374 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. 



an increase may be produced by the use of nitrate alone as 

 ))y the use of nitrate combined with materials su})plying 

 phosphates and potash ; but even in such cases considerable 

 practical difliculty will be experienced in attempting to apply 

 the nitrate evenly, and it would seem to l)e wise to use in 

 connection with it some material which will kee}) it dry, 

 which will dilute it, and which will therefore make it easier 

 to distribute the nitrate evenly. In selecting a substance for 

 this purpose, some material which is relatively low in price, 

 naturally dry and tine itself, and which may be expected to 

 ultimately benefit the condition of the soil, should be selected ; 

 and amono- such substances basic slag meal seems to be one 

 which meets the re(|uirements admirably. Imported slag 

 meal can be sold in Massachusetts at about $15 per ton. 

 From 300 to 500 pounds in connection with nitrate in such 

 (juantity as will ordinaril}^ be required, say 150 to 200 pounds, 

 makes a mixture which will run through the fertilizer dis- 

 tributer evenly; while the slag meal, although not perhaps 

 benefiting the immediate grass crop, will hel}) correct a tend- 

 ency to acidity in the soil, and will enrich it in phosphoric 

 acid, which is fairly available. 



With a view to maintaining the condition of the soil, it 

 would seem to be expedient in most cases to combine with 

 the slag and nitrate a moderate amount of some potash salt, 

 for \vhich purpose the high-grade sulfate will })r()bably be 

 found best adapted. On account of the expense connected 

 with the use of slag and a potash salt in connection with 

 nitrat(^, many are tempted, in view of the fact that the nitrate 

 alone proves so largel}^ beneficial to grasses, to depend ex- 

 clusively upon this material. It should b(^ clearly under- 

 stood that nitrate supplies but one of the more important 

 elements of plant food, and that continued de])endence u})on 

 such one-sided manurin<; must therefore be unwise. 



On th(^ grounds of the Agricultural College is a plot of 

 land containing about one-half acre, which for the last 

 five or six years has been annually top-dressed with nitrate 

 of soda alone. The mowing is one which has not been 

 broken up for at least twenty years, and the prevailing species 

 is Kentuck\' blue-grass. The product at the present lime is 

 exceedingly unsatisfactory. The grass during its growth 



