MANURE TESTS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXIX, Issue 1675, 13 January 1903, Page 3

MANURE TESTS.

The potato crop in Ca-nbridges-hirtf and other parts of th» English F--n I oountry is the mos: import-xni. one, av ! and Professor Gilchris- am! Dr. Y,p .n have been carrying mil practical 'ix- ! periments in the use of A;i I entirely untnanured potion g.tv;- I 0: « jl3 cwts. of potatoes to ihe acre. Willi 1 20 tons per acrp of faint yard nuinui c, , 5 tons 13 cwts. O l ' mother t! o 20 tons of farm yard manure v. .is i;- ' peated, will) the a iditioo of 2 cwts. of | nil rale of soda, 3 cwts;. of suj». j phate. and 1| cwts. of sulphate of pot- ; ash. This gave 12 tons of jj<,tti:o,:.s ! p. j r acre. 1 The earon amount of artificial fertilisers as the last without the farm yard manure gave a return of 11 ton; 7 cwts. In another case, inst-ad of .'5 owls, of superpho-'phutfß 4 cvta. i;f Basic Slag, or Thomas' piiOnphaie-, was used ; and insiead of 11 tons 7 cwts., only 7 tons wen l (irown c.tSft the potash was left out, stud the, crop was no better Uian .hut Loin unmanured land— showing the it lino of potash to ihe potato crop. If dm nitrogen was omitted, the ntum dropped from 11 to 10 tons, \Vhero farmyard manure was us"d, it was found heat to get it in a month or more before plantiug. In estimating the value of t irm yard matter, it should be remembered tint this fen land is full of humus, (ho result of many centuries of decaying vegetable matter before the f»<ns wi ■ drained and brought nudei cn'iiva'-'o and one of ihe benefits of farm m-mure is the supp'y of humu>, v/h.-m if h lacking, as it is in so hjrgo a pnjj.oi i-ion of Australian uplands.