JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 9, 1882.] 
ins 
t 
9th 
Til 
Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. 
10th 
F 
Quekett Club at 8 I-.M. 
11th 
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Koval Botanic Society at 3.45 P.M. 
12th 
SUN 
3rd SUNDAY IN LENT. 
13th 
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14th 
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Royal Horticultural Society 7 , Fruit and Floral Committees at 
15th 
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Society of Arts at 8 P.M. [11 a m. 
FERTILISERS AND THEIR USE. 
C? ^T may be taken for granted that were stable- 
yard manure cheap enough and plentiful 
enough little other would be sought after. 
But in many localities it is not very easily 
obtained, and this makes a substitute neces- 
m - 
sary, or at least desired. A perfect substitute? 
however, can hardly be found, although mixtures 
of the different compounds now in the market 
may be made that will prove very satisfactory for a 
long time. 
Stableyard manure, although, perhaps, the best manure, is 
not quite perfect either, as I have before pointed out in these 
pages. For an ordinary rotation of garden crops it is deficient 
in potash, and so, in order to secure the best results, more re¬ 
quires to be used than would at all be necessary were only a 
little potash used along with it. Where animals are kept or 
their urine can be had this want is easily made good, for there 
the potash, wanting in the solid matters, is to be found. But 
those who have a difficulty in procuring even a small quantity 
of the solid cannot obtain the liquid at all ; hence it does them 
no good to know that the potash is in the liquid ; still the want 
may be made good at a very trifling expense. By the use of 
a quarter of a hundredweight of sulphate of potash one ton of 
stableyard manure may be made, worth fully two tons of ma¬ 
nure not so treated. For land that has been long dressed with 
stableyard manure alone, or other fertilisers also deficient in 
potash, there will be a surplus of phosphoric acid in the soil 
lying useless for want of potash, and in such cases half a hun¬ 
dredweight may be added to the ton of manure, with the result 
of making it equal to four tons not so treated for a time— 
i e., so long as there is a surplus of other matter in the soil to 
work up. 
It is preferable to add it to the manure heap rather than to 
apply it direct to the soil, and this for a double reason. Potash 
in this particular combination is not immediately available, 
and seldom affects the current crop, although by-and-by it be¬ 
comes plant food. Not long since I saw it liberally applied to 
Potato land that was known to be deficient in potash, and yet 
the Potatoes so treated were hardly superior to those not 
treated. In years after, however, anyone a mile off could 
trace its effects on the Clover crop, for where the sulphate had 
been applied the Clover grew luxuriantly, where none had been 
given it was insignificant. It had taken the sulphate all that 
time to become converted into the carbonate, in which state it 
is alone available practically as plant food. Applied to a warm 
heap of manure this change takes place very much more 
187 
rapidly ; and this brings me to state the second reason for thus 
preparing it. 
A fermenting manure heap gives off much ammonia, which 
not only pollutes the air, but is really a very valuable part of 
the manure. Carbonic acid also escapes, and this, too, is a loss, 
though not so important as the loss of the ammonia. Now, 
sulphuric acid has a greater affinity for ammonia than it has 
for potash ; and as the ammonia comes in contact with it, it 
leaves the potash and combines with the ammonia, forming 
one of the most exciting manures we possess. This must be 
regarded as a clear gain. When the potash is forsaken by the 
sulphuric acid the carbonic acid takes its place, and thus the 
potash is made ready for plant food. As both the substances 
described are very soluble in water, both will be washed from 
the heap if exposed to the rain, hence some covering must be 
used. 
In using this manure it must not be applied heavily, for it 
is much more quickly effective than ordinary manure. For 
top-dressings to Vine and other fruit-tree borders it is much 
better than ordinary manure, for such demand just what this 
has, but what ordinary manure has not. As its fertilising 
matters are very soluble it makes a top-dressing for everything, 
which takes effect at once if rain or waterings follow. On 
light soils it should only be applied when dug-in in spring, and 
as top-dressings either in spring or summer. On clay land its 
virtues will be held longer by the soil, and it may in such cases 
be applied in winter. 
When manure of this kind is scarce, and, indeed, in any case, 
every scrap of decaying vegetation should be carefully saved 
and placed in a heap to decay. This heap mixed with soil will 
renfler a garden to a great extent independent of manure, for 
when everything is replaced that is taken from the soil no 
further application of manure is necessary. There are, how¬ 
ever, some things always going never to return, and these must 
be replaced. When neither stableyard manure nor sew T age is 
to be had substitutes must be provided. 
Possibly guano is the best substitute for ordinary manure, 
and it is easily applied. From 1 to 2 ozs. to the square yard, 
according to the soil, the crop, and the necessity for manures, 
may be taken as an ample supply. This should be applied to 
the surface of the soil not long before cropping the land, and 
either well raked or lightly forked in ; it should not be dug in 
deeply. For top-dressing it is also very suitable. I have 
found it answer well for all vegetables except Potatoes, Peas, 
and Beans. When it is used alone a good dressing should be 
given, say to all kinds of Cabbages and Cauliflowers, and then 
Potatoes may follow without manure. When this plan is 
adopted, however, much better results will follow if a mixture 
of guano, nitrate of soda, and sulphate of potash in equal parts 
are applied to the crop which precedes the Potatoes, Peas, 
Beans, &c. In this case fine crops of these vegetables may be 
expected. I have found that Onions do well on the same land 
every year with a mixture of guano and sulphate of potash 
annually applied. 
For flower beds no better substitute for stableyard manure 
can be found than a good guano ; but it is important to save 
all decaying plants and leaves from the flower garden, which, 
when decayed and made into a compost with soil, will be quite 
sufficient by itself, more especially if all primings from shrubs, 
Roses, hedges, &c., are burnt and their ashes applied to the 
No. 89.— Vol. IV., Toiud Series. 
No. 1745.-vol. LXVII., Old Series. 
