TOP-DRESSING WHEAT.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1141, 18 October 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

TOP-DRESSING WHEAT.

Very few, if any, of the farmers in these colonies ever think of applying a top dressing to their wheat fields in the spring, just at the time when a vigorous growth in the plant is most desirable. 'Jhe experiment not having been tried here as yet to our knowledge, it would be premature to prououuoe a decided opinion that buoh an operation would be attended with results even more satisfactory than are attained in Europe, though from the fact that our rainfall is considerably less than it is there, it might reasonably be expected that such would be the case. It is generally known that the effect of light doses of liquid manure upon plants grown in greenhouses and hothouses, applied just when they are " making their growth," as it is called, is to cause a strong, healthy, and vigorous growth, and that the greatest differences will be observable between plants thus treated and those left without the application. In choosing a top-dres-ing, however, it would be an impossibility t« recommend any particular form of manure as suitable in every case. The kind of manure suitable depends greatly, in u great measure, upon the nature of the soil, and the absence of certain qualities requisite to the well-being of the wheat plant. Where the wheatfields are of a light character and poor, owing to the continuous cropping to Ayhich they have been subjected, it would probably be advisable to use a superphosphate, or some inunuro rich in phosphoric acid, in the omlinary way of applying such manures ; but as the wheat plant depends almost entirely on nitrogenous manures " for the healthy and vigorous development of both grain and straw, it would be worth while to apply top-dressings of nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, or guano. But there are other nitrogenous substances suitable, if they could be obtained, such as shoddy, blood, soot, leather dust, rough nmmonical salts, and the like. Nitrate of soda is readily soluble in water, and heavy rains would be liable to dissolve it and wash it either out o v the ground, or to carry it down out of reach of the roots. Sulphate of ammonia, on the contrary, is retained by the soil. A good dressing for light land should consist of 2 cwt of Peruvian guano, 1 \ cwt of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia, and \\ to 2 cwt of salt per acre. For heavier land, 2 cwt each of nitrate of soda and salt is used at home. Auother dressing for light laud consists of lh cwt of nitrate of soda, 3 cwt of salt, 2 cwt of Peruvian guano, -j cwt of sulphate of ammonia, and 40 bushels of soot, mixed with a quantity of sand or fine earth, and sown broadcast over three acres. It must be borne in mind that nitrate of soda should never be used alone ; it is advisable always to use with it some other manure, such as guano, salt, or sulphate of ammonia. All topdressings should always be looked upon in the light of a stimulant or spur. The land should receive, before sowing, a good manuring with farm-yard "muck" ploughed in, and then the nitrates and other top-dressings would, by promoting a vigorous growth of leaf, induce a healthy action in the whole plant, causing it to develope gluten and starch in abundance, and thud yield a rich nourishing grain. — ' ydelaide Observes.'