436 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 30 , IMS. 
does not contain these it is worthless, and just in proportion as they 
abound it is valuable. But how are you to know when those 
virtues are present ? I can tell you how you can know when they 
are not. If a heap heats violently and becomes nearly dry the 
nitrogen has gone in the form of ammonia, and is known by its 
pungent smell. On the other hand, if the heap is so wet, and 
remains till dark-coloured liquid runs from it, you may be sure 
that the very essence of the manure is gone, its very soul and spirit 
have departed, and, though the body remains still, it is a dead one. 
Using manure thus exhausted is akin to eating tea leaves or coffee 
grounds after the extract obtained in the pot is thrown away. 
Those of you who can procure good manure that has not been 
spoiled by overheating on the one hand, or had its virtue drained 
out of it on the other, use it by all means, for it is good ; but if the 
heap is exhausted in either of those ways you may safely regard it 
as husk merely, not kernel. And what are known as artificial 
manures are infinitely better than it is, far cheaper, and contain 
ten times more food for plants and crop. The best chemical 
manures are natural manures concentrated—the kernel without the 
husk ; and if the right kinds are used in the light way you may be 
practically independent of the dung cart. This is a matter of the 
utmost importance, especially as where small gardens are numerous 
it is often difficult to obtain a sufficiency of stable manure ; and 
certainly an able-bodied man can carry more real manure—real 
plant food—in a sack than a horse can draw in a cart in the form 
of littery refuse from stables. 
A Simple Mixture. 
Naturally you desire to know what kinds and quantities of 
chemical manures to use, and when and how to apply them. It is 
of little use giving formulas or recipes for different crops if you 
cannot easily procure the ingredients. There are plenty of special 
mixtures in the market, and though good some of them are neces¬ 
sarily costly. The cheaper plan is to purchase a few of guaran¬ 
teed quality by the cwt. direct from merchants. The quickest 
of all fertilisers is nitrate of soda, but if u-ed alone it makes crops 
grow so fast that they draw the phosphates and potash from the 
soil, leaving it the poorer ; therefore these must also be used for 
sustaining fertility, keeping the larder well supplied with sub¬ 
stantial fare for the crops. Here are a few simple ingredients 
that make a good but not costly manure. 
cwts. or lbs. 
Superphosphate of lime .6 
Muriate of potash .3 
Sulphate of ammonia ... ... ... ... 2 
It would be easy to recommend a more complete manure, but 
elaborate formulas are not required by allotment holders ; and 
besides, most soils contain what is needed by crops, apart from 
what is included in the above mixture. It may be made simpler 
still by leaving out the potash, and this may be done when Clover 
grows very freely in the land, not otherwise. Mix and apply early 
in the spring. It may be scattered broadcast at the rate of 3 or 
4 ozs. to each square yard, and be lightly pointed or raked into the 
ground, or a good handful may be spread in a length of 7 or 8 yards 
of trench with Potatoes when planting. When crops are growing 
and do not move fast enough choose a dull or showery day, and 
scatter on the soil amongst and around them, not on the leaves, 
between 1 and 2 oz3. of nitrate of soda to the square yard, and run 
the hoe through the ground as soon afterwards as it is dry enough 
to work freely. If a few men who are in earnest join together and 
purchase those manures and use them intelligently they will greatly 
increase the sustaining power of the soil, and the return under a 
good system of cropping will more than justify the outlay. 
Chemical manures must be stored in a dry place. Nitrate of soda 
cannot possibly be kept too dry, as it attracts moisture the same 
as common salt does. Sulphate of ammonia does not, and some 
prefer it as a supplementary top-dressiDg used in the same 
quantity; it is not quite so quick in action as nitrate of soda, but 
more lasting in effect. 
It may be added that both these great fertilisers are open to 
adulteration—nitrate of soda with common salt, the crystals of the 
two being similar, and it should be purchased under a guarantee of 
5 per cent, refraction, which means 95 per cent, of pure nitrate of 
.soda. Sulphate of ammonia is open to adulteration with sulphate 
of magnesia (Epsom salts), and should be purchased under a 
guarantee of containing 24 per cent, of ammonia. However, a 
simple method of testing the purity is to throw a handful on a 
nearly hot shovel, and if the manure entirely disappears it will be 
genuine. Perhaps sulphate of ammonia is the best for soils 
inclined to be cold and wet, as nitrate of soda would by its deli¬ 
quescent nature tend to make them wetter and colder, therefore is 
more suitable for hot dry soil. 
