1920.] 



Notes on Manures. 



loir 



In Mr. Buckley's opinion the average cow in milk from 

 ist December to 30th April will yield, approximately, gal., 

 and there will be in the average herd one cow dry to two cows 

 in milk. He therefore estimates the average cost per gal. 

 to be for each cow in milk 2778 pence per gal., for proportion 

 of dry cow 6-42 pence per gal. : total cost per gal. 34-20 pence. 



18 it too late to use Lime now ? — A correspondent writes to ask 

 whether it is too late to use hme in the following circumstances : 

 He has applied 16 tons of farmyard manure 



Notes on Manuree and intends to sow white spring oats ; 



for February : can he top-dress with Ume now, and, if so, 

 From the Rothamsted how close to drilling time will this be 

 Experimental Station, permissible ? 



The reply is that lime is hardly neces- 

 sary for spring oats, as this crop needs it much less than certain 

 other crops. The most effective place in the rotation to apply 

 lime is just before clover. It can also be used with considerable 

 advantage on barley and on swedes, but other arable crops do 

 not require it to so marked an extent. 



The simplest case arises where the clover is sown in the 

 barley ; lime can then be applied some time before drilling the 

 barley so that both barley and clover may benefit. 



The correspondent further inquires whether lime can with 

 advantage be given to mangolds. This crop does not respond 

 to lime so well as swedes, but if there is any difficulty in secur- 

 ing a tilth lime would be distinctly useful. Otherwise hme is 

 better reserved for the swedes and turnips. 



The worst place for putting on lime in the rotation is j ust 

 before the potato crop, and this should never be done where 

 there is any fear of Scab. 



Sulphate of AmmOnIa and Nitrate of Soda. — In reference to the 

 statement in the December notes (this Journal, November, 1919) 

 that the price of nitrate of soda compares favourably with that 

 at which sulphate of ammonia can be obtained, a correspondent 

 asks W'hether this implies that nitrate of soda is a better 

 fertiliser than sulphate of ammonia ? No such imphcation is 

 meant ; the two fertilisers are quite distinct, and although they 

 are often interchangeable it is by no means always possible to 

 use one instead of the other. Nitrate of soda is quicker acting 

 than ammonium sulphate and, therefore, in many cases more 

 useful. Further, it does not exhaust lime like sulphate of 

 ammonia and can, therefore, be used on light soils deficient in 

 this substance. On the other hand, ammonium sulphate is 



3 Y 2 



