On the Nitrate of Soda. 139 



CLOVER. 



T. Cwt. qrs. lbs. 



Produce per acre where the \ ^ ^ ^ 2o J^^^^^ 

 nitrate of soda was sown . j ' \ per ton. 



Produce where the nitrate of 1 

 soda was not sown . . . . j 



2 4 1 24 Ditto 



Cost of nitrate of soda per acre, and sowing 

 Clear profit per acre 



£. 



5. 



d. 



12 



5 



9 



8 



11 



10 



3 



7 



11 



1 



9 



0 



£1 



18 



11 



WHEAT. 



Bus. pk. pt. Bus. pk. pt. 



with nitrate of soda. )tij or^r n i 



2 ^^^g ' > Produce 2 0 5 per acre, 27 0 1 



Ditto without nitrate of 1 t ^ i lo a-<.^ to o to 



1 TO J } Produce 1 1 12 ditto. 18 2 12 



soda, 12 rods ... ' 



Sown 

 12 



In favour of nitrate of soda .0 2 9 ditto, 

 A poor, springy, sandy soil. 



Fornham, Suffolk, May Sth, 1840. 



John Muskett. 



Experiment on the application of Nitrate of Soda as a Manure 

 for Wheat. By W. H. Hyett, Esq. 



The soil on which this experiment was made is what is technically 

 called the stone-brash. It lies close on rocks of the upper oolite forma- 

 tion, which are powdered by Avet and frost with more than the usual 

 facility of rocks of that character. Their chief ingredient, a carbonate 

 of lime, therefore abounds in the soil. It was a doubt with the mere 

 chemist whether the use of a salt, the base of which is an alkali, on 

 soils where an alkaline earth prevails to such an extent, was likely to 

 be as beneficial as on soils where it does not. This experiment was 

 intended to afi"ord the practical result. 



The land on which it was used was quite clean and in good condi- 

 tion, though, from accidental circumstances, out of the usual course of 

 cropping. In 1838 it had been well manured, and drilled with swedes. 

 There was a heavy crop, about three-quarters of which were carted off, 

 and the rest fed off by sheep. In 1839 it was sown with vetches, about 

 two-thirds of which were carried off for the cart-horses, and the rest 

 fed off b}^ sheep. The land w-as prepared for the wheat crop between 

 September 13 and October 26, when it was drilled with white Sicilian 

 wheat, at the rate of two bushels an acre. The crop came up strong 



