Basic Slag for Meadow Hay. 



205 



Basic Slag for Meadow Hay. 



During the past few years a number of experiments in the 

 manuring of meadow or old land hay has been conducted in 

 all parts of the North of England from the east coast of 

 Durham to the west coast of Cumberland. These experi- 

 ments, which have been conducted under the direction of the 

 Durham College of Science, have shown that so far as the 

 North of England is concerned, land devoted to the growth 

 of hay may be divided into two classes, viz., land that is not, 

 and land that is, greatly benefited by the action of basic slag. 



On land of the former class the experiments have indicated 

 that complex manures (i.e., manures in which the nitrogen, 

 phosphates, and potash are each or all supplied from two or 

 more distinct sources) should be used, and that they should 

 be applied frequently. Where the land is markedly improved 

 by slag it has been found advantageous to apply large (7 to 

 10 cwts. per acre) and occasional dressings of this 

 manure either by itself or with a potash manure. But if slag 

 is to prove markedly beneficial the conditions must be such 

 as to favour the growth of clover, for slag improves land 

 largely through the agency of clover. On this point Professor 

 Middleton remarks : " This manure has a direct and an 

 indirect effect on the pasture. Like superphosphate and 

 dissolved bones, it supplies phosphates, and phosphates 

 benefit the majority of the plants that make up a hay crop ; 

 but to a greater extent than any other phosphatic manure 

 slag stimulates the growth of the clovers, and the advantage 

 of using this substance on its own peculiar soil is due to the 

 fact that it enables white clover to cover the ground before 

 the grasses become strong enough to dispute the surface with 

 it. In the ' battle of the meadow ' white clover is not a 

 strong fighter, but when suitably aided it strikes quickly. It 

 is when slag enables clover to obtain a temporary mastery 

 that it becomes of peculiar value as a manure." 



In cases where slag fails to improve poor grass land on 

 which it might be expected to work well, experiments have 

 shown that the failure is usually due to the soil being naturally 

 deficient in potash, and before using slag it is therefore 



