THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 IRVINE 
 
 Gift of 
 THE HONNOLD LIBRARY
 
 COMPLIMENTS OF 
 
 WILLIAM S. MYERS, Director 
 Chilean Nitrate Committee 
 
 25 MADISON AVENUE 
 NEW YORK
 
 FOOD FOR PLANTS 
 
 New Edition 
 With Supplementary Notes 
 
 EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY 
 
 WILLIAM s. MYERS, D. sc. F. c. s., Director, 
 
 Chilean Nitrate Propaganda. 
 
 Late of New Jersey State Agricultural College. 
 
 25 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK

 
 PREFACE 
 
 This is the eleventh edition of Food for Plants and, 
 after repeated and extended revisions, the work has 
 come to have a standard place in our American farm 
 literature. It now includes results of original investi- 
 gations and experiments on Highlands Experimental 
 Farms. 
 
 The main purpose of all the within recorded ex- 
 periments has been to demonstrate the value of Nitrate 
 of Soda in the scheme of rational fertilization on a 
 practical scale. The investigations have covered more 
 particularly the questions of amount of Nitrate and 
 other chemicals to be employed, time of application 
 for most profitable results and practical methods for 
 the preparation of grass lands and the harvesting of the 
 hay crop. 
 
 These recorded experiments conclude the field 
 work intended as demonstrations in farm practice of 
 what may be' accomplished by the rational use of 
 Nitrate of Soda under average farm conditions in a 
 typical dairy section of New York State. 
 
 The earlier results have appeared from time to 
 time in former editions of "Food for Plants," "Grass 
 Growing for Profit," and "Growing Timothy Hay for 
 Market," all practical farm books of value, based on 
 actual scientific and sound practical data. Studies 
 having been made of methods of crop growing, from 
 the preparation of the land to handling and marketing 
 the crops, it is believed that these volumes have unique 
 and unusual value. 
 
 WILLIAM S. MYERS.
 
 FOOD FOR PLANTS 
 
 Nitrate is a powerful plant tonic, food and ener- 
 gizer. It is not a stimulant in any sense of the word; a 
 very small quantity does a very large amount of work. 
 
 We never recommend the use of Nitrate of Soda 
 alone, except at the rate of not more than one hundred 
 (100) pounds to the acre, when it may be used without 
 other fertilizers. The phosphate fertilizers may gener- 
 ally be applied in connection with Nitrate of Soda 
 at the rate of about two hundred (200) pounds to the 
 acre. This rate will be found generally profitable 
 for all crops. Nitrate is best applied as a Top-dressing 
 in the spring soon after vegetation begins to grow. It 
 will be found quite satisfactory also in its after-effect 
 in perceptibly sweetening sour land. 
 
 It is well known that animals, and especially the 
 young ones, must have all the food they 
 can digest in order to properly develop fQ^pi a ^ S 
 and grow. This is equally true of 
 plants. Plants will manage to live on very little food, 
 but to grow, thrive and bear fruit they also require 
 an abundance of food. 
 
 The Food of Plants consists of a number of ele- 
 ments, including Nitrate, phosphate, lime and potash. 
 Nearly always two of these are lacking in adequate 
 quantities to produce crops, especially is Nitrate want- 
 ing in the vast majority of instances. 
 
 In this case the normal growth and ._ K^ 
 
 u e 4.1, -n u r -4. j it 1S 
 
 yield oi the crop will be limited only by 
 
 the quantity of Nitrate it can properly assimilate. 
 There might be an abundant supply of all the other 
 elements, but plants can never use other kinds of food 
 without Nitrate. 
 
 Nitrate Nitrogen is the food that 
 
 isjnearly always deficient. The ques- Nearly 6 Always 
 tion that presents itself to the farmer, Deficient, 
 gardener and fruit grower is, How can
 
 F Piants ^ su PPly m y plants with Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
 
 - potash, in the best forms and at the least expense? We 
 
 will try to throw some light upon this question in the 
 
 following pages. We will take first, Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 ..... There are several sources of phos- 
 
 Phosphoric Acid. , .j ., i i_ i 
 
 phone acid, the principal being bones 
 
 and rock phosphate. Of these, the rock phosphate is the 
 cheapest source. A prevailing impression exists that 
 superphosphate made from rock phosphate is not as 
 good as that made from bones. It has been shown by 
 many experiments that this idea is entirely without 
 foundation. What the plants want is available phos- 
 phoric acid, and it makes little or no difference from 
 what source it is derived. 
 
 The largest deposits of rock phosphates exist in 
 South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. These beds 
 of phosphate are supposed to be composed of the petri- 
 fied bones and excrements of extinct animals. When 
 this substance is ground and mixed with a sufficient 
 quantity of sulphuric acid, the larger part of the phos- 
 phoric acid which it contains becomes soluble in water, 
 and hence available as plant food. This fact was one 
 of the greatest agricultural discoveries of the age. 
 
 When the rock phosphate is thus treated with sul- 
 phuric acid, it becomes what is commercially known as 
 superphosphate, or acid phosphate. The same is true if 
 ground bone is treated in the same way. Good super- 
 phosphate, or acid phosphate, contains 14 per cent, of 
 soluble phosphoric acid. 
 
 p , , The best sources of potash are 
 
 sulphate of potash and unleached wood 
 ashes, which latter contain from 3 to 5 per cent, of 
 potash in the form of carbonate. They also contain from 
 1 to 2^ per cent, of phosphoric acid. They are worth 
 usually, as plant food, from $7.00 to $11.00 per ton, 
 not to mention the valuable lime they contain. 
 . Nitrate is the most important and 
 
 effective element of plant food, and at 
 the same time, as stated, is the one that is generally 
 deficient in the soil. 
 
 Lands must have meals, that is, food cooked for 
 them in advance. The sun will help do this cooking,
 
 as its heat and light promote nitration which is really p? od . for 
 
 a process of cooking and also pre-digestion. When the 
 
 plant food is cooked and prepared for use it is Nitrate, 
 hence Nitrate of Soda is in a class by itself, different 
 from all other plant foods. 
 
 There are a great many sources of Nitrogen, such 
 as dried fish, cotton-seed meal, dried blood, and tank- 
 age. But none of these furnish Nitrogen in the Nitrate 
 form in which it is taken up by plants. This can only 
 be furnished to plants in the form of Nitrate of Soda. 
 Nitrogen applied in any other form must be first con- 
 verted into Nitrate before it can be used by plants at 
 all. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda contains the Nitrogen that is neces- 
 sary for the growth of plants, and is the best form in 
 which to furnish Nitrogen to plants. When we say 
 the best form we mean as well the best practical form. 
 Nitrate of Soda not only furnishes Nitrogen in its 
 most available form, but it furnishes it at a lower price 
 than any other source, because 100 per cent, of it or all 
 is available. 
 
 No other form containing so much available plant 
 food is also capable of unlocking the latent potash in 
 the soil. 
 
 How Nitrate Benefits the 
 Farmer. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, from the stand- 
 point of the agricultural chemist, is a What Nitrate 
 
 i * j i . i . . . . Looks Like ; Its 
 
 substance formed by the union or nitric chemical 
 
 oxide and soda. In appearance it re- Properties, 
 sembles coarse salt. In agriculture, it 
 is valuable chiefly for its active Nitrogen, although it is 
 also a soil sweetener and is frequently capable of 
 rendering available potash in the soil. 
 
 Commercially pure Nitrate con- What it is in 
 tains about 15 per cent, of Nitrogen, Agriculture, 
 
 equivalent to 18.25 per cent, of Am- 
 monia, or 300 pounds of Nitrogen to the ton.
 
 Fo df ? r Nitrate of Soda is found in vast 
 
 Fo^nd 6 l quantities in Chile. The beds of Ni- 
 trate, or "Caliche," as it is called in 
 Chile before it is refined, are several thousand feet above 
 the sea, on a desert plain extending for seventy-five 
 miles north and south, and about twenty miles wide, 
 in a rainless region. The surface of the desert is covered 
 with earth or rock, called "costra," which varies from 
 three to ten or more feet in thickness. Under this is 
 found the "Caliche," or crude Nitrate. The layer of 
 "Caliche" is sometimes eight or ten feet thick, but 
 averages about three feet. This "Caliche" contains 
 on the average about 50 per cent, of pure Nitrate of 
 Soda. 
 
