Experiments with different Top-Dressinys upon Wheat. 21) 
Wc thus see : — 
1. That 1^ cwt. of nitrate of soda and 3 cwt. of salt gave by 
far the most profitable return of all the top-dressinjjs. 
2. 'J'hat guano gave a better return than sulphate of aunnonia. 
3. That there; was hardly any economical advantage in apply- 
ing salt alone as a tojwlressing. 
4. That altliough the outlay for soot amounted to only IGs. per 
acre, it gave a less profitable return than tlie most expensive 
top-dressing in the list. 
Wheat Experiments made in 18G1. 
In the experiments which I tried in 1861, the same top- 
<lrcssings as in 1860 were employed, with the exception of soot, 
wliich was replaced by a manure called ulmate of ammonia. 
Having given before the composition of the other top-dressings, 
that of ulmate of ammonia alone requires to be here inserted. 
A fair average sample produced the following results : — 
Composition of Ulmate of uimmonia. 
Moisture 11-59 
*Organic matter and ammoniacal salts 75'94 
Oxides ol' iron, alumina, and traces of potash .. .. 2'f)2 
Carbonate of lime 2'22 
Alkalies, mas^nesia, &c 1'2G 
Sand .. G-47 
100-00 
♦Containing nitrogen 11-93 
Equal to ammonia ^ 14-49 
On further examination I found that this manure contains only 
2-05 per cent, of ammonia, in the shape of ammoniacal salts. It 
tlierefore hardly deserves the name of ulmate of ammonia, — a 
name which implies that most of the nitrogen present exists in 
the shape of ready-formed ammonia, which is not the case ; the 
nitrogen, of which there is a considerable quantity, occurs in the 
shape of organic matter. The manure is, in fact, composed 
almost entirely of nitrogenized organic matters, such as wool and 
hair, which have been subjected to a peculiar process of prepa- 
ration, that renders them much more soluble, and thus more 
easily available for the use of plants than such refuse is in its 
usual condition. Shoddy and wool-refuse are far too insoluble to 
be useful as a top-dressing for wheat. But as wool-refuse contains 
a great deal of nitrogen, I was anxious to experiment with this 
preparation, which is called in commerce ulmate of ammonia. 
The field on which the experiments were tried had a second 
year's crop of seeds in 1859, which was fed off by sheep. The 
land was clean and well cultivated. A portion of the soil was 
submitted to a mechanical and to a chemical analysis ; it yielded 
the following results : — 
