HOCKINGS' GARDEN MANUAL 



11 



failed when made indiscriminately with, either lime, 

 bones, guano, gypsum, or salt. They have each- been 

 expected by some of their unthinking advocates to 

 produce marvellous results on every variety of soil and 

 for every description of crop. Land already charged 

 with saline particles will derive no benefit^ from a dres- 

 sing of salt, neither will land well supplied with lime 

 and its compounds be improved with a lime dressing. 

 But with a moderate amount of knowledge it will be 

 found there is no land but what may be improved ; 

 and the means of improvement are at the command of 

 every cultivator, small or great. 



Lime and salt are both destructive of insect life 

 and fungus, and as they greatly improve the texture 

 and fertility of soil previously deficient of them, their 

 application to almost all soils would be highly benefi- 

 cial. 



If all the sweepings and refuse of the farm-house, 

 fowl-house, pigsty, stable, and the human excrements 

 were carefully collected, mixed with green weeds, 

 and rolled into a pit, and all carefully applied to the 

 land, we should have less complaints of bad crops, and 

 the necessity of sending to Peru for guano would be 

 considerably diminished. 



Peruvian Guano is rendered less dusty, and, con- 

 sequently, more easy to handle, by being mixed with 

 an equal quantity of salt. Its value as a manure is 

 also increased. 



The following are the different kinds and rates of 

 manures applied to the acre of ordinary ground for 

 producing heavy crops :- — 



10 cwt. of crushed bones ... ... per acre. 



5 cwt. ditto and 10 tons farm-yard manure 

 5 cwt. ditto and l^cwt. Peruvian guano.., ,, 

 3 cwt. Peruvian guano ... ... ... 



1J cwt. ditto and 10 tons farm-yard manure 



20 tons farm-yard manure ... ... ... „ 



