1 Frx., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 81 
Sometimes sulphuric acid is applied to guano. This has the effect of 
making the phosphate it contains soluble, and also of fixing that volatile 
gentleman I mentioned to you by the name of Ammonia. 
In our next lesson I will describe the rest of the artificial manures. 
Questions on Lesson 18. 
. In what manner should farmyard manure be stored ? 
. What is the meaning of the word “ fermentation” ? 
. What takes place in the manure pit when fermentation begins ? 
. How can fermentation be controlled ? 
. What ingredients pass away from the manure during fermentation ? 
What ingredients remain behind ? 
6. Why are artificial manures preferred by farmers to farmyard manure ? 
7. What quantity of farmyard manure should be applied per acre to a 
crop of turnips ? 
8. What proportion of farmyard manure is water? 
9. Are all the manures outside farmyard manure really artificial ? 
10. What plant foods become first exhausted from the soil ? 
11. How do artificial manures differ from farmyard manures in their action 
on the soil ? 
12. Name the artificial manures which contain only one ingredient of plant 
food. 
13. Whence do we obtain guano? What is guano? 
14. What percentage of ammonia is contained in the best guano? In the 
poorest ? 
15. Why should guano not be used by itself ? 
ok WN eH 
GROWING MANGEL WURZEL. 
By C. ROSS, Manager, Westbrook State Farm. 
It may not be out of place to offer a few remarks on growing mangels, as 
the season will soon be round to prepare the land for such crops. Growing 
root crops of all kinds will, doubtless, very soon be recognised as one of the 
most important concerns of dairy and other farmers. 
The Mangel Wurzel (Beta vulgaris, var. mantina) delights in a deep, strong 
soil, but will return a handsome yield from any ordinary farmland. This crop is 
often used as a corrective for very stiff, heavy clays, which are stronglyimpregnated 
with saline ingredients— sodium, chlorine, magnesia, and the like—where scarcely 
anything else will grow, with such good results as to indicate the use of common 
salt as a fertiliser being indispensable. If manure is used at all (and it will 
always pay to do so, especially on worn-out land), 1 can recommend the following 
as a perfect dressing :—Ten loads of farmyard manure, 2 cwt. superphosphate, 
4 ewt. kainit, and 1 ewt. or more of salt ; the two latter applied as top dressings 
to the growing plants, and horse-hoed in. If on very light soils, deficient 
in lime, Thomas’s Phosphate (basic slag), in conjunction with superphosphate 
and station slaughter-house refuse, where much salting is done, will give 
excellent results. Mangel is a very good succession on any kind of straw 
or stalk stubble. The land should be ploughed early so as to allow the surface 
soil to become thoroughly disintegrated by August, when it should be deeply 
harrowed to form a good bed of free mould; it will so retain more moisture, and 
the seed will not be so dependent on rain. I usually allow 30 inches between 
the drills when sowing. The distance from plant to plant may be regulated 
according to the variety and the size of roots required. A distance of 15 or 20 
inches, 1 think, averages the best results, but if very large roots are wanted 
