On the Nitrate of Soda. 



135 



1. 112 square yards, without any manure, produced 9 stones 4 lbs. of 



hay, weighed, when newly made, equal to 2 tons 81 stones per 

 acre. 



2. 112 square yards, to which gypsum had been applied at the rate 



of 10 bushels per acre, gave exactly the same result : so that no 

 benefit arose from its use in this instance. It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that the grasses are of the ordinary kinds used 

 in pasture, i. e., white clover, rye-grass, timothy, &c., but with- 

 out red clover, to which gypsum is known to be beneficial. 



3. 112 square yards, to which nitrate of soda had been applied at the 



rate of 1 cwt. per acre, produced 14 stones 7 lbs., equal to 3 tons 

 146 stones per acre, being an increase of 1 ton 65 stones over 

 Nos. 1 and 2. 



4. 112 square yards, to which both nitrate of soda and gypsum had 



been applied in the above quantities, produced 14 stones — equal 

 to 3 tons 125 stones per acre — and 21 stones less than the pro- 

 duce where nitrate was applied alone. 

 The cost of the nitrate on the ground was 22^. per cwt., and the 



increased value of hay per acre, as it stood in the fields, would be from 



4/. to hi. 



From the many experiments which have been made, and which have 

 all proved more or less beneficial, no doubt can be entertained that 

 nitrate of soda is generally efficacious in the production of grass ; but 

 several experiments may yet be necessary to ascertain on which descrip- 

 tions of soil and to what class of plants it is most so, and to what par- 

 ticular stage of their growth it is to be applied with the greatest benefit. 

 I am inclined to think, from the little experience I have had in 

 the matter, as well as from the consideration that it does not act 

 through the medium of the soil, as a manure, but rather as a stimulus 

 to the plants, that it ought not to be sown upon the grass until it has 

 risen considerably from the ground, and the blades are sufficiently 

 evolved to derive all the benefit. 



I have the honour to be. Sir, 



Your obedient servant, 



John Grey. 



Dilston, near Newcastle^on-Tyne, 

 Northumberland, Sept, 26, 1840. 



I applied nitrate of soda to a row of potatoes, at an early period of 

 their growth. The tops soon showed the effect, and far outstripped the 

 adjoming rows in growth ; but when the potatoes were taken up, the 

 produce of that row was found to be less than that of the others, both in 

 weight and measure. 



The first action of the potato-plant is to throw out its top. The 

 roots make their growth at a later period. It seems, in this instance, 

 that the stimulus of the nitrate had expended itself in the earlier pro- 

 cess; and that, instead of being benefited, the roots had suffered by 

 the application — probably from the greater shades and weight of top. 

 Nov, 30, 1840. 