 There is ample Nitrate now in sight to last, it is 
 calculated, upwards of two hundred years. 
 
 The "Caliche" is refined by boiling in water to 
 dissolve the Nitrate. This hot water is then run off 
 
 Method of and allowed to cool in tanks, when the 
 Refining. Nitrate forms in crystals like common 
 salt. The Nitrate is then placed in bags of a little over 
 two hundred pounds each and shipped to all parts of 
 the world. How these beds of Nitrate were formed has 
 been the subject of much speculation. The generally 
 accepted theory is, that they were formed by the 
 gradual decomposition and natural manurial fermen- 
 tation of marine animal and vegetable matter, which 
 contains a considerable amount of Nitrogen. The pro- 
 cess of refining is an expensive one. 
 
 The same wise Providence that stored up the coal 
 in the mountains of Pennsylvania to furnish fuel for 
 people when their supply of wood had become ex- 
 hausted, preserved this vast quantity of Nitrate of 
 Soda in the rainless region of Chile, to be used to furn- 
 ish crops with the necessary Nitrate when the natural 
 supply in the soil had become deficient. 
 
 The enormous explosive industry of this country 
 
 Its U could not be conducted without Ni- 
 
 trate of Soda, and glass works are de- 
 pendent upon it. In fact, glass works and powder 
 works usually have Nitrate on hand. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda has a special bearing on the prog-
 
 ress of modern agriculture, being the most nutritious 
 form of Nitrogenous or ammoniate plant food. While 
 the action of micro-organisms with . . 
 
 certain crops (legumes) combines and ^Modern* 1 
 makes effective use of the inert Nitrogen Agriculture, 
 of the atmosphere, such action is far 
 too slow and uncertain for all the requirements of 
 modern agriculture, for it is not available for use for a 
 whole year or even longer. The rapid exhaustion of 
 combined Nitrogen has several times been noticed by 
 eminent scientific men, with reference to food famine, 
 because of a lack of the needful Nitrogenous plant food. 
 It has been estimated under the present 
 methods of cropping the rich lands of 
 our Western States, that tor every 
 pound of Nitrogen actually used to 
 make a wheat crop, four to five pounds are utterly 
 wasted. In other words, our pioneer agriculture has 
 proceeded as though fertility capital could be drawn 
 upon forever. 
 
 This injudicious waste is already reducing the 
 yield of many of the best lands, rendering the use of at 
 least a small application per acre of Nitrate both profit- 
 able and necessary. The agricultural 
 value of Nitrate of Soda has had the Eminent Scien- 
 
 attention of the foremost agricultural sts ^L w A rld 
 i ,-f. f Pi ii Over Well Ac- 
 
 and scientific specialists or the world, quanted with the 
 
 including such men as Dr. Wagner Great Value of 
 and Professor Maercker, of Germany; Nitrate. 
 Lawes and Gilbert, Sir William 
 Crookes, Dr. Dyer, Dr. Hall and Dr. Voelcker, in Eng- 
 land; Professors Grandeau, Cassarini, Migneaux, and 
 Cadoret, in France; Professors Bernardo and Alino, 
 in Spain; and Drs. Voorhees, Brooks, Duggar, Ross, 
 Patterson, Hilgard and Garcia in America. The re- 
 sults obtained by these officials may be summarized 
 as follows: 
 
 1. Nitrate of Soda acts very beneficially and with 
 great certainty upon all straw-growing plants. 
 
 2. It is of special value for forcing the rapid de- 
 velopment and early maturity of most garden crops. 
 
 3. It is of great importance in the production of
 
 F Di d f J su g ar beets, potatoes, hops, fodder crops, fiber plants, 
 
 iii 
 
 and tobacco. 
 
 4. It is exceedingly valuable in developing and 
 maintaining meadow grass and pasture lands. 
 
 5. In the early stages of development it produces 
 favorable results upon peas, vetches, lupines, clover, 
 and alfalfa. 
 
 6. It has been applied with much advantage to 
 various kinds of berries, bush fruits, vineyards, orchards 
 and nursery stock, and small fruits generally. 
 
 7. It provides the means in the hands of the 
 farmer, for energizing his crops so that they may better 
 withstand the ravages of drought, or the onslaughts of 
 plant diseases or insect pests, such as boll weevil, and 
 others. 
 
 T _. 8. It may be used as a surface ap- 
 
 plication to the soil, from time to time, 
 as the plants indicate a need of it by their color and 
 growth. 
 
 9. It is immediately available, and under favor- 
 able conditions its effect upon many crops may be 
 noticed within a few days after its application. 
 
 10. It may be used either as a special fertilizer, 
 or as a supplemental fertilizer. 
 
 11. The best results are obtained from its applica- 
 tion when the soil contains ample supplies of available 
 phosphoric acid and potash. It should always be re- 
 membered that it furnishes the one most expensive and 
 necessary element of plant food, namely, Nitrogen, and 
 of the various commercial forms of Nitrogen, Nitrate is 
 the cheapest. 
 
 12. Its uniform action seems to be to energize the 
 capacity of the plant for developing growth. Its action 
 is characterized by imparting to the plant a deep green, 
 healthy appearance, and by also causing it to grow 
 rapidly and to put out numbers of new shoots. 
 
 13. The immediate effect of an application of 
 Nitrate of Soda, therefore, is to develop a much 
 larger plant growth and its skillful application must 
 be relied upon to secure the largest yields of fruits 
 and grain. 
 
 14. Under favorable conditions of moisture and
 
 cultivation, these effects may be confidently antici- od for 
 pated upon all kinds of soils. 
 
 15. All of the plant food contained in Nitrate of XI 
 Soda is available and existing in a highly soluble form. 
 The farmer should understand that it is not economical 
 
 to apply more of it than can be utilized by the crop ; one 
 of the most valuable qualities of this fertilizer being 
 that it need not lie dormant in the soil from one season 
 to the next. 
 
 16. The best results are secured when it is applied 
 during the early growing period of the plant. If 
 applied too late in the development of the plant, it has a 
 tendency to protract its growing period and to delay the 
 ripening of the fruit, as the energies of the plant are 
 immediately concentrated upon developing its growth, 
 after a liberal application of Nitrate of Soda. This is 
 true with some exceptions. 
 
 17. The farmer must not expect it to excuse him 
 from applying proper principles of land drainage, or 
 cultivation of the soil, nor should Nitrate of Soda be 
 used in excessive quantities too close to the plants that 
 are fertilized with it. For most agricultural crops, 
 an application of one hundred pounds to the acre is 
 sufficient when it is used alone. 
 
 18. It may be applied to either agricultural or 
 garden lands by sowing it broadcast upon the land, or 
 by means of any fertilizer-distributing machine in use. 
 If applied in the dry state, in order to insure uniform 
 distribution, a convenient method is to mix it with 
 twice its weight of air-slacked lime, land plaster, or even 
 with dry loam or sand before applying it. It can 
 be applied to the surface, and without cultivation will 
 be absorbed by the soil, or it may be cultivated into 
 the soil by some light agricultural implement, such as a 
 harrow, weeder, cultivator or horse hoe. The capillary 
 movement of the soil waters will distribute it in the soil, 
 and the capillary attraction of the soil when in good tilth 
 will retain it safely until the plant uses it. 
 
 Accepting the conclusions of these scientific men, 
 the use of Nitrate of Soda in agriculture ought to 
 increase proportionately to the dissemination of the 
 knowledge of its usefulness among our farmers. An
 
 Fo d f ? r increase in the consumption of Nitrate 
 
 giants its Use is i , m 
 
 Increasing. amon g growers of tobacco, fiber plants, 
 sugar beets, the hop, grape, grass and 
 small fruits, has been most notable of late. The ele- 
 ment of plant food first exhausted in soils is Nitrogen, 
 and in many cases a marked increase in crop is obtained 
 through Top-Dressing of Nitrate alone. "Complete" 
 fertilizers are generally rather low in Nitrogen, and 
 most expensive, and Nitrate may be wisely used to 
 supplement them, as it is practically the cheapest form 
 of plant food Nitrogen. 
 
