -11 Application, 



one time. Nitrate of Soda spreads rapidly 



throughout the soil and this is one of its great advantages 

 in quickly bringing plant food to the growing plants, but 

 the same principle may prove a disadvantage in case of a 

 too lavish use, as more or less of the Nitrate of Soda is 

 lost through simple seepage. Fall applications are not 

 advisable for this same reason. The best way to apply 300 



