MANURES AND MANURING 35 



treated with nitrate that in many cases the unin- 

 itiated suppose them to be of entirely dififerent 

 varieties. 



The best method of applying nitrate of soda is by 

 broadcasting when the plants are perfectly dry. 

 The small grains of saltlike material bounce or glide 

 off the leaves without sticking to them and find 

 their way to the soil where they are quickly dis- 

 solved and almost im- 

 mediately the effect /^s^ 



upon the crop becomes 

 manifest. Nitrate may 

 be dissolved in water drag or flanker 



and sprinkled upon the 



soil at the rate of one ounce of nitrate to about one 

 gallon of water. If the soil is very dry some plan 

 should be employed to carry the nitrate down to the 

 place where sufficient moisture is available to dis- 

 solve it. This may be done by opening a light fur- 

 row and sowing the nitrate in it or by sowing the 

 nitrate broadcast and working it into the soil with 

 any of the ordinary cultivating tools. 



The importance and value of lime in connection 

 with soil fertility are just coming to be appreciated 

 and understood. The large quantities of organic 

 matter and most commercial fertilizers used by the 

 gardeners have a tendency to set up an acid con- 

 dition in the soil not satisfactory to the best growth 

 of most garden plants. Lime corrects this condi- 

 tion, and at the same time performs much other 

 helpful work in the soil. Heavy clays are made more 

 porous and open. Organic materials are decom- 

 posed more rapidly, thus releasing more quickly 

 the plant food they contain. Various mineral in- 

 gredients of the soil are attacked and modified in 