 By "complete fertilizers," is meant 
 "Complete fertilizers containing Nitrogen, phos- 
 
 "K^p e hates^ d P lloric acid and P tasn ' These fertil - 
 the Most Expen- i zers are often called "phosphates," and 
 sive Plant Food, people have fallen into the habit of call- 
 ing any commercial fertilizer a "phos- 
 phate," whether it contains phosphate or not. Many 
 so-called "complete fertilizers" are merely low grade 
 acid phosphates with insignificant amounts of the other 
 essential plant foods. They are unprofitable and ill 
 balanced rations for all crops. 
 
 The value of these "phosphates," no matter how 
 high sounding their names, is usually mostly in phos- 
 phoric acid and potash. 
 
 The Nitrogen contained in these "complete fer- 
 tilizers" is often in a form that is neither available 
 nor useful to the plants until it has become converted 
 into Nitrate. The time required to do this varies from 
 a few days to a few years, according to the temperature 
 of the soil and the kind and condition of the material 
 used. 
 
 Statistics gathered by the Experiment Stations 
 show that many millions of dollars are spent annually 
 in the United States for "complete fertilizers." Con- 
 sidering that the average "complete fertilizer" costs 25 
 per cent, more than it is worth, it is -evident that 
 farmers pay immensely more for their fertilizers than 
 they get value in return. And this state of things is 
 the same all over the country. The farmers of this 
 country are paying out many millions of dollars 
 annually to the manufacturers of "complete fertilizers,"
 
 which they could very easily save by the exercise of a 
 little care and foresight. 
 
 Would you not think a man very HOW to Save I3 
 unwise who should buy somebody's Money on 
 "Complete Prepared Food," at a high Fertilizers, 
 price, when he wanted feed for his 
 horses, instead of going into the market and buying 
 corn, oats and hay, at market prices? 
 
 The "Complete Prepared Food" would probably 
 be composed of corn, oats and hay mixed together, and 
 the price would be, perhaps, twice as much as the corn, 
 oats and hay would cost separately. It is the same 
 with plant food. It is always more 
 economical to buy the different fertil- ^ Buy 
 izing materials and mix them at home 
 than to purchase "complete" fertilizers as they are 
 often called. Some do not wish to take pains to get 
 good materials and mix them, and prefer to purchase 
 the "complete" fertilizers. If this be done, special 
 attention should be given to ascertaining in what form 
 the Nitrogen exists. Many of the manufacturers do not 
 tell this, but the Experiment Stations analyze all the 
 fertilizers sold in their respective States and publish 
 the results in bulletins, which are sent free to anyone 
 asking for them. These analyses should show in what 
 form the Nitrogen is. The "complete fertilizers" that 
 contain the most Nitrogen in the form of Nitrate are the 
 ones to use, and the ones which do not contain Nitrate 
 or which do not give information on this vital point 
 should not be purchased. If you have on hand a 
 "complete fertilizer" containing a small percentage of 
 Nitrogen, and only in organic form, such as cotton- 
 seed, "tankage," etc., it will be of great advantage 
 to use one hundred pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda 
 in addition to this fertilizer. No fertilizer is really 
 complete without Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Are the Farmers of Little Europe More Intelligent 
 Than Those of America ? 
 
 It certainly seems so. The English and European 
 farmers instead of buying their Nitrogen in complete
 
 Fo pi d f * r fertilizers and paying over 25 cents per pound for it, use 
 
 - annually over eight hundred thousand (800,000) tons 
 
 H of Nitrate of Soda as a fertilizer, while yet only a few 
 
 thousands of American farmers are using it at a cost 
 
 generally of less than 20 cents per pound. 
 
 American farmers, gardeners and fruit growers are 
 supposed to be ready to "catch on" to a good thing. 
 And as soon as our Agricultural Press let them know the 
 facts in regard to the great value of Nitrate of Soda as a 
 Fertilizer our farmers will not be slow to use it. The 
 reason why so little is said about Nitrate of Soda is 
 simply owing to the fact that there is "no money in 
 it for the trade." It is an article that everybody can 
 sell, and consequently no one can afford to advertise it. 
 The real friends of agriculture, however, will be pleased 
 to know that there is a decided increase in the demand 
 for Nitrate of Soda in this country. As soon as the 
 farmers demand it, the dealers in fertilizers will be 
 glad to keep the Nitrate for sale, and sooner or later 
 will advertise it. In the mean time, if your agricul- 
 tural paper does not tell you about Nitrate of Soda 
 and how to use it, take a paper that keeps up with the 
 science and practice of the age. 
 
 It is now known that the Nitrogen in organic 
 matter of soil or manure is slowly converted into the 
 Nitrate form by a minute organism. This cannot 
 grow if the soil be too cold, or too wet, or too dry, or 
 in a sour soil. As a general rule, soils must be kept 
 sweet and the other conditions necessary for the con- 
 version of the Nitrogen into the Nitrate form are warm 
 weather and a moist soil in good physical condition. 
 
 In the early spring the soil is too wet and too cold 
 for the change to take place. We must wait for warm 
 weather. But the gardener does not want to wait. He 
 makes his profits largely on his early crops Guided 
 only by experience and tradition, he fills his land with 
 manure, and even then he gets only a moderate crop 
 the first year. He puts on 75 tons more manure the 
 next year, and gets a better crop. And he may con- 
 tinue^ putting on manure till the soil is as rich in Nitro- 
 gen as the manure itself, and even then. he must keep 
 on manuring or he fails to get a good early crop.
 
 Why? The Nitrogen of the soil, or of roots of plants, 
 or dung, is retained in the soil in a comparatively inert 
 condition. There is little or no loss. But when it is 
 slowly converted into Nitrate during warm weather, 
 the plants take it up and grow rapidly. 
 
 How, then, is the market gardener to get the 
 Nitrate absolutely necessary for the growth of his 
 early plants? He may get it, as before stated, 
 from an excessive and continuous use of stable 
 manure, but even then he fails to get it in sufficient 
 quantity. 
 
 One thousand pounds of Nitrate of Soda, will furn- 
 ish more Nitrogen to the plants early in the spring 
 than the gardener can get from 100 tons of well-rotted 
 stable manure. The stable manure may help furnish 
 Nitrate for his later crops, but for his early crops the 
 gardener who fails to use Nitrate of Soda is blind to 
 his own interests. 
 
 A given quantity of Nitrate will 
 
 produce a given amount of plant sub- 25, V 1 ^ ^ 
 PI, I IN itra. te DHOUIQ 
 
 stance. A ton or wheat, straw and j, e used. 
 
 grain together, contain about 1,500 
 pounds of dry matter, of which 25 pounds is Nitrogen. 
 To produce a ton of wheat and straw together would 
 require, therefore, 170 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, in 
 which quantity there is 25 pounds of Nitrogen. 
 
 A ton of cabbage, on the other hand, contains 
 about 43/2 pounds of Nitrogen. To produce a ton of 
 cabbage, therefore, would require 30 pounds of Nitrate 
 of Soda. 
 
 There are no crops on which it is more profitable 
 to use fertilizers than on vegetables and small fruits, 
 provided they are used rightly. Failures with chemi- 
 cal fertilizers are caused usually by lack 
 of knowledge. There is no doubt but yf^ 
 that stable manure is valuable as a fer- small Fruits. 
 tilizer, and in some cases may be indis- 
 pensable, but at the same time the quantities necessary 
 to produce good results could be greatly reduced by 
 using chemical fertilizers to supply plant food and only 
 enough manure to give lightness and add humus to 
 the soil.
 
