| No. of | Bushels dressed | |
| plots. | Kind of manure. | grain, per acre. |
| 27. | No manure | 2-1/2 |
| 12. | Phosphate (bone-ash) | 5-1/6 |
| 18. | Nitrate | 6-1/4 |
| 21. | Phosphate and nitrate | 5-1/3 |
| 22. | Potash | 26-1/2 |
| 17. | Potash and phosphate | 42-1/3 |
| 10. | Potash, phosphate, and nitrate | 45-1/2 |
| 38. | Potash, phosphate, nitrate, and gypsum | 51 |
CHAPTER XXIV.
ON THE METHOD OF APPLICATION AND
ON THE MIXING OF MANURES.
Having considered the manuring of the different crops, we may now pass on to the consideration of some points in the method of application and on the mixing of manures.
Equal Distribution of Manures.
A most important object in applying manures is to effect equal distribution of the manure in the soil. This is often, however, unusually difficult to do, especially in the case of artificial manures, where the quantity to be spread over a large area of the soil is extremely small. The difficulty in the case of farmyard or other very bulky manure is not so great. In order to overcome this difficulty in the case of artificial manures, it is often advisable to mix them with some such substance as sand, ashes, loam, peat, or salt. The manure is thus diluted in strength, and a very much larger bulk of substance is obtained to work with. Circumstances must decide which of these substances to use. If the soil be a heavy clay, the addition of sand or ashes may have an important mechanical effect in improving its texture; while, on the other hand, if it be a light soil, the addition of peat may improve its mechanical condition. It must also be remembered that peat itself contains a large amount of nitrogen, and thus forms a manure of some value. In using loam or peat to mix with artificial manures, they should be first dried and then riddled; while if ashes be used, they should be previously reduced to a fine state. Wood-ashes, however, must be used with caution, and ought not to be mixed with ammoniacal manures, as they are apt to contain caustic alkali, which would tend to drive off the ammonia in a volatile state.
It has been recommended, in order to save trouble and effect equal distribution, that the manure to be applied should always be made up to the same amount, so that the farmer by experience may ascertain the rate at which to apply it. And here it may be well to say a word or two on the subject of mixing manures—a subject with which the farmer is not always so conversant as it is desirable in the interests of his own pocket he should be.
Mixing Manures.