te, but one third of it is common salt, and in effect upon
quality it should be classed with muriate and not sulphate. Its low
content of plant-food should confine its use to regions relatively near
the seaboard. When shipped far inland, the price becomes too high to
give a reasonably cheap pound of potash.

Wood-ashes.--Wood-ashes contain lime and potash, with a small
percentage of phosphoric acid. The market price is above agricultural
value, and any needed potash should be obtained from the German potash
salts.

Other Fertilizers.--Manufacturers of commercial fertilizer make use of
other materials, some of which, like manufactured nitrogen, are
excellent, and others are low in quality and slow in action. The
sources of plant-food that have been described form the great bulk of
all fertilizers on the market, and from them may be selected all the
materials a farmer needs to use on his land, either singly or
home-mixed. In most instances the selection will embrace only four or
five of these fertilizing materials.

Salt.--Salt is not a direct fertilizer, and its use is not to be
advised unless it can be secured at a very low price per ton. Some
soils have been made more productive by the application of 200 to 300
pounds per acre, and chiefly in case the salt was mixed well with the
soil when the seed-bed was made. The practice of using salt as a
top-dressing on wheat in the spring gives less effectiveness it is
believed. Salt frees potash in the soil, and may have some practical
effect upon soil moisture. As a soil amendment, salt has had more
reputation than its performance justifies. If land is infertile, it is
better, as a rule, to apply actual plant-food.

Coal-ashes.--There is no plant-food of value in coal-ashes. The
physical condition of heavy soils is improved by an application, and
their use may be quite profitable in this way if cost of application is
small. When used as a mulch, ashes conserve moisture.

Muck.--The use of muck pays in stables, as it is a good absorbent and
contains some nitrogen which gains in availability by mixture with
manure. Its direct application to land as a fertilizer does not pay the
labor bill under ordinary circumstances.

Sawdust.--As a fertilizer, sawdust does not have much value, but serves
as an excellent absorbent in stables. Its presence in manure need not
cause fear of injury to the soil. When fresh sawdust is applied in
large quantity to a sandy soil, the effect upon