ARTIFICIAL MANURES AND THEIR APPLICATION TO GARDEN CROPS

Plants, like animals, require food for their sustenance and development, and when this is administered in insufficient quantities, or unsuitable foods are supplied, they remain small, starved, and unhealthy. The chemical elements composing the natural food of ordinary crops are ten in number, viz.--carbon,



hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron. These are obtained from the soil and air, and unless all of them are available plants will not grow. The absence of even one of them is as disastrous as the want of all, and a deficiency of one cannot be made up by an excess of another; for example, if the soil is deficient in potassium the crop suffers and cannot be improved by adding iron or magnesium. All the food-elements are found in adequate quantities in practically all soils and the surrounding air, except three--nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These are often present in reduced amount, or in a state unsuited to plants; in such cases the deficiency must be made up before remunerative healthy crops can be grown, and it is with this express object that manures are added to the soil. One of the best known substances employed in this way is farmyard manure, which is indirectly derived from plants and contains all the elements needed for the growth of crops. It is, however, of very variable composition and rarely, or never, contains these elements in the most suitable proportions, and its value can always be greatly improved by supplementing its action with one or other of the so-called artificial manures or fertilisers. Although it is strongly advisable to add farmyard manure or vegetable composts to the soil of all gardens now and again, in order to keep the texture of the soil in a satisfactory condition, excellent crops can be grown by the use of artificial fertilisers alone. To obtain the best results from these some experience is of course necessary, but the following details regarding the nature and application of the commoner and more useful kinds should prove a serviceable guide in the majority of cases. Artificial manures may be divided into three classes:-- 1. The Nitrogenous class, of which nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia are examples. 2. The Phosphatic class, such as superphosphate, basic slag, and steamed bone flour. 3. The Potash class, including kainit and sulphate of potash. The several examples of each class contain only one of the three important plant food-elements, and as a single element can only be of use when the others are present in the soil, it is generally advisable to apply one from each class, either separately or mixed, in order to insure that the crop is supplied with nitrogen, phosphates, and potash. Nitrogenous manures specially stimulate the growth of the foliage, stems, and roots of plants, and are therefore of the greatest benefit to Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips, Beet, Celery, Asparagus, Rhubarb, all the Cabbage tribe, and leafy crops generally. Nitrate of soda supplies the single plant food-element, nitrogen, and the soda for all practical purposes may be disregarded. It dissolves very easily in water and is taken up immediately by growing plants, its effect being plainly seen a few days after application. As this artificial readily drains away from uncropped land it should only be administered to growing plants. It is best applied in spring and summer and in small quantities; for example, at the rate of one pound per square rod, repeated at intervals of two or three weeks, rather than in a single large dose. Nitrate of soda must not be mixed with superphosphate, but it may be added to basic slag and the potash manures. Sulphate of ammonia is another nitrogenous fertiliser, similar in its effects to nitrate of soda, but slower in action since its nitrogen must undergo a change into nitrate before it is available for plants. It is held by the soil, and can therefore be applied earlier in spring than nitrate of soda without fear of loss. The continued use of this manure, however, is liable to make the soil sour, and consequently it should only be employed on ground containing lime, or to which lime has been added. Never mix sulphate of ammonia with basic slag or with lime, but it may be mixed with superphosphate and the potash manures. Phosphatic manures have the opposite effect to the nitrogenous fertilisers, checking rampant growth and encouraging the early formation of flowers, fruit, and seeds. They are comparatively inexpensive and should be liberally applied to all soils for all crops. Superphosphate is an acid manure and best suited for use on soils containing lime. Basic slag is a better material for ground deficient in lime, or where 'club-root' is prevalent. It is less soluble and therefore slower in action than superphosphate. Both these fertilisers should be dug into the soil some time before the crop is planted or seed sown--superphosphate at the rate of two to three pounds per square rod; basic slag in larger amount, five to six pounds per square rod. Superphosphate may also be employed as a top-dressing and worked into the surface around growing plants with the hoe. Steamed bone meal or flour is another useful phosphatic fertiliser, valuable on the lighter classes of soil. Potash manures are of benefit to plants in all stages of growth. They are particularly valuable to Potatoes, leguminous crops, Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips, and Beet. Like the phosphatic manures they should be worked into the soil before seeds are sown or plants are put out. Kainit is best applied in autumn, for it contains a considerable amount of common salt and magnesium compounds which are sometimes deleterious and best washed away in the drainage water during winter. It should be dug in at the rate of about three pounds per square rod. Sulphate of potash is three or four times as rich in potash as kainit, and is correspondingly more expensive; apply in spring and summer, a little in advance of sowing or planting, at the rate of about one pound per square rod. Lime.--- A word or two must be said about lime, which is a natural constituent of all soils. In many instances there is sufficient for the needs of most plants, but where lime is deficient in quantity it must be added before healthy crops can be raised. Old gardens to which dung has been freely applied annually require a liberal dressing of lime every few years, or the ground becomes sour and incapable of growing good crops of any kind. To insure the proper action of whatever manures are used and to secure healthy crops, an application of slaked quicklime, at the rate of fourteen to twenty pounds per square rod, is strongly recommended. As a remedy against 'clubbing' or 'finger-and-toe' disease of the Cabbage tribe of plants it is indispensable; it also neutralises the baneful acidity of the land, and opens up stiff soils, making them more easily tilled, more readily penetrated by the air, and warmer by the better drainage of water through them. The following suggestions for the manuring of the different crops mentioned will be found effective. It is, however, not intended that they should be slavishly followed, for useful substitutions may be made in the formulae given, if the nature of the various fertilisers is understood and an intelligent grasp is obtained of the principles of manuring enunciated in this and the preceding chapter. In place of nitrate of soda, a similar quantity of sulphate of ammonia may be used. Instead of superphosphate, the following may be advantageously employed: phosphatic guano, or mixtures of basic slag and superphosphate, or bone meal and superphosphate; or basic slag may be applied alone on land deficient in lime. Four pounds of kainit may also take the place of one pound of sulphate of potash in the suggested mixtures mentioned below. Where dung is recommended, twenty to twenty-five loads per acre is meant; larger quantities are frequently applied, but these are uneconomical and much less efficient than more moderate amounts supplemented with artificial fertilisers. All the manures should be worked into the soil before sowing or planting out, except the nitrate of soda, which is best applied separately to the growing plants, preferably in small doses at intervals of two to four weeks. In all cases the quantities of artificials named are intended for use on one square rod or pole of ground. PEAS AND BEANS.--These leguminous plants are able to obtain all the nitrogen they need from the air. They should, however, be amply supplied with potash and phosphates, a good dressing being:-- 2-3/4 to 3-1/2 lb. superphosphate 3/4 lb. sulphate of potash DWARF BEANS are sometimes benefited by the addition of 1/2-lb. to 1 lb. of nitrate of soda.

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