I here are always persons who prefer a manure somewhat 
“ complete ” that requires no mixing. One of the best is ammonia- 
fixed guano, guaranteed to contain not less than 8 per cent, of 
ammonia and 20 per cent, of phosphates. It is excellent for crops 
generally when applied in the right quantities at the right time. 
The right time is very early spring, the right quantity about 2 ozs. 
per square yard, to be repeated in a few weeks if the land is poor. 
It is of little use applying chemical manures which take soms 
time to dissolve (and they must be dissolved before they can do 
good) late in the season in hot dry weather. Many that were 
really good have been condemned as useless because used too late. 
The real fault in such cases is with the men, and not with the 
material. Nitrate of soda may be used in showery weather at any 
time when crops need a push on, because with moisture present it 
acts at once ; therefore if the weather is dry when it is desired to 
apply this stimulant first give the ground a good soaking, then 
sprinkle on the salt-like substance, and as soon as the hoe can be 
worked freely run it through the soil. Never apply it in the 
autumn, or the rains of winter will wash its virtues right through 
the soil into the drains, and you will agree that liquid manure 
can do no good there. It is not so with phosphates and potash, 
which are, so to say, the solid food of crops—the bread and 
beef, if you like, of vegetation. These “last,” and will do far 
more good applied in January or February than in May and 
June. The mixture, however, above mentioned may be applied 
now (May) if the soil is poor, because a portion of it will be used 
for the benefit of the present crops, while the soil will be improved 
for others that follow. 
Liquid Manure. 
But there is another and most efficient form of manuring withiu 
the means of all who have plenty of water for the using. This, I 
am glad to learn, is the case of many of the Nottingham gardens. 
Water, I am told, is “laid on,” a provision which cannot be over¬ 
estimated. Petroleum casks are cheap, and those who procure them, 
run the water into them, and dissolve in this some guano or super¬ 
phosphate of lime and nitrate of soda, will have the advantage 
over those who do not in accelerating the growth and increasing the 
bulk of their crops. In this way you dissolve quickly what is much 
longer changing in the earth, and the crops appropriate the liquid 
food at once —indeed, it is in this form alone that they can extract 
food from the soil. This, for those who have the time to apply 
the liquid when it is needed, is the cheapest and most effectual 
method of manuring their gardens. 
You next desire to know the strength at which the liquid should 
be made. For easy remembrance it may be said that a pound of the 
best guano suffices for twenty gallons of water, or a pound of super¬ 
phosphate of lime with half a pound of nitrate of soda. Failing- 
these or sulphate of ammonia, soot makes splendid liquid manure— 
a peck sufficing for thirty gallons ; and the same quantity of manure 
from poultry or pigeon houses may be used in that quantity of 
water. Stir up well a few times, whatever may be used, for dis¬ 
solving the manure, then allow the liquid to stand and become 
clear. The clearer it is the better. It is only that which dissolves- 
in the water and becomes invisible, the same a3 sugar dissolves irt 
tea, that is of real benefit to plants and crops ; yet some persons 
stir up the mud at the bottom of the casks, suspending visible? 
matter in water. This is generally useless, and often worse in 
sealing the pores of the soil. 
Liquid manure, when kept in casks for some time, is not only- 
apt to become the reverse of agreeable, but that which escapes 
from it, and is offensive to you, is just what plants rejoice in—the- 
very essence of the liquor. This may be kept in it by adding a little 
sulphate of iron, an ounce or two probably sufficing. In small 
quantities iron is beneficial in the soil, but should not exceed 3 or 4- 
per cent, of the volume of liquid. 
In the absence of casks liquid manure may be made and used at 
once by stirring a quarter of a pound of guano well into a four- 
gallon can or pail of water, or half that quantity of nitrate of soda, 
or sulphate of ammonia, and applying forthwith where it is needed. 
The strength named is for garden crops, but it may be well to add 
that half is sufficient for plants in pots, and more should not be- 
used by the inexperienced. 
Application. 
Now comes the practical question of how often and how much 
liquid manure should be given to crops in the open ground. A 
generous supply once a week is usually sufficient, though such 
greedy crops as Celery in full growth, also Cauliflowers and 
Onions if they are wanted large, may have it twice a week, as also 
may Roses, for these sweet beauties like what is to them rich and 
nourishing wine. The quantity should equal a good fall of rain, 
or, say, what those -who measure it describe as an inch. As this 
represents about 23,000 gallons an acre, an easily remembered and 
good working deduction is half a gallon to the square foot of sit- 
