52 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Kainit is particularly suited for the growth of potatos, as it 

 both increases the weight of the produce and improves the 

 quality of the tubers. It may also be used for vines and fruit 

 trees, as indeed for most garden products, and also for lawns and 

 paddocks. It may be mixed with superphosphate, nitrate of 

 soda, or sulphate of ammonia. 



Sulphate of Potash supplies in each ton weight about 1,120 lbs. 

 of potash, therefore more than double that of the kainit ; it is 

 especially helpful to all leguminous crops, such as peas, beans, 

 scarlet runners, and similar plants. Vines, fruit trees, and 

 roses will develop sturdily and bloom efficiently with an 

 available supply of potash, combined with some phospbatic 

 manure. 



Muriate of Potash is now largely used as a manure ; it may 

 contain 80 per cent, of potash, or 1,792 lbs. per ton ; therefore, 

 per unit is frequently cheaper than sulphate of potash. It is a 

 useful manure for fruit trees, but in some soils when applied to 

 potatos it tends to make them waxy rather than mealy. 



Phosphate of Potash is a manure which embraces phosphoric 

 acid and potash in one, yielding per ton 851 lbs. of phosphoric acid 

 with 558 lbs. of potash. This will be found a substance ready for 

 immediate assimilation, offering plants phosphoric acid and 

 potash in an acceptable form, especially adapted to horticultural 

 purposes. 



The four last items on Table V. refer to nitrogenous manures. 



Sulphate of Ammonia is a manure supplying nitrogen at the 

 rate of 448 lbs. per ton. It is one of the most concentrated forms 

 in which ammonia can be used, and is at the same time one of 

 the most active and readily available forms. 



From an economical point of view this manure cannot be 

 recommended for chalky and limestone lands, as lime assists to 

 expel the ammonia in the state of gas. 



It has been found that sulphate of ammonia is a better 

 manure than nitrate of soda, for applications with phosphates on 

 clayey and strong soils. It is slower in its action than nitrate of 

 soda, since its ammonia has to be converted into nitrates in the 

 soil before it is available as food to the majority of plants. 



The efficiency of a given amount of nitrogen in manure is 

 greatly dependent on the completeness of the accompanying 

 mineral supply, and especially on that of potash and phosphates. 



