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Besides NH 3 , this liquor contains ammonium chloride, 

 ammonium carbonate, ammonium sulphide, ammonium 

 sulphate, cyanogen compounds, hydrocarbons, and organic 

 bases. If gas-liquor is used for irrigating crops it must be 

 diluted with 4 or 5 times its weight of water. 



863. If Ammonium Sulphate is purchased for manure, it 

 should be seen that it is very pure, i. e. containing 97 or 98 

 per cent, of pure (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 . The purity can be judged by 

 the following tests : (i) if a small quantity is heated it should 

 leave no residue of Na 2 SO,j, for instance ; (2) it should 

 be dry, and (3) it should be crystalline in appearance. It 

 is an excellent manure for lands naturally rich in phosphates 

 and it is profitably applied to cereals and grasses. It does 

 not act so quickly as Sodium or Potassium nitrate. Like 

 Sodium and Potassium nitrates, Ammonium Sulphate does 

 no good to leguminous crops. For sugar-cane, it is a favourite 

 manure. 



864. Sodium nitrate^ imported from Chili and hence called 

 Chili Saltpetre, contains 15 to 16 per cent, of N. Three parts of 

 Ammonium Sulphate are equal to 4 parts of Sodium nitrate as 

 far as N is concerned. NaNOs contains more N than KNO 3 . It 

 gives larger increase of crops than either KNO or (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 

 and it is an excellent top-dressing for cereals and grasses, but it 

 and the Sulphate should not be used too freely without phos- 

 phatic and potassic manures. When cereals show a tendency 

 to run too much to straw, NaCl should be applied mixed up with 

 NaNOs. One cwt. per acre is the usual dose both for Ammonium 

 Sulphate and Sodium Nitrate. In England the values of Am- 

 monium Sulphate and Sodium Nitrate are about the same, z>., 

 \\ per ton, which is rather more than Rs. 5 per maund. 

 We cannot expect to get either of these articles for less than 

 ^.7 per maund in this country, and as KNO : > is on the whole 

 a better manure, the use of this only is recommended for this 

 country. The conversion of each municipal trenching ground 

 into a regular nitre-bed where crude saltpetre for agricultural 



