JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Fe' ruary 16, 1811. 
NITROGENOUS MANURES. 
“ Is there any need for nitrate of soda on soil in good 
cultivation, containing a plentiful supply of manure and a fair 
amount of lime?” To this question of a correspondent we 
answered, “ Probably not,” but we could not be positive without 
knowing all about when and what manure had been used. / s 
spring is drawing near attention may usefully be called to the 
true value of nitrates in relation to other manure. 
If the abundance of manure mentioned by our correspondent 
as being present in the soil consists of decaying vegetable 
matter or of mineral manure, or if the soil last autumn was 
rich in phosphates and potash, much good would follow a spring 
dressing of from 1 to 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre. We 
may safely go further and say that, bearing in mind the cer¬ 
tainty of a loss of nitrogen in the drainage during winter, a 
moderate dressing of nitrate of soda in spring would make good 
such loss and ensure full vigour of growth; without it growth 
would probably be below par and the crop less abundant than it 
ought to be. There is nothing among manures so valuable as 
nitrate of soda if only it is used in the right way and at the 
right time. It has rightly been termed the golden key which 
unlocks the treasures of the soil. Without it growth is slow and 
feeble ; with it growth is sturdy, robust and rapA. At its 
present price in dock of £9 10s. per ton it would cost about 
12s. per cwt. on the land, and such an outlay per acre would 
prove a profitable investment for almost all fodder or corn crops. 
Try it! it is certain to repay you for the outlay by greater bulk 
of crop, and to give a feeling of conSdence in its use which 
can only be had by practice. 
For spring corn it long been our practice to mix it with 
mineral manures and drill it with the seed For Wheat, Winter 
Oats and Rye it answers best as a top-dressing at the end of 
February, or even at the beginning of the month for Rye in so 
mild a winter as this. Use it with confidence, watch results 
closely, and from knowledge so gained it will become in¬ 
creasingly useful year by year. It is undoubtedly a stimulant, 
but it never ran become a scourger of soil rich in humus 
or in phosphoric acid and potash. With mineral superphosphate 
at its present price of £2 15s. per ton, and potash also very 
cheap, we ought to be able to maintain the balance of fertility 
in soil. Basic slag is in such high demand just now that there 
has been some difficulty in keeping pace with eonsumers’ 
requirements. For spring use we prefer superphosphate, but 
there is something more to learn about the comparative value 
of these two kinds of phosphatio manure. With us the slag 
is on trial, and we hope to be able to offer a reliable report 
this season. Meanwhile, whatever kind of manure may have 
been used, nitrate of soda may follow as a top-dressing with 
advan'age. 
Take for example permanent pasture, Clover, seeds. Rye 
Grass, Lucerne, and Sainfoin. If any such fodder crops had 
a dressing of farmyard manure last autumn, a top-dressing of 
nitrate of soda now would set growth going with marvellous 
rapidity, and would much increase bulk of crop So, too, if 
showery weather sets in immediately after first cut of such 
crops is taken, a second dressing of the nitrate would again 
prove profitable. It may also often play an important part 
on permanent pasture, apart from the spring dressing, if its 
use is well timed in showery weather. After haymaking it 
may add much to the free growth of aftermath. In a long 
drought, with a supply of it at hand, advantage may be taken 
of a few brief showers of rain to give a dressing of it. We 
know it was so used with common salt last summer—about 
one part of nitrate to two of salt—when a showery day or two 
occurred in the midst of the drought. The salts were dissolved 
and sufficiently washed into the soil to reach enough of the 
roots to induce a growth of herbage of the highest value. 
Another crop for which it maybe now used is Winter Tares. 