 Food for What Fertilizers For crops like cabbage and beets, 
 
 ! J> u !f for Gar - that it is desirable to force to rapid 
 16 maturity, the kind of plant food, -espe- 
 
 cially of Nitrogen, is of the greatest importance. 
 Many fertilizers sold for this purpose have all the 
 Nitrogen they contain in insoluble and unavailable 
 form, so that it requires a considerable time for the 
 plants to get it. Another fault is that they do not 
 contain nearly enough Nitrogen. Stable manure con- 
 tains on the average in one ton 10 pounds Nitrogen, 
 10 pounds potash, and only 5 pounds phosphoric acid, 
 while the average "complete" fertilizer contains more 
 than twice as much phosphoric acid as Nitrogen, a 
 most unnatural and unprofitable ration. A ratio of 
 2 Nitrogen, 4 potash, and 10 of phosphoric acid, is 
 frequent in many of the so-called "complete fertilizers," 
 which are really incomplete and unbalanced as well. A 
 fertilizer for quick-growing vegetables should contain 
 as much Nitrogen as phosphoric acid, and at least half 
 this Nitrogen should be in the form of Nitrate, which 
 is the only immediately available plant food. 
 
 Some interesting and valuable 
 
 Comparative experiments were made at the Con- 
 
 Nitrogen in necticut Experiment Station, to ascer- 
 
 Various Forms. tain how much of the Nitrogen con- 
 tained in such materials as dried blood, 
 tankage, dry fish, and cotton-seed meal, is available 
 for plants. 
 
 The experiments were made with corn, and it was 
 found that when the same quantity of Nitrogen was 
 applied in the various forms the crop increased over 
 that where no Nitrogen was applied, as shown in the 
 following table: 
 
 Increase of Crop from Same Quantity of Nitrogen 
 from Different Sources. 
 
 Relative 
 Sources of Nitrogen. Crop Increase. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 100 
 
 Dried Blood 73 
 
 Cotton-seed Meal 72 
 
 Dry Fish 70 
 
 Tankage 62 
 
 Linseed Meal . . 78
 
 The above table shows some interesting facts. It 
 is evident that only about three-fourths as much of the 
 Nitrogen in dried blood or cotton-seed meal as in Ni- 1 7 
 trate of Soda is available the first season. The Nitro- 
 gen in tankage is even less available, only a little over 
 half being used by the crop. 
 
 These experiments were made with corn, which 
 grows for a long period when the ground is warm and 
 the conditions most favorable to render the Nitrogen 
 in organic substances available, and yet only part of it 
 could be used by the crop. 
 
 When it is considered that Nitrogen in the form of 
 Nitrate of Soda can be bought for as little or less per 
 pound than in almost any other form, the advantage 
 and economy of purchasing and using this form is very 
 apparent. 
 
 Nitration as studied by means of the drainage 
 water of 6 plots of land, each 300 square yards in area, 
 during 4 years, shows that the loss of Nitrogen in the 
 drainage water was very small and practically negli- 
 gible. Even when Nitrogen was applied in the spring 
 the losses were not large unless heavy rains occurred at 
 the time. The Nitrogen is apparently rapidly taken 
 up by the young growing plants at this season of the 
 year and only a small portion is free to pass into the 
 drainage. The greatest losses may occur in the fall, 
 when the soil is bare and heavy rains occur, the Ni- 
 trates having accumulated in large quantities during 
 the warmer period of the year. Large losses at this 
 season are, however, prevented by the growing of cover 
 crops. 
 
 Chile's Supply of Nitrate. 
 
 Investigation Proves It Sufficient, in all Likelihood 
 to Last Several Centuries. 
 
 A good deal has been said in this country and in 
 Europe about the probability of the Nitrate beds of 
 Chile being exhausted within twenty to twenty-five 
 years. The matter has been the subject of a native 
 government investigation with the result that the in-
 
 Fo pi d f ? r vestigators report enough to last for several centuries 
 
 - yet. 
 
 18 Of interest in connection with the report of a new 
 
 process for the cheap commercial extraction of Nitrogen 
 from the air, for use in making fertilizers, is a recent 
 (Chilean) government report on the Chilean Nitrate 
 beds. It is estimated that the state still possesses 
 nearly 5,000,000 acres of Nitrate grounds, which con- 
 tain about 1,000,000,000,000 pounds of Nitrate. Tak- 
 ing half this figure as the total available supply, and 
 assuming an annual export of 8,000,000,000 pounds, 
 which is more than twice the amount ever sent out of 
 the country in any one year, it would require upwards 
 of 125 years to exhaust the beds. If to these govern- 
 ment beds there be added those belonging to private 
 persons, the final exhaustion of the supply will not be 
 for another two or three hundred years. The reported 
 imminency of the failure of the Chile beds has been one 
 of the reasons urged for the development of an artificial 
 process of manufacture, up to this time a failure com- 
 mercially. 
 
 So many sensational statements have been made 
 of late which would lead one to suppose that the ex- 
 haustion of the supplies of Chilean Nitrate is imminent, 
 that I am asking you to help dissipate the prevailing 
 opinion that very little Nitrate of Soda is now left in 
 Chile for fertilizer or other purposes. 
 
 First of all, there is a vast amount of unsurveyed 
 Nitrate ground on the Chilean pampas that is, never- 
 theless, known to contain immense quantities of 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Second, grounds already surveyed still contain 
 enormous quantities of Nitrate. There are probably, 
 in round numbers, one billion tons of Nitrate in the de- 
 posits of Chile, and, without doubt, large supplies 
 also exist on lands now but incompletely prospected. 
 The surveyed and certified tonnage opened up at the 
 present time ready for extracting is fully 250,000,000 
 tons. 
 
 The probable life of the surveyed deposits is up- 
 wards of 200 years, even allowing for a steadily in- 
 creasing annual rate of consumption.
 
 Moreover, there remains the interesting question p? od t for 
 
 as to whether by the end of the ensuing century we may 
 
 not find that nature shall have by that time manu- X 9 
 factured an immense additional amount of Chilean 
 Nitrate for the uses of the world. 
 
 Sir William Crookes' prophecy that the world 
 would starve for lack of bread as soon as the Chilean 
 Nitrate supplies were exhausted has for some years led 
 the chemical public to believe that a wheat famine was 
 in sight, but that time is so far distant that no one 
 living to-day need have misgivings on the subject. 
 
 Hints for Right Use of Nitrate. 
 
 The points to be observed in the use of Nitrate of 
 Soda are: Avoid an excess; do not sprinkle the wet 
 foliage with dry Nitrate; and in general Nitrate must 
 not be allowed to come in contact with the stems or 
 leaves of plants. Nitrate of Soda is immediately avail- 
 able as plant food. Applications of Nitrate of Soda 
 may be made at the rate of 100 pounds per acre at inter- 
 vals of two or three weeks during the growing season. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda comes from South jjow to Mix and 
 America in 224-pound bags, and is usu- Apply Nitrate of 
 ally thus sold. The Nitrate looks much Soda and Other 
 like coarse salt. The lumps should be Fertilizers, 
 broken, which can easily be done by turning the Nitrate 
 out on the barn floor and breaking them with the back 
 of a spade. The Nitrate should then be run through a 
 sieve with a mesh not larger than three-eighths inch. 
 It will then be ready for use. 
 
 When fertilizers are to be mixed together, pour 
 the right quantity of each in a pile on the floor and turn 
 them over two or three times with a shovel until they 
 are thoroughly mixed. It is a good plan to run the 
 whole through a sieve, which will completely mix the 
 fertilizers. The mixing should not be done more than 
 a week before the fertilizers are to be used, as the mix- 
 ture may attract moisture and get hard if left too long 
 after mixing. In Europe small hand machines are used 
 by farmers for grinding and mixing, and cost about 
 twenty-five dollars. They are also in use in America.
 
