MANURES AND FERTILISERS. 31 



and in the interval, applying in addition, specific 

 dressings of phosphates for particular crops. 



Potash Fertilisers. Potash may be applied as 

 sulphate, or muriate of potash, at the rate of 1 oz. 

 per square yard, 2 Ibs. to 30 square yards, 1J stones 

 to 300 square yards, or from 2 to 3 cwts. per acre. 



Flue-dust, from blast furnaces, etc., provides a 

 valuable source of potash, and when available this 

 should be kept dry and applied broadcast on the 

 dug surface of the ground. 



In all cases fertilisers should be applied on the 

 surface, and retained as long as possible in the sur- 

 face soil. They should never be dug in or buried 

 deeply. Certain fertilisers, if mixed before being 

 applied to the soil, react chemically on one another, 

 causing a loss of valuable ingredients, and in some 

 cases spoiling the mechanical condition of the manure. 

 It is better, therefore, to obtain and apply the fer- 

 tilisers separately, so as to provide the ingredients 

 most required to each crop, and at the same time 

 avoid mistakes in mixing certain of these fertilisers 

 together. 



Crop Requirements. It has been shown that 

 although a combination of the necessary plant foods 

 is essential for all crops, those food elements act in 

 a marked degree along distinct lines. And as crops 

 are grown for the particular parts of the plants that 

 are utilised for food, the subject resolves itself into 

 the question of how best to manure for the maximum 

 development of those parts, consistent with good 

 quality. The answer lies in supplying to crops in 

 greatest abundance those food elements best calcu- 

 lated to influence growth along the desired lines, and 



