About 400 pounds of kainit per acre should be used on Poo^ ^o' 

 an ordinary soil, and it should be drilled into the entire ^' ^"'^ 

 surface of the ground the first thing in the spring and at ^^ 

 least three inches deep, as the kainit becomes fixed in the 

 soil very quickly and should be rather deep, so as not to 

 attract the feeding roots too near the surface. In case 

 wood ashes or muriate should be used instead of kainit the 

 time of making the application should be the same. 



In the light of recent investigations at the Rhode 

 Island Experiment Station and elsewhere it has been shown 

 that most of the vegetable crops will give greatly increased 

 returns from the use of chemicals if lime is used in con- 

 junction with them, and the facts seem to confirm what has 

 been observed of late by many large practical growers 

 throughout the country. 



An application of 75 bushels per acre of ground quick- 

 lime has also proved beyond question its efficiency as a 

 preventive of onion smut ; however, if the onions have 

 been kept in a healthful growthy condition with a sufficient 

 amount of Nitrate of Soda we need have no fear of smut 

 or any other fungous disease. 



Nevertheless there is a hint in regard jjse of Thomas 

 to the best source from which to obtain the ^^ ^^^ ^j, 

 phosphoric acid for our onions, and it is t :„p 

 plain that we must be guided by the charac- 

 ter of the soil in which we are to grow them. For instance, 

 if it is a strong, deep soil, rich in humus and with an ex- 

 cessive quantity of organic matter, it is quite probable that 

 •it is deficient in lime and we know that on these muck soils 

 basic slag if very finely ground seems to give better results 

 usually on most crops except the peas and clovers than the 

 readily available acid rock, which may be accounted for in 

 the fact that the basic slag contains from 40 to 50 per cent, 

 of lime, which is so necessary in this sort of soil to neutralize 

 the excess of organic acids present and which are otherwise 

 detrimental to plant growth. 



Whereas if our soil is a medium heavy clay upland we 

 know it is best to use the acid rock which contains, besides 

 the phosphoric acid, about 50 per cent, of calcium sulphate 

 (gypsum) which reacts upon the silicates of potash and 

 aluminum in the clay soil, forming sulphate of potash and 

 thereby unlocking the natural potash in the soil. 



