298 TALKS ON MANUF.ES. 



In this I agree with him. But while I should not expect arti- 

 ficial manures, when used alone, to prove as cheap or as valuable 

 as stable-manure at present prices, I think it may well be that 

 a little nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, and superphosphate 

 of lime, or dissolved Peruvian guano, might be used as an auxil- 

 iary manure to great advantage. 



Mr. II. E. Hooker, once sowed, at my suggestion, some sulphate 

 of ammonia and superphosphate on part of a block of nursery 

 trees, and he could not perceive that these manures did any good. 

 Ellvvanger & Barry also tried them, and reported the- same nega- 

 tive result. This was several years ago, and I do not think any 

 similar experiments have been made since. 



"And yet," said the Deacon, " you used these self same manures 

 on farm-crops, and they greatly increased the growth." 



" There are several reasons," said the Doctor, u why these ma- 

 nures may have failed to produce any marked effect on the nursery 

 trees. In the first place, there was considerable prejudice against 

 them, and the nurserymen would hardly feel like relying on tlic><.: 

 manures alone. They probably sowed them on land already well 

 manured ; and I think they sowed them too late in the season. I 

 should like to see them fairly tried." 



So would I. It seems to me that nitrate of soda, and superphos- 

 phate, or dissolved Peruvian guano, could be used with very great 

 advantage and profit by the nurserymen. Of course, it would 

 hardly be safe to depend upon them alone. They should be used 

 either in connection w r ith stable-manure, or on land that had pre- 

 viously been frequently dressed with stable-manure. 



MANURE FOR FRUIT-GROWERS. 



How to keep up the fertility of our apple-orchards, is becoming 

 an important question, and is attracting considerable attention. 



There are two methods generally recommended I dare not say 

 generally practised. The one, is to keep the orchard in bare- fal- 

 low ; the other, to keep it in grass, and top-dress with manure, and 

 either eat the grass off on the land with sheep and pigs, or else 

 mow it frequently, and let the grass rot on the surface, for rnulcli 

 and manure. 



" You are speaking now," said the Deacon, " of bearing apple- 

 orchards. No one recommends keeping a young orchard in grass. 

 We all know that young apple trees do far better when the land is 

 occupied with, corn, potatoes, beans, or some other crop, which can 

 be cultivated, than they do on land occupied with wheat, barley, 

 oats, rye, buckwheat, or grass and clover. And even with bearing 



