1921.] 



Notes on Manures for March. 



1153 



better and made approximately twice as much growth without in 

 any way interfering with the barley. The slag was applied 

 in the spring. Frequent complaints are received at Rothamsted 

 of the failure of young seeds; many causes no doubt operate, 

 but shortage of lime and phosphate is probably a frequent source 

 of trouble. In such cases application of lime and slag offers a 

 method of dealing with the problem which is both simple and 

 effective. 



Spring Dressings of Nitrogenous Fertilisers on Oats. — In 



last month's Notes it was shown that spring dressings of 

 nitrogenous fertilisers benefit the wheat crop ; other experiments 

 show that such dressings are of great advantage to the oat crop 

 also. For example, in 1919 the following results were obtained 

 at Rothamsted. The grain yielded in bushels per acre was : — 



Top dressing. Expt. A. Expt. B. 



None ... ' 64 ... 49 



Sulphate of ammonia 80 ... 63 



Nitrate of soda 72 ... 69 



while the yield of straw in cwt. per acre was : — 



Top dressing. Expt. A. Expt. B. 



None 80§ ... 25i 



Sulphate of ammonia ... ... ... 40£ ... 34 



Nitrate of soda 41 f ... 38 



The gain from the use of the sulphate of ammonia or the nitrate 

 of soda is very evident both in grain and in straw. 



Nitrolim as Fertiliser. — Enquiries are being made as to the 

 proper use of nitrolim. When applied to arable land it should 

 be put in with the seed and not used as a top dressing. During 

 the War some attempts w r ere made on the Continent to obtain 

 satisfactory results from top dressings of nitrolim, but they were 

 not successful. Similarly in this country a few trials have been 

 made of the effect of nitrolim in top dressings, but nothing useful 

 was obtained. In one case a mixture to be cut for green food 

 was used as the test crop. Some of the results from equal areas 

 were : — 



No nitrolim ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 66§ cwt. 



Nitrolim as top dressing ... ... ... ... ... 66f „ 



Nitrate of soda ... ... ... ... ... ... 70 j „ 



On grass cut for hay, increased crops have been obtained so 

 long as the material is applied sufficiently early; thus at Rotham- 

 sted the yields were : — 



No nitrolim ... ... ... ... ... 27 cwt. hay per acre. 



Nitrolim ' 32 „ „ 



Elsewhere, in another experiment where it was applied late, 

 no increase was obtained. No fertiliser can be expected to act 

 unless it is properly used, and all experience shows that the 

 proper use of nitrolim is to work it early into the soil and 

 not use too late. 