 Fo d f T In applying fertilizers it should be 
 
 Ph* W *h f remembered that any form of phos- 
 
 20 Fertilizers? phoric acid, such as acid phosphate, 
 
 dissolved bone-black or bone meal is 
 only partially soluble, and will not circulate in the soil. 
 These fertilizers should therefore be evenly distributed 
 over the soil and well mixed with it. This is usually 
 best done by applying broadcast before sowing the 
 seed and before the ground is thoroughly prepared. 
 In this way it gets well mixed with the soil. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, on the other hand, will diffuse 
 itself rapidly and thoroughly throughout the soil 
 wherever there is enough moisture to dissolve it. It 
 can therefore be applied by scattering on the surface 
 of the ground as soon as the plants are up. This latter 
 method, called "Top-Dressing," is usually the best. 
 
 Since Nitrate of Soda and salts of 
 How and potash are brought to this country by 
 
 FertilSine Uy sea ' anc ^ P nos phate is usually trans- 
 Materials, ported from the mines in vessels, all 
 these materials, as a rule, can be pur- 
 chased at the seaports cheaper than in the interior. 
 New York is the largest market for these materials, but 
 Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, 
 New Orleans, Galveston, and San Francisco are also 
 ports of entry. 
 
 Lower prices can be obtained by buying fertilizing 
 materials in car-load lots. A car-load is not less than 
 ten tons. If you cannot use a car-load yourself, get 
 your neighbors to join with you. Much money can 
 often be saved in this way. 
 
 In buying always consider the percentage of avail- 
 able fertility. 
 
 The various "brands" of fertilizers are composed, 
 for the most part, of substances such as plaster, fillers, 
 superphosphate, etc., which can be manufactured for 
 much less than the prices charged for these substances 
 in so-called "complete fertilizers." The freight charges 
 on these are just as high as on the essential constituents, 
 so that every extra hundred weight of "filler" is useless 
 expense.
 
 Food for 
 
 Cost of Transportation of Fertilizers. Plants 
 
 A striking illustration of the difference in the cost 2I 
 of transportation by four different ways is given below : 
 
 Cost of Transportation per Ton. 
 
 Horse power, 5 miles $1 .25 
 
 Electric power, 25 miles 1 . 25 
 
 Steam cars, 250 miles 1 . 25 
 
 Steamships on the lakes, 1,000 miles 1.25 
 
 RETABULATION SHOWS THAT: 
 $1.25 WILL HAUL A TON 
 
 5 miles on a common road, 
 12}/2 to 15 miles on a well-made stone road, 
 
 25 miles on a trolley road, 
 250 miles on a steam railway, 
 1,000 miles on a steamship. 
 
 It will be seen that the same amount of money it 
 takes to haul a given amount of produce five miles on a 
 public highway of the United States will pay the freight 
 for 250 miles on a railroad and 1,000 miles on a steam- 
 ship line on the lakes. This is too great a difference, as 
 will be admitted by all, and when we think of the fact 
 that the railroad companies are ever at work repair- 
 ing and improving their highways while the farmer is 
 apparently so little awake to his own interests in re- 
 gard to furnishing himself with better roads, we wonder 
 why it is. The lesson seems plain and clear, and, as 
 farmers, let us continue to aid the good road move- 
 ment throughout the country. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda is essentially a seaboard article; 
 supplies at interior points are not always available, 
 hence the ports of entry are indicated to you as the 
 best sources of supply. 
 
 It has been the custom of the railroad companies to 
 discriminate heavily against Nitrate of Soda by charg- 
 ing prohibitory chemical rates, and it is hoped by cor- 
 rectly designating the material, the discrimination will 
 not be practiced. 
 
 Farm newspapers generally, are quite willing to 
 publish wholesale quotations on all those things which 
 the farmer has to sell, and they have not, as a rule,
 
 Fo pf f ? r published wholesale quotations on those articles which 
 - he has to buy. Among the latter, agricultural chemi- 
 22 cals occupy a position of prime importance, not only as 
 to actual effect on farm prosperity, but as to the actual 
 amount of cash which the farmer has to spend, for his 
 produce comes out of the soil and its amount and quality 
 is determined by the character of the chemicals he puts 
 in it. Agricultural journals generally, which profess 
 to be friends of the farmer, should make a continued 
 effort in the direction of enhancing his purchasing 
 power, by endeavoring to make him more prosperous. 
 This cannot be done under old conditions of helping 
 to make him, at the outset, pay such a large bonus for 
 agricultural chemicals under one pretext or another. 
 
 The improvement of our water-ways, so long urged 
 by us, seems at last to be in sight; and farm chemicals 
 at lower rates may ultimately be expected, even at in- 
 terior points. 
 
 You should buy your plant food in the best arid 
 cheapest forms, and feed it to the plants as they re- 
 quire it. You can buy available Nitrogen in Nitrate 
 of Soda for about 18 cents per pound. In so-called 
 "complete fertilizers," Nitrogen costs from 20 to 30 
 cents per pound, and even then only part of it is likely 
 to be available. Nitrate of Soda is the best form in 
 which to buy Available Nitrogen, cheapest also be- 
 cause quickest acting. 
 
 One would not think of buying raw, unground 
 phosphate rock for phosphatic plant food; why, then, 
 should one ever seriously consider buying the most 
 expensive plant food, viz.: Nitrogen in the raw and 
 indigestible forms, which many manufacturers and 
 dealers endeavor to foist on our farmers. 
 
 Abstract of United States Experiment Station 
 
 Record. 
 
 From Massachusetts Station Report, 1905. 
 Availability Tests. 
 
 Mixed oats and peas were grown this year in con- 
 nection with comparative tests of different sources of
 
 Nitrogen, and on the basis of yields secured the ma- 
 terials ranked as follows: Nitrate of Soda, dried blood, 
 sulphate of ammonia, and barnyard manure. Based 2 3 
 on the increase of all the crops since the beginning of 
 the experiments the relative rank was: Nitrate of 
 Soda 100, dried blood 68.72, sulphate of ammonia 
 60.78, barnyard manure 80.58. 
 
 On the grass lands receiving different fertilizer 
 treatment in rotation the average yield of hay was at 
 the rate of 4,840 Ibs. per acre for all 3 systems of man- 
 uring. The average yield in this test from 1893 to 
 1905, inclusive, was 6,479 Ibs. An application of 
 Nitrate of Soda, after harvesting the first crop of grass, 
 gave but a relatively small increase in yield, but, in 
 one instance, where applied at the rate of 150 Ibs. per 
 acre an increase of nearly 1 ton of rowen, or consider- 
 ably more than sufficient to pay the cost of the fer- 
 tilizer, was obtained. The results in determining the 
 relative value for garden crops with fertilizers supply- 
 ing respectively Nitrogen and potash, when used with 
 manure, show that on the basis of total crops produced 
 the standing of the different Nitrogen fertilizers is, for 
 the early crops, Nitrate of Soda 100, dried blood 95.67, 
 sulphate of ammonia 63.08, and for late crops Nitrate 
 of Soda 100, dried blood 98.77, sulphate of ammonia 
 79.52. For 15 years the relative standing of the fer- 
 tilizers supplying potash is, for early crops, sulphate of 
 potash 100, muriate of potash 94.66, and for late crops, 
 sulphate of potash 97.09, and muriate of potash 100. 
 
 From United States Experiment Station Record, 
 November, 1906. 
 
 The results of plot experiments with wheat here 
 reported indicate that the Nitrate alone in 2 applica- 
 tions was more effective than a mixture of Nitrate of 
 Soda and sulphate of ammonia.
 
 Fo pi d aSs How to Use Chemical Fertilizers 
 *4 to Advantage. 
 
 Crops grow only in consequence of 
 
 Grow r ^ ^ e fd placed at their disposal; prac- 
 tically, the plant foods consist of cer- 
 tain combinations or mixtures of Nitrogen, phosphoric 
 acid and potash. All soils .contain some of these plant 
 foods, and few soils contain them in very large quan- 
 tities. Fortunately for the permanence of agriculture, 
 nature does not permit these natural supplies to be 
 drawn upon freely, and any attempt to over-force the 
 soil by injudicious farming is met by a temporary ex- 
 haustion. The so-called "artificial ma- 
 As to the Na- nures" are simply chemical or organic 
 cal Manures substances which contain one or more 
 
 of the three elements of plant food. 
 
