earth dug out of old tanks in renovating them, though not 

 quick acting manures and though they may be all called 

 nitrogenous manures, do more permanent good to the soil, 

 as they contain all the ingredients the plant requires and as 

 they have no special power of dissolving the soil and render- 

 ing its constituents too readily available as plant-food. 

 Where leaf production is sought, the application of salt- 

 petre should be resorted to without any hesitation. It should 

 be noted, however, that the saltpetre should never be applied 

 at the time of germination or brought in contact with leaves. 

 It is to be mixed up with soil, or spinkled very much 

 diluted with water, ashes or earth. 

 (3) Potash manures. 



(a) Ashes of all kinds, especially ashes derived from 

 soft parts of plants and from seeds, as for instance, cowdung 

 ashes. 



(b) Animal excreta, vegetable moulds, rotten leaves, tank 

 earth, indigo refuse &c. 



This class of manures is also helpful to certain vegetative 

 functions i.e , to the production of leaves, deposition of 

 starch, formation of roots and also to flowering and fruiting. 

 A maund of cowdung contains about \ seer of potash, 

 \ seer of nitrogen, \ seer of P 2 O 5 , if 20 maunds of cowdung 

 are applied per bigha t the soil receives an addition of about 

 10 seers of N, 10 seers of K 2 O and 5 seers of P 2 O 3 . A 

 maund of oil-cake contains about 2\ seers of N, i seer 

 of P 2 O 5 , and a little over of i seer of K 2 O, in other words, 

 oil-cakes are 5 times richer than cowdung in N, 4 times 

 in P, and quite equal to cowdung as a potassic manure. As 

 potash is more or less abundantly present in every soil, 

 the application of i maund of oil-cake is equivalent to that 

 of 4 or 5 mds. of cowdung ; in other words, 4 or 5 mds. per 

 bigha is an adequate application of oil-cake for all ordi- 

 nary crops (i.e. rice, jute, &c.). Crops valued for their 

 leaves or for pods are more benefited by the application of 



LLL 



