504 



Manuring of Turnips. 



tinctive differences in their efficacy. The chief conclusions 

 drawn are as follows : — 



, Nitrate of soda applied to the turnip crop at the rate of one 

 cwt. per acre with other artificial manures will give its best 

 results if half the quantity employed be sown in the drills and 

 jthe other half be applied as a top-dressing immediately after 

 jthe thinning of the crop. Nitrate of soda given! wholly in the 

 (drills produces a somewhat smaller yield, but it is more effec- 

 tive than the same quantity applied wholly as a top-dressing 

 after the thinning of the crop. Sulphate of ammonia given 

 wholly in the drills is quite as effective, or perhaps rather 

 more effective, than the equivalent quantity of nitrate of soda, 

 applied in the drills, but does not yield as large a crop as 

 nitrate of soda applied partly in the drills and partly as a top- 

 dressing. An equally effective method is to apply half the 

 nitrogen in the drills as sulphate of ammonia, and half as a 

 top-dressing of nitrate of soda. 



In the growth of the turnip crop with artificial manures 

 alone, potash forms an essential and important constituent 

 of the manure on the great majority of farms, and its 

 omission largely diminishes both crop and profits. Potash 

 is required on medium and stiff loams as well as on the 

 lighter classes of turnip soils. Kainit is the most suitable and 

 effective form of potash manure for the turnip crop when 

 applied in the drills in spring. Muriate of potash is some- 

 what less effective, while sulphate of potash gives decidedly 

 inferior results. 



While it has been shown in previous experiments that 

 superphosphate on ordinary arable soils produces in most 

 years a larger yield of turnips than the equivalent quantity of 

 basic slag, the experiments of 1900 show that, in some seasons, 

 the latter form of phosphatic manure will yield the larger 

 crop. Seasons favourable to basic slag are those in which 

 the autumn is wet and mild, and in which the growth of the 

 turnip crop is prolonged to a late period. The largest and most 

 uniform crop will be obtained, as a rule, by the use of both 

 forms of phosphatic manure in combination. The quantity of 

 phosphoric acid required by the turnip crop is not more than 

 that contained in 6 cwt. superphosphate '30 per cent, soluble), 



