444 



Use of Artificial Manures. 



kainit and sulphate of ammonia, go into hard, almost rock-like 

 masses if stored for some months, and when in this condition 

 the expense of pulverising them is no small matter. This is 

 one reason why it is seldom desirable to store manure for a long 

 period. If this has to be done the addition of a small proportion 

 of peat-litter dust or sawdust will make the substance more 

 friable. The necessity of insisting on good mechanical condition 

 is evident from the fact that one often sees artificial manure 

 being sown containing lumps as large as a walnut and sometimes 

 as large as a cricket ball. Not only does the presence of 

 lumps prevent much of the crop getting its fair share of the 

 dressing, but the spots on which the lumps fall are actually 

 poisoned, so that the plants are weakened or killed outright. 

 The loss from the latter cause is greatest in the case of such a 

 crop as clover, and with highly soluble manures like nitrate 

 of soda. Patchy distribution is also very serious where it is 

 specially desirable to produce a uniform crop, as in the case 

 of barley. The danger of loss from washing into the drains or 

 subsoil is also greater where distribution is defective. 



Besides lumps, unequal distribution may be brought about by 

 wind, by an unskilful workman, or by an attempt to put on a 

 large dressing by a single " cast." Too often one sees the sower 

 attempting to put on so much that directly his hand clears the 

 edge of the sowing-sheet a considerable amount of manure falls 

 at his feet. The effects of such work may be afterwards traced 

 in brown and withered lines of crop running parallel across the 

 field. 



Unequal distribution of another kind is met with where a 

 farmer gives a large dressing to one field, or one part of a field 

 and a small dressing elsewhere. Needless to say, this is quite a 

 rational proceeding where the land is known to vary markedly 

 in fertility. But sometimes, owing to miscalculation or other- 

 wise, one finds a farmer, for no sufficient reason, giving a liberal 

 allowance of manure to part of his crop and a small allowance 

 to the rest. Now, it is an incontrovertible principle in manuring 

 that the profits from a small or moderate application per acre 

 of manure are relatively greater than in the case of a large dose. 

 For instance, it must pay better — other things being equal — to 

 put 20 cwt. of nitrate of soda on to 20 acres at the rate of 1 cwt. 



