ON MANURES. 



1 141 



descriptions of manure will be found useful on all classes of soils 

 except those derived from limestone and chalk rocks. 



Nitrate of Soda.—-\\. has been abundantly proved that for the 

 greater number of garden plants the nitrogen they use must be 

 converted in the soil into nitric acid, and the nitric acid into 

 nitrates, before it furnishes appropriate nitrogenous food. The 

 importance of nitrate of soda as a fertiliser thus becomes 

 obvious. It will increase the productiveness of nearly every 

 crop that is grown. It does not follow, however, that its applica- 

 tion is alike profitable on all crops : the profit depends very 

 much on the price of the produce in the market. 



Nitrate of soda contains from 15 per cent, to 16 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, and it is the most active and efficient of all the nitro- 

 genous manures, supplying plant-food of the most concentrated 

 and direct kind, and its action is both feeding and stimulating. 

 Its chief peculiarity is that it acts almost immediately on the 

 plant to w^hich it is applied. It is especially valuable in seasons 

 of drought, as it enables the young plant to root rapidly, and 

 become less dependent on surface moisture. 



To those who are accustomed to use farmyard or stable 

 manures our advice is to continue its use ; but if the object is to 

 grow maximum crops easily assimilable nitrates must be furnished 

 in some way to the plants, in addition to the slow-acting natural 

 manures. 



With few exceptions, all the fertilisers now generally used, 

 in proportion to the wants of the plant, contain a larger 

 quantity of phosphoric acid, potash, &c., than they do of 

 available nitrogen. Hence, if the market grower desires to 

 raise maximum early crops, he must furnish available nitrogen, 

 and the cheapest and best form to get this food is by nitrate 

 of soda. 



A grower of Tomatoes on a large scale says : " I cannot 

 recommend too highly the use of nitrate of soda in growing 

 Tomatoes, especially when early ripening is desired. When used 

 at the rate of 1501b. to 1751b. per acre, or one table-spoonful 

 to a single plant, and in connection with wood-ashes, the 

 total yield of early fruit will be largely increased. A larger 

 quantity of nitrate will increase the yield of fruit, but at the 

 expense of the net profit on the crop. However, great care 

 must be exercised in the application of nitrate of soda to any 

 plant, and especially to Tomatoes ; it should not come in direct 

 contact with either the stalk or the roots." 



The solubility of nitrate of soda and the readiness with which 

 it finds its way into the soil — the very qualities which render it 

 so valuable as an immediately available plant-food — have been 

 alleged as objections to its use. Old prejudices, however, as to 

 the exhaustive character are fast dying out in the light of a fuller 

 scientific knowledge. 



