Use of Artificial Manures. 



443 



when a liberal dressing of slag (say 5 — 7 cwt. per acre) should 

 be given, followed in subsequent years by nitrate of soda as 

 before. 



If the land is not of the character that responds to slag the 

 treatment should consist of annual dressings of a general mix- 

 ture of artificials, such as 1 cwt. nitrate of soda, 2J cwt super- 

 phosphate, and 2\ cwt. of kainit Needless to say, other sources 

 of nitrogen, phosphates, and potash may also be resorted to. 



Pastures should only receive nitrogenous manure if an 

 " early bite " for lambs or cows in spring is of great importance. 

 In other cases phosphates— sometimes with the addition of 

 potash— should alone be used. On land that suits basic slag 

 the treatment may be either about half a ton per acre of this 

 substance every six or eight years, or about a quarter of a ton 

 every three or four years. Which system will pay best can only 

 be determined by trial, but at least it may be said that in the 

 Cockle Park experiments the former has proved much the better. 

 Where a heavy dressing of slag is applied every six or eight 

 years it is an excellent plan to give cake to the stock — especially 

 from the middle of July — from the third or fourth year onwards. 

 In the case of lighter dressings at shorter intervals it may pay 

 well to use cake in the autumn and late summer of every season. 

 If the land is not of a character to grow abundance of clover, 

 moderate dressings of superphosphate or slag (3 or 4 cwt per 

 acre) possibly with 2 or 3 cwt of kainit, applied every three or 

 four years, with the use of cake during the latter part of each 

 season, may be recommended. On very light land fine bone meal 

 sometimes acts fairly well, but here, again, knowledge derived 

 from experiment will prove the best guide. 



General Hints on the Use of Manures. 



Of hardly less importance than the selection of manures is 

 their distribution. Whatever the amount of manure that may 

 be employed, care should be taken to have it spread equally 

 over the area for which it is intended. One should take pains 

 to secure good mechanical condition, and to do this it may be 

 necessary to pass the stuff through a half-inch riddle, breaking 

 all the lumps that fail to go through. Some manures, e.g., 



