April, 191 4 



dressiujj o( super, to the \uvcyiir>l 

 . ,>^.a a slope (liiriii}^ the winter, 

 and in the sprin},^ found the 

 part of it in his dam on a lower 

 part of tho property. With spring 

 application on tlie same class of 

 land yields have been increased 

 lully loo per cent. 



— Improvement of Inferior vSoil. — 

 It must be remembered that this 

 class of soil is very poor ni its 

 natural state, and mcapablc of 

 producinj;- heavy crops, but if by 

 manuring the yields can be in- 

 creased from one to two tons per 

 acre, it is putting such lauds to a 

 very prolitablc use. There can be 

 no doubt that the application 

 phosphates and me residts achieved 

 must depend on the type of soU 

 on the rainfall of any particular 

 locality, and it is also certain that 

 the greatest percentage increase 

 will be obser\ed upon lands of 

 the type referred to. As the oppo- 

 site to the loose sandy soils tnere 

 are the heaMer ty'pcs, oontaining a 

 large proportion of clay, which re- 

 tain the super, in spite of heavy 

 winter rainfall, and, linally, there 

 is the other extreirje, represented 

 by those areas of scant rainfall 

 where no results are obtained irom 

 artificial manures, exicept under 

 irrigation. li we take an average 

 of the vinegrowing districts it will, 

 in all probability, be found that 

 the winter application gives best 

 results. In the hea\ier types of 

 soil one of the main difficulties ap- 

 pears to be the placing of the 

 phosphate deep enough to allow 

 the vine roots readily to come in 

 contact with it, owing to the fact 

 that the phosphoric acid is persis- 

 tentb: retained by clayey lands in 

 the upper layers of the soil. Thus 

 it is possible to apply heavy dress- 

 ings of superphosphate without any 

 benefit accnungi to the vines. This 

 question was investigated in con- 

 nection with the Rothamstead 

 plots, and an analysis showed that 

 in soils which had been manured 

 for 50 years with super., 83 per 

 cent, of the unused residue of phos^ 

 phoric acid was retained in the 

 upper qin. of the soil, while in the 

 next I Sin. no accumulation of ph:os- 

 phoric acid was noticed. It was 

 further demonstrated that practice 

 ally the whole of the phosphoric 

 acid applied and not used by the 

 crops could be recovered with a 

 a weak solution of citric acid from 

 the to]) 9in. of the soil. At tlie 

 University of California the same 

 question was investigated by Pro- 

 fessor Loughbridge in connection 

 with the manuring of fruit trees. 

 Soil of a stiff, clayey nature re- 

 tained 3,0 per cent, phosphoric acid 

 in tlie first 6in., while the next 



bin. had only .05 per cent. Clay 

 retained i,<k)o 1I)s. in the surface 3 

 in., loam retained a similar 

 amount in the top bin., while sand 

 allowed free percolation to the 

 lower strata. The remedy then 

 must be to place the super, as deep 

 down in the plough furrows as it 

 is possible. Probably the simplest 

 plan is to open out a deep furrow 

 in the centre of the rows, and by 

 means of a simple distributing ma- 

 chine place the manure in the bot- 

 tom. In the more open, gravelly, 

 or alluvial soils there is not the 

 same necessity to apply so <leieply, 

 and here, no doubt, application 

 with a drill before the second 

 ploughing will give good results. 

 The quantities for application will 

 vary from 2 cwt. to 4 cwt. per 

 acre. 



— Potash. — 



Whereas we find nitrogen concen- 

 trated in the green portion of the 

 vine, potash, on the other hand, is 

 centred in the fruit, and is resppn- 

 sible for liea\y cropping. In com- 

 bination with the natural acidity 

 of the fruit it forms acid potassi- 

 um tartrate or cream of tartar. 

 Large quantities of this substance 

 are held in solution by the juice 

 of the grapes, and during the pro- 

 cesses of fermentation it is precipi- 

 tated bv the [onnation of alcohol 

 deposits in the storage vessels as 

 crude tartar ; in fact, so great is 

 the quantity^, that this commodity 

 forms the base of the conunercial 

 supplv of cream of tartar. In view 

 of the amount of potash contain- 

 ed, it will readily be understood 

 that a large supply of this sub- 

 stance in an available form is ne. 

 cessary for prolific cropping. It is 

 a well-known fact that an analysis 

 of most of the South Australian 

 soils shows a percentage of potash 

 e!c[Ual to all general reqaiirements of 

 the vine, but it does not necessari- 

 ly impljr that this potash is in a 

 form readilv available as plant 

 food. Possibly some corrective 

 treatment may be necessary to 

 bring- about a conversion of the 

 element from an insoluble to a 

 soluble form. Particularly does 

 this in the surface of clay 



soils deficient in lime, where the 

 potash is retained in the surfajce 

 as carbonate and cannot penetrate 

 to the roots in the lower layers. 

 This retention of potash salts is 

 an important factor in the fertility^ 

 of the soil, whereas the coriespond- 

 ing salts of sodium, which are in- 

 jurious to vegetation, are leached 

 out bv the rainfall. Plants absorb 

 I)otash more readily' as carbonate 

 than as sulphate and consequently 

 deep-rooted ones, such as the vine, 

 cannot obtain an adequate supply 

 for their needs when it is locked up 



in the surface layers. Under these 

 circumstances some corrective 

 treatnveiit is neede<l to release the 

 carl)onate ol ])otash. This is usual- 

 ly done with gyi)suni. A double 

 deco'iiipo.sition takes ]ilace betwi-en 

 the i)ot. carl), and calcinim. sulph. 

 Pot. .suli)h. is formed on the one 

 hand and cakium carbonate on the 

 other. As sulphate the i)otash is 

 washed down into the subsoil and 

 comes into contact with the roots; 

 but liefore it can be used another 

 conversion into the carbonate 

 must take place. First, a decom- 

 position of the sulphate into the 

 sulphide is brought about, and 

 this in combination with water 

 and carbonic acid reverts to the 

 carbonate. In lighter soils, parti- 

 cularly of limestone formation, 

 potash IS deficient, and such soils 

 will probably benefit by the ap- 

 plication of any of the potassic 

 manures- available. Of these the 

 sidp'hate and muriate are the most 

 desirable forms. Farmyard and all 

 organic manures are fruitful sources 

 of potash, but even where these 

 are obtainable the neces.sity- of 

 some additional quantity of the 

 element will be needed to Tial'ance 

 the effect of the other mitrienti ele- 

 ments. It must be borne in m.ind 

 that an increased fruit production 

 consec|uent on the use of potassic 

 manures is weakening in its effect, 

 and therefore the other elements 

 of plant food — nitrogen and phos- 

 i:)horic acid — must be raised in 

 s\-mpathy in order to maintain 

 the vicfor of the vines. 



— Lime and G\-psum. — 

 The amount of calcium needed by 

 the plant is not excessive, and is 

 generally icovered by the ilatural 

 percentage of lime in the South 

 Australian soils. Even here, how- 

 ever, lime is in many cases needed, 

 more particularly so in the heavy 

 clav lands. Its ef?ect is mainly 

 ph3-sical, namely that of flocculat- 

 ing the clay particles, opening the 



COOPER'S 



STOUT. 



Full-bodied and Nourishing, 1? 

 taking- the place of Imported Stou t 

 Recommended by Doctors, 



Write to— 



Thos. COOPER & SONS 

 Upper Kensias^OA. 