 The use of Nitrate of Soda is well 
 
 Nitrate as a known as a top-dressing for small grains. 
 
 Top-Dressing Wheat on strong clay will repay an ap- 
 
 rl oc .I^T> plication of 100 pounds of Nitrate per 
 Grasses, Root- . , , ,, .,. r 
 
 Crops, Pas- acre, even it already heavily iertilized. 
 
 tures, Soiling For Roots 100 pounds at seed time and 
 Crops. 100 pounds after thinning is found 
 
 profitable. 
 
 The form of Nitrogen most active as 
 How Nitrate plant food is the nitrated form, namely : 
 WhelTcrops. Nitrate of Soda. All other Nitrogens 
 . must be converted into this form before 
 they can be used as food by plants. Sir John Lawes 
 wisely remarks: "When we consider that the applica- 
 tion of a few pounds of Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda to 
 a soil which contains several thousand pounds of Nitro- 
 gen in its organic form, is capable of increasing the crop 
 from 14 to 40 or even 50 bushels of wheat per acre, I 
 think it must be apparent to all that we have very con- 
 vincing evidence of the value of Nitrate." The Nitro- 
 gen of Nitrate of Soda is immediately available as plant 
 food, and it should therefore be applied only when 
 plants are ready to use it. By such a ready supply 
 of available plant food, young plants are able to estab-
 
 lish such a vigor of growth that they can much better 
 resist disease, and the attacks of insects and parasites. 
 The famous experiments of Lawes and Gilbert at 
 Rothamsted have demonstrated that 
 cereals utilize more than three times as Nitf ate Corn- 
 much of the Nitrogen in Nitrate of g^lSi 
 Soda as of the Nitrogen contained in Manure 
 farmyard manure; in practice, four and 
 one-half tons of farmyard manure supply only as much 
 available plant food as 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Catch-crops are recommended to 
 prevent losses of available plant food a c rops * 
 after crops are removed. Rape, Italian rye grass, rye, 
 thousand-headed kale and clovers are suitable. All 
 these should be top-dressed with from 100 to 200 
 pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda, depending upon the 
 exhaustion of the soil. In the remarks on the use of 
 Nitrate in this sketch, we have taken it for granted 
 that our readers fully understand that in all cases 
 where Nitrate has been recommended in large amounts, 
 potash and phosphates may be used also unless the 
 soil already contains ample supplies of both. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda Niter in Fertilizing. 
 
 (Bulletin 24, California State Mining Bureau.) 
 
 By Dr. Gilbert E. Bailey. 
 
 All plants require light, air, heat, water, cultiva- 
 tion, and a fertile soil. Every crop removes from the 
 soil a portion of the plant food contained therein, and 
 continuous cropping will, in time, exhaust the richest 
 soil, unless the nutritive elements are restored; there- 
 fore, the truly economical farmer will feed the growing 
 plant or tree with a generous hand. The literature on 
 this subject is so scattered as to be difficult of access 
 to the general reader, and the following notes are added 
 in order to give some general idea of the value of Nitrate 
 of Soda in fertilizing.
 
 Food for The most important material used to supply 
 
 Nitrogen, in the composition of commercial fertilizers 
 
 26 is Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda is particularly 
 adapted for Top-Dressing during the growing season, 
 and is the quickest acting of all the Nitrogenous 
 fertilizers. 
 
 Dried blood, tankage, azotine, fish scrap, castor 
 pomace, and cotton-seed meal represent fertilizers 
 where the Nitrogen is only slowly available, and they 
 must be applied in the fall so as to be decomposed and 
 available for the following season. Nitrogen in the 
 form of Nitrate of Soda is available during the growing 
 and fruiting season, possessing, therefore, a decided 
 advantage over all other Nitrogen plant-foods. 
 
 The following table shows the number of pounds 
 of Nitrogen removed in one year from one acre by the 
 crop specified: 
 
 Crop. Nitrogen. 
 
 Wheat 35 bushels. 59 Ibs. 
 
 Rye 30 bushels. 51 Ibs. 
 
 Barley 40 bushels. 46 Ibs. 
 
 Oats 60 bushels. 55 Ibs. 
 
 Corn 50 bushels. 67 Ibs. 
 
 Buckwheat 30 bushels. 35 Ibs. 
 
 Potatoes 200 bushels. 46 Ibs. 
 
 Sugar Beets 15j^ tons. 69 Ibs. 
 
 Mangel-wurzel 22 tons. 150 Ibs. 
 
 Meadow hay 2^ tons, dry. 83 Ibs. 
 
 Green corn llj^ tons. 85 Ibs. 
 
 Alfalfa 8 tons. 113 Ibs. 
 
 Hops 600 Ibs. seed. 84 Ibs. 
 
 Tobacco 1,600 Ibs. 89 Ibs. 
 
 Grapes ". . . . 2 tons. 32 Ibs. 
 
 Cabbage 31 tons. 150 Ibs. 
 
 Oranges 10 tons. 24 Ibs. 
 
 In the following tables the quantities given are 
 merely selected to express the average equivalent 
 amount of Nitrate of Soda which may be removed by 
 the average crops taken from any soil in one season. 
 It is not intended to thereby recommend that the 
 same amount of Nitrate of Soda should be put on the 
 soil each season, but merely to show the great rate 
 at which soil exhaustion of Nitrates proceeds.
 
 
 Fertilizer 
 
 Nitrogen 
 
 
 Fertilizer 
 
 Food for 
 Nitrogen Plants 
 
 
 Soda. 
 
 pounds. 
 
 
 Soda. 
 
 pounds. 27 
 
 Artichokes. . . 
 
 Per acre 
 500 Ibs. 
 
 Per cent. 
 18 
 
 Mint 
 
 Per acre. 
 
 700 Ibs. 
 
 Per cent. 
 28 
 
 Asparagus. . . 
 
 500 
 
 22.5 
 
 Oats 
 
 100 
 
 10 
 
 Barley 
 
 300 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 Beans 
 
 100 
 
 14 
 
 Oranges 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 Beets, sugar. 
 Buckwheat. . 
 
 300 
 100 
 
 60 
 9.0 
 
 Peas 
 
 Per acre. 
 200 
 
 20 
 
 Cabbage 
 
 500 
 
 60.0 
 
 Potatoes, Irish 
 
 150 
 
 21 
 
 Carrots. . . . 
 
 300 
 
 15.0 
 
 Radishes 
 
 240 
 
 15 
 
 Celery 
 
 700 
 
 18.0 
 
 Rape 
 
 2,800 
 
 24 
 
 Corn 
 
 150 
 
 13.75 
 
 Raspberry. . . . 
 
 300 
 
 21 
 
 Cotton 
 
 100 
 
 18 
 
 Rice. 
 
 300 
 
 13 5 
 
 Cranberry . . . 
 
 200 
 
 12.0 
 
 Squash 
 
 200 
 
 64.0 
 
 Currants 
 
 300 
 
 16.5 
 
 Strawberry. . . . 
 
 300 
 
 45.0 
 
 Egg-Plant. . . . 
 Hemp 
 
 400 
 200 
 
 80.0 
 44.00 
 
 Sunflower 
 Tobacco 
 
 300 
 600 
 
 60.0 
 54.00 
 
 Hops 
 
 400 
 
 30.00 
 
 Tomatoes 
 
 1,400 
 
 36.00 
 
 Horseradish. . 
 Lettuce. 
 
 300 
 300 
 
 24 
 50 
 
 Trees, general . 
 Turnips. 
 
 300 
 200 
 
 8.00 
 2 5 
 
 Melons 
 
 300 
 
 36.0 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 100 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chemical fertilizers are used freely by the fruit 
 growers of California, and their use among the farmers 
 is steadily increasing. One reason why they are not 
 used more extensively is that they have to be imported 
 from the East. It is also a fact that the total amount 
 now used is only a small percentage of what should be 
 employed. Everyone will admit that the use of fer- 
 tilizers in this State is small compared with their use 
 in Germany, where they are employed more exten- 
 sively than by any other nation. 
 
 Soiling Crops. 
 
