DRESSING FOR MEADOW LAND.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13413, 10 May 1912, Page 8

DRESSING FOR MEADOW LAND.

From experience acquired in different { parts of tho country, it may bo asserted that, as a. general rule, capital results \ can be obtained from an u^nual dro&sing 1 of 10 tons farmyard manure, assisted 1 6y a moderate application of artificials.. Such a plan has proved to be more i profitable than a hoavy dressing of dung —the herbage is better, and there is no exhaustion of the soil; on the other hand, there is an accumulation of fertilL ity. The combined dressing that can • be recommended is :—Farmyard manure • 10 tons supplemened by basic slag scwt, farmyard manure 10 toiis, supplemented by superphosphate (30 per cent.) 3cwt, kainit 2cwt, nitrate of soda lew*. If a supply of farmyard manure should not be available, it has been proved that profitable and satisfactory crops can be ' grown by the use of artificials alone year after year, the chief condition be- ' ing that the dressing of artificials must [be a com i Vte one—that is, it must supply to the crop ammonia, phosphate, ! and potash. ' It was further demonstrated that the yearly application of a suitable, and complete mixture of artificials maintain the fertility oi the soil, whereas unsuitable and incomplete manuring rapidly leads to its exhaustion. A suitable mixture without farmyard manure, according to the experiment, consists of:— Superphosphate (30 per cent.) 4cwt, kainit Scvvt, nitrate of soda 1-Jcwt. If bent is prominent in the herbage, or if the land is inclined to be sour, or is of a clayey nature, txu equivalent quantity of basic slag should be used instead of superphosphate. It is pointed otit the kainit should be applied in autumn or early winter; basic slag early in the year; superphosphate, being a quick-acting manure, in early spring. Although no loss takes place if applied earlier; nitrate should not be applied till growth commences.