CHEMICAL FERTILISERS. 



35 



little dung being dug into the soil for Marrows if anyone likes to do 

 it, but it is not necessary.^ 



In reference to this point, I had the best Marrow bed of my life in 

 1901. It was established on well-dug but unmanured soil. The 

 plants were a little slow in starting, and we only cut one or two odd 

 fruits in July, but when they fairly got going they never stopped 

 until a sharp frost blackened them about the middle of October. 

 They grew incessantly and vigorously, sending out great, strong, 

 sprawling shoots in all directions. One plant covered a square rod 

 of ground, and would have covered a good deal more if it had not 

 been checked ; while as to crop, it never stopped bearing while it 

 lived, and on one occasion I counted a dozen fruits on an area of less 

 than a square yard. 



The remarks herewith made on the manuring question may be 

 summarised as follows : — 



(1) Manuring (i.e. the application of dung and chemical fertilisers) 

 is not the real secret of fertility. 



(2) Manure will not compensate for the absence of thorough 

 cultivation. 



(3) Manuring is a useful adjunct to tillage. 



(4) In general, the present system of manuring is wasteful and 

 unscientific. 



(5) Vegetable crops may usefully be sectionised for feeding 

 purposes. 



(6) With good tillage equally satisfactory results may be secured 

 with " artificials " as with clung. 



Notes on Chemical Fertilisers. 



The knowledge that chemical manures have been used with highly 

 successful results in vegetable growing, and may be in other cases if 

 a proper system is adopted, cannot fail to prove of interest to large 

 numbers of people. Except to those who keep stock, or are in a 

 position to make a contract for a large supply of yard or stable 

 manure, the article is difficult to get of good quality at a reasonable 

 price ; moreover, it is bulky, and awkward and expensive to handle. 

 There is an idea that country gardeners have no trouble in the 

 matter, but this is erroneous. Farmers and stockkeepers have 

 manure, professional gardeners can often command a supply, but the 

 majority of other cultivators are often driven to extremities from the 

 want of the wherewithal to fertilise the ground. 



Chemical manures are inferior to yard manure in s'ome respects, 

 and superior in others. In some soils yard manure is valuable from 

 its mechanical action, and because in its decay warmth is given out. 

 On the other hand, chemicals are easily accessible, cheap, portable, 

 cleanly, and of concentrated power. 



Nitrogenous Fertilisers. — The two great nitrogenous manures 

 are nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. After several years of 