We do not forget that Tares and all other pod bearers take 
nitrogen from the air, but we have proved to our own satis¬ 
faction that to have a full, strong, eaidy growth some nitrate 
of soda must be used. In Peas this is especially remarkable, 
and we may venture to say that with judgment and care our 
king of manures may be applied beneficially to all green crops, 
and that when used intelligently its purchase i- one of the best 
investments a farmer can make. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Though there has been some stormy weather, it has, on the whole, 
been favourable for early lambs, of which the yield is about up to the 
average. The flock is now folded on Swedes, which have plenty of 
green tops for the lambs to eat as they run forward. The lambs also 
have what mixed lamb food they can clear up, and the ewes a pint of 
crushed oats daily. The ewes have plenty of milk, the lambs are 
strong, and there is a fair proportion of twins. Hoggets have been 
cleared off at rather better prices than last season ; draft ewes, too, that 
were put into folds on upland grass in the autumn have been sold 
gradually as they become fit for the butcher. Much good work has again 
been done by folding them on grass. No other manure is required this 
season, but though there is clear evidence of a residue of fertility in the 
soil in the second year, it is insufficient to afford a full crop of herbage. 
An annual dressing of manure is therefore necessary for pasture every 
year. 
Cows are now calving, and care of the calves brings its own reward. 
Sorry indeed are we to find how necessary it is to insist upon plenty of dry 
bedding for calves ; yet again and again do we find them in filthy pens, 
where there is no clean place even on the floor for them to lie down upon. 
Such slovenly practice inevitably leads to losses from disease. Just so 
is it with swine : there can be no doubt that swine fever is caused by 
the filthy condition in which they are so frequently kept. Keep calves 
dry above and below—under a sound roof, in clean bedding, and where 
there are no cold cutting draughts. Feed them well, not twice, but at 
least three times daily. Thicken the milk gradually with linseed meal, 
and let condition and progress be your guide in feeding. Resolve to 
keep them in a fresh healthy condition. Much better is it to sell them 
than to suffer them to fall off in condition, or to be turned out exposed 
to wet, cold, and hunger. If this important part of live stock manage¬ 
ment had attention, and due heed was also given to judicious selection 
and breeding, there would soon be a marked improvement in our cattle, 
which would become proportionately more profitable. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat.61°32'40" N.: Long. 0*^ 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
Eain. 
1894. 
February. 
1 Barometer 
at 32“^, and 
1 Sea Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Eadiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
4 
30-484 
37-6 
37-1 
W. 
41-3 
49-3 
34-6 
64-8 
29-1 
0-030 
Monday ., 
5 
30’419 
47-2 
47-1 
N. 
41-6 
48-7 
36-4 
62 3 
34-0 
0-249 
Tuesday .. 
6 
30-254 
45-0 
44-1 
S. 
42-0 
53-9 
39-4 
56-9 
33-4 
— 
Wednesday 
7 
29-947 
53-6 
60-2 
w. 
43 0 
56-4 
45-0 
70-3 
43-9 
0-047 
Thursday Feb. 8 
30-230 
45-0 
40-8 
w. 
44-1 
49-7 
44-0 
79-9 
37-4 
— 
Friday 
9 
29-948 
45-6 
44-0 
s.w. 
43 1 
62-9 
38-0 
65-7 
31 9 
0-020 
Saturday .. 
10 
29-782 
44-2 
41-2 
w. 
42-9 
51-7 
40-2 
72-2 
34-4 
— 
30 152 
45-5 
43 5 
42-6 
51-8 
39-7 
66-0 
34 9 
0-354 
KEMAEKS. 
Ith.—Fine, with a good deal of sunshine in morning; a little drizzle between 5 anti 
6 P.M.; fair evening. 
5th.—Almost continuous drizzle till 3 P.M.; steady rain from 3 P.M. to 7 P.M. 
6th.—Overcast throughout; gale at night. 
7th.—Gale all day, and generally overcast, but occasional gleams of sun after 11 A.M. j 
drizzle in evening, and rain at night. 
8th.—Bright sunshine from sunrise to sunset; fine night. 
9th.—Fine morning, with a little sunshine aboutllA.M.; drizzle and slight showers 
in afternoon ; fine night. 
10th.—Fine, with frequent sunshine. 
Another warm week, and a very windy one.—G. J. SvMONS. 
