AUXTLIAHT AND EXCEPTIONAL MANURES. 97 



nure is applied for the first time on newly reclaimed land. 

 A top-dressing of farm-yard manure always produces a 

 good effect. In a wet season it is washed into the soil. 

 In a dry one it is often very efficacious as a mulch on 

 grass and arable land, too, if, as is sometimes done, it be 

 applied to the latter immediately after the croj) is put in, 

 and before the plants come up. 



Artificial manures may be applied either in a dry or 

 liquid form, broadcast, or in the drill. The common 

 practice for root crops, beans, and peas, at least, is to 

 deposit in the drills either by hand or machine; but for 

 potatoes, where roots are grown on the ridge, the manure 

 is frequently distributed broadcast, previous to forming 

 the drills, when it becomes more mixed with the soil. 

 There are now manure distributers in use for this purpose; 

 and they are equally suitable for applying top-dressings of 

 lis-lit manures. 



Great advantage has attended the use of the water- 

 drill for sowing turnip and mangel seed in dry seasons. 

 By applying the manure in a liquid state, the germina- 

 tion of the seed and the subsequent brairding can gener- 

 ally be relied on. In a dry climate, the water-drill is 

 desirable in any 3^ear, if root crops, which have to be put 

 in at the driest and hottest season, are to be successfully 

 cultivated. The same quantity of manure is used as in 

 the dry state, and the quantity of water is regulated by 

 the condition of the land and the dryness of the atmos- 

 j^here. Superphosphate and guano are the most suitable 

 manures for the water-drill. 



The need of providing for the self-maintenance of a 

 soil by good management of the home resources is hardly 

 of the urgency that it once possessed, now that we have 

 helps in auxiliary manures, formerly unknown, at our 

 command, but in economical agriculture the question 

 will always 'oe important ; and the alternative of main- 

 taining fertility by the purchase of auxiliary manures 

 5 