 "Soiling" is rapidly becoming recognized as the 
 most economical method of stock feeding; practically, 
 soiling means keeping stock confined, and using green- 
 cut food. It is now known to be much more eco- 
 nomical than pasturing, not only that more stock can 
 be kept per acre, but the feeding results are more 
 profitable. The crops chiefly used are vetches, the 
 clovers, rye, buckwheat, spurry, fodder corn, stock
 
 F pfants ^ ee ^ s ' cow P eas > e tc. A succession of crops should be 
 
 - grown, the earliest in most sections being crimson 
 
 28 clover, sown the previous summer, and followed by 
 
 red clover, corn, etc., and ending with cow peas and 
 
 the vetches. The silo is used to store green food for 
 
 the winter months, fodder corn being most commonly 
 
 used in the silo. 
 
 A rank growth of forage is required, and the 
 maturity of the crop is not a consideration. The soil 
 should be made very fertile and fertilizers used with a 
 free hand. Farmers can easily test the value of heavy 
 fertilizer applications in soiling, by comparing different 
 parts of the same field, differently fertilized. Apply 
 per acre, just before, or even with the seed, from 400 
 to 800 pounds of phosphate, and as soon as the plants 
 are well up, top-dress with Nitrate of Soda, using 300 
 pounds per acre. Top-dress in quite the same manner 
 for second crops. It is a quick, rank growth of green 
 substance that is wanted, and for this purpose no other 
 form of Nitrogen is as quick-acting as Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 How Money Crops Feed. 
 
 The substance of plants is largely 
 Food is 6 water and variations of woody fiber, yet 
 these comprise no part of what is com- 
 monly understood as plant food. More or less by acci- 
 dent was discovered the value of farm yard manures and 
 general farm refuse and roughage as a means of increas- 
 ing the growth of plants. In the course of time, the 
 supply of these manures failed to equal the need, and it 
 became necessary to search for other means of feeding 
 plants. The steps in the search were many, covering 
 years of careful investigation, and it is needless to go 
 into a lengthy description here; but, as a result, we 
 have the established fact that the so-called food of 
 plants consists of three different substances, Nitrogen, 
 Potash, and Phosphates.
 
 These words are popular names, T . t>_;_,.;_ a t 5? od * for 
 , i j. .1 P .1 Its Principal Plants 
 
 and are used tor the convenience ot the Elements, 
 
 general public. Nitrate of Soda con- Nitrate, 29 
 
 tains an amount equivalent to about Phosphoric 
 15 per cent, of Nitrogen, 300 pounds Acid Potash, 
 to the ton, and cotton-seed meal, for example, about six 
 per cent. More than three pounds of cotton-seed meal 
 are necessary to furnish as much available Nitrogen as 
 one pound of Nitrate of Soda. We value the plant food 
 on the amount of Nitrate Nitrogen it contains, and on 
 this account Nitrate has become a standard name for 
 this element of plant food. In like manner, phos- 
 phoric acid and potash are standards, hence the im- 
 portance of farmers and planters familiarizing them- 
 selves with these expressions. We always should think 
 of fertilizers and manures as just so much nitrate, 
 phosphoric acid and potash, as we can then at once 
 compare the usefulness of all fertilizer materials. No 
 doubt other substances are necessary for the proper 
 development of crops, but soils so generally supply these 
 in ample quantities that they may safely be neglected 
 in a consideration of soil needs and plant foods. The 
 food of plants may therefore be understood to mean 
 simply Nitrate, Phosphoric Acid and Potash. 
 
 Farmyard manure acts in promot- 
 ing plant growth almost wholly because Why Farm- 
 it contains these three substances; yard Manure 
 green manuring is valuable for the SbdudiMtt* 
 same reason and largely for that only. Valuable. 
 Various refuse substances, such as bone, 
 wood ashes, etc., contain one or more of these plant 
 food elements, and are valuable to the farmer and 
 planter on that account. 
 
 The Quality of Manures and Fertilizers. 
 
 While plant food is always plant 
 food, like all other things it possesses 
 the limitation of quality. Quality in 
 plant food means the readiness with 
 which plants can make use of it. In a large sense, this 
 is dependent upon the solubility of the material contain-
 
 plants 01 m & * ne Pl an t fd n t merely solubility in water, but 
 - solubility in soil waters as well. Fertilizer substances 
 S freely soluble in water are generally of the highest 
 quality, yet there are differences even in this. For 
 example, Nitrate of Soda is freely soluble in soil liquids 
 and water, and is the highest grade of plant food Nitro- 
 gen ; sulphate of ammonia is also soluble in water, but of 
 distinctly lower quality because plants always use Ni- 
 trogen in the Nitrate form, and the Nitrogen in sulphate 
 of ammonia must be Nitrated before plants can make 
 use of it. This is done in the soil by the action of 
 
 certain organisms, under favorable con- 
 Defects and ditions. The weather must be suit- 
 
 Us^of Ordinary & kl e > the soil in a certain condition ; and 
 Nitrogens. besides, there are considerable losses 
 
 of valuable substance in the natural 
 soil process of Nitrating such Nitrogen. By unfavor- 
 able weather conditions, or very wet or acid soils, Ni- 
 tration may be prevented until the season is too far 
 advanced, hence there may be loss of time, crop and 
 
 money. The quality of nitrogens, such 
 Intrinsic Values as cotton-seed meal, dried fish, dried 
 
 blood, and tankage, is limited by condi- 
 
 Nttrateas the tions similar to those which limit sul- 
 Standard. phate of ammonia. With these sub- 
 
 stances, the loss of Nitrogen in its 
 natural air and soil conversion into Nitrate is very great. 
 Perfectly authentic experiments, and made under 
 official supervision, have shown that 100 pounds of 
 nitrogen in these organic forms have only from one-half 
 to three-fourths the manurial value of 100 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Special Functions of Plant Food. 
 
 As stated before, plants must have 
 Unusual a u tnree o f tne plant f ood elements Ni- 
 
 Nttrate ni trate '. Ph sphates and Potash but 
 
 notwithstanding this imperative need, 
 each of the three elements has its special use. There 
 are many cases in which considerations of the special 
 functions of plant food elements become important.
 
 For example, a soil may be rich in organic ammonia 
 from vegetable matter turned under as green manure, 
 and through a late wet spring fail to supply the avail- 31 
 able Nitrate in time to get the crop well started before 
 the hot, dry, summer season sets in. In this case the 
 use of Nitrate of Soda alone will force growth to the 
 extent of fully establishing the crop against heat and 
 moderate drouth. This method of manuring is simply 
 Top-Dressing, familiar to us all. 
 
 Nitrate as plant food seems to in- 
 fluence more especially the develop- Special Influ- 
 ment of stems, leaves, and roots, which on^EcTble Value 
 are the framework of the plant, while O f piant. 
 the formation of fruit buds is held in 
 reserve. This action is, of course, a necessary pre- 
 liminary to the maturity of the plant, and the broader 
 the framework, the greater the yield at maturity. The 
 color of the foliage is deepened, indicating health and 
 activity in the forces at work on the structure of the 
 plant. Nitrates also show markedly in the economic 
 value of the crop; the more freely Nitrates are given 
 to plants the greater the relative proportion in the 
 composition of the plant itself, and the most valuable 
 part of all vegetable substances, for food purposes, is 
 that produced by Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate is seldom 
 used in sufficient quantities in the manufacture of 
 "complete fertilizers." Hence the general dissatisfac- 
 tion with their use. 
 
 Potash as plant food seems to influence more par- 
 ticularly the development of the woody parts of stems 
 and the pulp of fruits. The flavor and color of fruits 
 is also credited to potash. In fact, this element of 
 plant food seems to supplement the action of Nitrate 
 by filling out the framework established by the latter. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid as a plant food seems to influence 
 more particularly the maturity of plants and the pro- 
 duction of seed or grain. Its special use in practical 
 agriculture is to help hasten the maturity of crops likely 
 to be caught by an early fall, and to supplement green 
 manuring where grain is to be grown. It is frequently 
 used in unnecessary excess in "complete" fertilizers. 
 
