276 



I March, 190^ 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



NOTES ON MANURING. 

 By Arthur E. Dixon, f.g.s., m.e. 



To restore fertility to the soil is the 

 object of manuring, which consists in 

 adding some substance which shall itself 

 serve directly as a food for the plant, or 

 shall so modify by chemical action some 

 material already present in the soil as 

 to convert it into a state in which the 

 plant may take on some advantage. 



Deterioration is quickly taking place 

 on all land that is exposed to the sun 

 and rain of this climate, and we are 

 under the necessity of placing food in 

 the ground for the crop Ave are going to 

 produce. The following are substances 

 which may be added as direct food for 

 plant life :— 



1. Gypsum, or sulphate of lime. They 

 are capable of decomposing the carbon- 

 ate of ammonia which = is either brought 

 down by the rain or evloved by putre- 

 faction in the soil, and of converting it 

 into sulphate of ammonia. 



2. Phosphate of Lime, or bone ash, 

 which is most commonly converted into 

 the soluble superphosphate of lime by 

 sulphuric acid before being used as a 

 manure. Its action is slow and healthy. 



3. Chloride of Sodium, or common 

 salt, serves as a source of sodium in 



ontact with carbonate of lime. 



4. Nitrate of Soda, yielding both soda 

 and nitrogen as food for the plant is 

 quick in its action. 



5. Silicates of Potash and Soda are 

 useful for all cereals. 



6. Green Manuring, or plant life 

 ploughed into the ground and left to 

 decay. 



7. Bones, which furnish carbonic acid 

 and ammonia by the putrefaction of 

 their gelatinous matter, supply as well 

 phosphate of lime. 



8. Urine, yielding much carbonate 

 of ammonia by the decomposition of the 

 urea and uric acid and an abundance 

 of the phosphates and other saline 

 matters required, by the plant. To use 

 this much-neglected manure cattle 

 kraals might be cemented out and 

 drainage made into a receiving pit, 

 when such liquid urine, watered over 

 the upspiiuging plant life, would give 

 a much heavier yield of crop. 



9. Lime acts chemically upon the 

 constituents of the soil so as to render 

 them more serviceable to the plant, 

 and modifies in a very important man- 

 ner both the organic and mineral por« 



tions of the soil. Its action on the 

 former consists in promoting decay ; on 

 the latter it asserts the decomposition 

 of minerals, particularly those which 

 contain alkalies, converting them into 

 soluble forms 



10. Fallow Ground. In 

 fertility is restored to exhausted soil by 

 allowing it to lie fallow for a time so 

 that, under the influence of air and 

 moisture, chemical changes may take 

 place and again replenish food for the 

 plant. This does not necessitate in all 

 cases that cultivation shall cease, but 

 that a rotation of cropping shall be pro- 

 perly carried out. The possibility of 

 this rotation is partly accounted for 

 by the difference in the mineral food 

 removed from the soil by different 

 crops. Thus turnips require alkali and 

 lime, wheat much alkali and silica, bar- 

 ley lime and silica, clover lime. Sugar 

 and starch are constructed in the plant 

 from carbonic acid and water. That 

 gluten and added life result from the 

 mutual compounding soil with ammo- 

 nia, phosphoric acid, and phosphates, so 

 that it is well to study what each plant 

 requires, so as always to keep your 

 land stocked with abundant life. Those 

 who take this trouble, and use useful 

 manures and sound cultivation will in 

 the long run be the most benefited by 

 having heavier crops of better quality, 

 with smaller acreages under cultivation, 

 and food for every season of the year. 



There are kyanite, lime, gypsum, soda 

 and alkali deposits in this country 

 awaiting development for the use of 

 the agriculturist. There is needed a 

 revolution in the way farm yards and 

 stables are worked and built, so that 

 the thousands of pounds' worth of 

 manure be not wasted while the owner 

 is buying the imported article. 



If the system of rotation were adopted, 

 the utilization of farm yard manures 

 acted upon, and the local deposits 

 developed, yeilding cheap and useful 

 manure, we would see that our exports 

 would be increased. 



It would seem that only adverse cir- 

 cumstances and hard times would bring 

 about progressive movements in farm- 

 ing, but it is helpful to see that in 

 certain districts there are progressive 

 farmers who are irrigating, manuring 

 and cropping their land, and many who 

 see their development are looking into 

 the matter, and it is to be hoped that 

 each farmer will so educate his children 

 that they will be able to know fo 



