On Nitrate of Soda. 



363 



beyond the reacli of the roots, and that may be the cause of its 

 having been distanced by guano in the experiment made this 

 year in Windsor Park,* which experiment, however, in any case, 

 serves to prove the great benefit arising from either in a pro- 

 pitious season upon poor grass-\din.(\s. Now, in wet weather, 

 the ammonia of guano, according to the discovery of Mr. Way, 

 being converted within the soil into a fixed double salt, would 

 remain within reach of the roots, incorporated with the soil, 

 perfectly safe. There would seem, therefore, to be a balance of 

 advantage in reference to weather between these two Peruvian 

 manures, cubic nitre being more secure from loss by tlie sun, 

 and guano least exposed to percolation from excessive showers. 

 The latter danger, however, is the least threatening one in the 

 usual season for top-dressing, March and April. Still we require 

 many experiments before we can speak positively, and there will 

 be some difficulty in making them, because nitrate, and guano 

 too, act the most signally upon impoverished land, while the 

 farms of our members, whether owners or tenants, will seldom be 

 found in that state. But there is no shadow of doubt that 

 nitrate is at least equal to guano as a top-dressing for corn ; and 

 since superphosphate is quite as wholesome as guano for turnips, 

 we have the remedy in our own hands for abating the present 

 exorbitant charge for guano, by diminishing its use until that 

 charge be abated. Indeed, except for experiments, I have long 

 given up the use of guano upon my own farm, because nitrate 

 and superphosphate act with more certainty here, the one on corn, 

 the other on turnips. 



It has been proved, then, that nitrate, even at its present high 

 price, can compete successfully with guano as a manure for our 

 corn crops. In the improvement of my barley-crop last spring 

 it may even be said to have answered the Society's desire, 

 expressed by our premium of 1000/. for a manure equal to guano, 

 to be sold at the price of 5/. instead of 9/. per ton ; that is, 5^. 

 instead of 95. per cwt. For one cwt. of nitrate produced 18| 

 bushels of barley, which, according to the usual proportion in 

 the yield of the two crops, is equivalent to 14 bushels of wheat ; 

 but according to Mr. Lawes, 1 cwt. of guano, costing 9^., pro- 

 duces 3 bushels of wheat ; now an amount of barley equivalent 



* It is right to mention that, besides this experiment, which stands in the pre- 

 ceding article, another comparative trial, made on the Duke of Somerset's pro- 

 perty, also placed guano above nitrate for grass-land (Journal, x. 400). If this 

 superiority do not arise from its endurance of rain, we must look for it in the other 

 ingredients of guano — phosphorus, namely, and potash. Phosphorus, however, has 

 failed repeatedly when applied to any grass-land but the Cheshire clay. But there 

 are strong grounds for thinking that potash acts upon poor mossy pasture-land, to 

 which land wood-ashes are commonly applied in Hampshire; and two cwt. of 

 guano contain 16 lbs. of potash, according to Mr. Way's standard (Journal, 

 X. 225). 



