1060 



Manures for February. 



Fhe returns from spring dressings are seen to depend very 

 much on the rime of application, but season plays so large a part 

 that it is impossible to foretell what the result will be. Where 

 only a small dressing is being given it may prove more effective 

 if applied rather late, but if a larger- return is sought and a 

 larger dressing given, early application is essential and late 

 application is highly speculative. 



2-Titrate of Soda or Sulphate of Ammonia for Spring Dressings 

 of Cereals. — Now that nitrate of soda is again obtainable 

 several correspondents are asking which is preferable as spring 

 dressing for cereals. There is usually not a great deal to choose 

 between them when comparison is made on the basis of equal 

 nitrogen content. (Sulphate of ammonia contains '20 per cent, 

 of nitrogen, while nitrate of soda contains about 16 per cent. 1 



On medium or light soils fairly well supplied with lime nitrate 

 of soda is about 5 per cent, better than sulphate of ammonia 

 containing the same amount of nitrogen. On chalk soils the 

 difference is less or disappears altogether. On heavy soils the 

 balance is in favour of sulphate of ammonia, since nitrate of 

 soda is apt to bring the soil into a sticky condition which, while 

 not as harmful for cereals as for roots, is nevertheless undesir- 

 able. On soils inclined to be sour the advantage lies with nitrate 

 of soda, since sulphate of ammonia on sour land may cause con- 

 siderable damage to the crop, especially to young seeds sown in 

 the corn, while nitrate of soda tends to counteract the injurious 

 effect of acidity. 



Improvement of Rough Pasture. — Farmers in hill and moor- 

 land districts commonly have large areas of rough pasture which 

 affords little subsistence to their animals. So long as it is un- 

 enclosed very little improvement is possible, but something can 

 be done as soon as fencing can be erected. It is often supposed 

 that a dressing of lime is the proper means of improvement, and 

 this practice is followed in many parts of the country. Experi- 

 ment has shown that lime is frequently not the best ameliorating 

 agent : basic slag or mineral phosphate is often much better. 



An interesting set of trials in North Wales* gave the following 

 results : — 



0)i Wet Acid Peat, by far the commonest in North Wales and 

 no doubt in other wet hill regions also, the effect of manure 



was : — 



1. Small where the herbage is mainly Molinia 'Purple Heath 



Grass). 



* Univ. Coll.. N. AYale*, Bangor, Rente, on Expt<.. 11»17 — 



