, 1876-05-27
No. 20.

~ ~ H'S' RpNh'OCSS " AANANSA4 ~NA'@
will find nutriInent and flourish.
The action of chemical agents, in distri-
buting the food elements of plants, is
still more powerful than that Of the me-
chanicaI. BY applying in proper quanti-
ties the nee nssary chemical manures, the
planter not only enriches his fields with
materials capable of taking part in the
nutrition of plants, but he also effects q
distribution of the ammonia and potash,
thereby replacing or aiding the mechanical
work of the plough, and the influence of
the weather while he is making his prepa-
rations.
1t is said by q modern Chemist" We
are in the habit Of calling manures all
those materials which when applied to
our fields increase the crops; but the
sam effect is produced by the plough.
1t is evident that the mere fact of a ~favoura-
bic influence exerted by Chloride of Sodium
Common salt,) Nitrate of Soda, Salts of
Ammonia, lime and organic matter, affords
no conclusive proof that these have acted
as n|U5litigc substances. The work perform
ed by the plough may be compared to the
mastication of food by those special or
gans with which nature has endowed ami
mails and nothing can be more certain
than that the mechanical operations of
agriculture do not add to the store OF
nutritive substances in o field but that
they act benefcially by preparing the
existing nutriment for the supply Of o
future crop. With equal certainty we
may know that chloride of sodium, nitrate
of soda, salts of ammonia, humus, and
lime, besides the action peculiar to their
element, perform also a kind of digestive
function comparable to that of the stomach
in animals, and in which they may partly
replace each other. These substances,
therefore, act benefciaIIy upon those kinds
of soil onIy in which there is a defect, not
in quantity, but in the form and condition
of the nutritive elements and they may
accordingly in their permanent action be
replaced by mechanical communion, or
exceedingly fine pulyerization of the soil.
BY the foregoing, it would appear that
nitrate of soda is more useful in its mechani-
cal influence than in its chemical action,
and indeed when we become educated
enough to ascertain the causes and effect
of chemical fertilizers, we will then won
der how we could be so unwise as to apply
such substances as actually deteriorate the
Juice of the cane and lessen the percentage
of its CRYSTALLINE vatue.
Apropos of the above, I quote from The
Sugar Cane, December LIST, 1875, page G32,
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and chemical
manures. 100 kilos. of nitrate of soda,
supposed to be here, contain 364,7 kilos.
of soda, representing 835'98 kiloS. of sui
phate of soda. Hence 1000 kilos. OF
nitrate of soda introduced into the soil
materials capable of converting 376e'76
kilos. of sugar into molasses, q fact which
explains the unsatisfactory results OBJ"
tanned by sugar manufacturers where this
salt has been used. The sulphate of am
monia has not this n INJURIOUS property"
This is the experience of many of our
intelligent planters, especially those man
aging the black soils, and however green
and luxuriant the application of nitrate
of soda may make the canes grown In the
central or sitter lands of this island, ac-
tual experience and intelligent observa-
ton prove that It is foreign to the former
(black soils). In selecting the auxiliary
fertilizers, the planter should be- guided,
not only by the effect produced on the
immediate crop as to quantity (although
this is his first consideration, but by the
influence. that certain chemical manures
have on the 1,;ce of the cane: he ought