 The natural plant food of the soil comes from many
 
 F pilnts sources ' but chiefly from decaying vegetable matter and 
 
 the weathering of the mineral matter of the soil. Both 
 
 3* these processes supply Potash and 
 
 Natural Plant P nos P nor i c Acid, but only the former 
 
 Food. supplies Nitrate. Whether the soil has 
 
 been fertilized or not, there are certain 
 
 signs which indicate the need of plant food more or 
 
 less early in the growth of the crop. If a crop appears 
 
 to make a slow growth, or seems sickly in color, it does 
 
 not greatly matter whether the soil is deficient in 
 
 Nitrate or simply that the Nitrogen present has not 
 
 been Nitrated and so is not available; the remedy lies 
 
 in top-dressings of the immediately available form of 
 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 FERTILIZERS EMPLOYED AS A SOURCE 
 OF NITROGEN. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda. This is probably the best known 
 and most popular source of nitrogen amongst farmers. 
 
 Its origin is the extensive deposits of crude Nitrate 
 of Soda discovered in the rainless districts on the west 
 coast of South America. 
 
 Since all nitrogenous compounds must first be con- 
 verted into nitrates before being assimilated by plants, 
 Nitrate of Soda contains its nitrogen in an easily assim- 
 ilable form, and is, therefore, quick in action. 
 
 Owing to this fact, it almost invariably gives best 
 results when applied in two or more applications, the 
 first being given at the commencement of growth, and 
 the succeeding ones at intervals of from two to three 
 weeks. 
 
 Sulphate of Ammonia. The origin or source of 
 this material is coal, which contains 1^ to 2 per cent, 
 of nitrogen. It is chiefly a by-product of gas works. 
 It is slower in its action than Nitrate of Soda, since, in 
 order to render the ammonia available to plants, it 
 must first be converted into a nitrate, which process is 
 performed by certain soil bacteria.
 
 Lime Nitrogen (Kalkstickstoff ) . A new nitro- 
 genous fertilizer is produced by combining the free 
 nitrogen of the atmosphere with lime and carbon. 33 
 
 1. Kalkstickstoff is an exceedingly fine black 
 powder, which character renders it difficult of appli- 
 cation. 
 
 2. If mixed with other fertilizers, such as acid 
 phosphate, the mixture rapidly generates a great heat 
 and gases are given off, some nitrogen being lost as 
 ammonia and oxides of nitrogen. 
 
 3. In storing, it must be very carefully protected 
 from moisture for the above reason. 
 
 4. Being at first rather poisonous to plants, Kalk- 
 stickstoff is totally unsuited for application to a grow- 
 ing crop, and should always be applied to the land at 
 least two weeks before seeding. 
 
 If these precautions are observed, Kalkstickstoff 
 may give results equal to Nitrate of Soda and sulphate 
 of ammonia on most crops and soils. 
 
 Some of the slower acting sources of nitrogen are: 
 
 Red Dried Blood, containing 13 to 14 per cent, 
 nitrogen. 
 
 Black Dried Blood, containing 6 to 12 per cent, 
 nitrogen. 
 
 Hoof Meal, containing 12 per cent, nitrogen. 
 
 Tankage, containing 4 to 9 per cent, nitrogen. 
 
 Concentrated Tankage, containing 10 to 12 per 
 cent, nitrogen. 
 
 The above are all produced from slaughter-house 
 refuse. As will be seen, the lower grades of these 
 substances, viz., Black Dried Blood and Tankage 
 (ordinary) are very variable in composition. 
 
 There are numerous other sources of nitrogen, 
 such as the various fish manures, some of which are 
 valuable, if they do not contain too much oil, which 
 is detrimental to the soil, as it hinders decomposition. 
 
 Then there are others, such as leather meal, wool 
 and hair waste, and horn meal. The nitrogen in these 
 is, however, so slowly available that their value as 
 fertilizers is small. 
 
 It is none the less necessary, however, that the 
 farmer should know of these sources of nitrogen, as
 
 Fo pfants ^ ne y are l ar g e ly used in fertilizer mixtures, for, as 
 
 - already mentioned, nitrogen is the most expensive 
 
 34 ingredient in a fertilizer, and it is a great temptation 
 . to the less scrupulous fertilizer manufacturer to get 
 his nitrogen from the cheapest source, and in a mix- 
 ture it is difficult for a farmer to detect the various 
 substances of which that mixture is composed. 
 
 In Nitrate of Soda, Sulphate of Ammonia and 
 Dried Blood, we have three nitrogenous fertilizers, 
 placed in the order of the availability of their nitrogen. 
 Dried Blood is the slowest acting form. . . . Nitrate 
 of Soda is exceedingly quick acting, and, therefore, 
 ought not to be applied long before the crop is ready 
 to assimilate its nitrogen. In its rate of action, Sul- 
 phate of Ammonia is intermediate between the two. 
 . . . The special virtue of Nitrate of Soda is due to 
 the fact that it provides a readily available supply of 
 nitrogen to the young plant at a time when nitrifica- 
 tion in the soil is only commencing. 
 
 Top-Dressings. 
 
 Top-Dressing, as commonly under- 
 stood, means simply the application of 
 
 plant food after seeding, and after the 
 crop has made some growth. It has various objects, 
 but chief among them is the fact that fall sown crops 
 should make an early start in the spring in order to 
 establish an extensive root system (foraging both for 
 food and water), and to protect the soil by shading 
 before the hot, dry days come. The earlier growth of 
 crops is largely a matter of Nitrate plant food, but in 
 the spring the soil is usually wet and cold, both con- 
 ditions unfavorable for the action of organisms which 
 convert the stored plant food into Nitrates. 
 
 A very late spring may prevent the natural and 
 
 usual Nitration of this kind of plant 
 
 How Nitrate food though large quantities may have 
 
 Saves Time, been applied in the form of organic 
 
 Money, and the ammoniates and other crude manures, 
 
 rop ' so that the warm weather finds the
 
 crop very backward and a full crop cannot be made. 
 An application of Nitrate of Soda, the most quickly 
 available form of plant food in commercial use as a 35 
 fertilizer, soon after the crop shows the fresh green color 
 of new growth in the spring, prevents this loss of time 
 and establishes the crop so as to resist drouth and reach 
 and make use of the plant food necessary for the ma- 
 turity of its stalk and the ripening of its seed. 
 
 Top-Dressings are also made to ad- 
 vantage on fruits and vegetables from -prn'^ 
 which the proportion of valuable prod- 
 uce to stalk or vine is so great. With these crops 
 there must be no check in the regular growth of the 
 plants, and Nitrate of Soda alone insures this. With 
 other forms of Nitrogen plant food, 
 rains or cool weather interfere with the How all 
 regular supply of Nitrate, by checking Nitrogen is, 
 
 the action of the organisms which cause w-^^j SS i;[ji 
 XT .. & , , Nitrated, and 
 
 me JNitration 01 crude substances, slowness of 
 
 Top-dressings are also used on very roll- the Process, 
 ing lands, for the hill tops show lighter- 
 colored foliage in prolonged periods of dry weather, 
 then light applications of Nitrate of Soda are found to 
 be profitable. 
 
 On heavy clay soils, spring working is impracti- 
 cable, as it results in puddling the top soil. In this 
 case fertilizers cannot be worked into the soil even for 
 spring planting, and Nitrate of Soda is used in the form 
 of a top-dressing spread broadcast. 
 
 In top-dressing soils, it is very im- 
 portant to secure an even application j^^g p ~ 
 over the whole area. As the ordinary 
 application per acre is about 100 pounds, it is difficult 
 to get an even distribution unless the bulk of the 
 material is increased. The best method of doing this 
 is to crush the Nitrate of Soda thoroughly and mix 
 carefully with about its own weight of fine dry loam. 
 This mixture should only be made immediately before 
 using, though the Nitrate may be crushed at any time 
 if mixed at once with an equal bulk of fine, clean sand. 
 Where top-dressings are made with a machine, it is 
 necessary that the mixture be dry.
 
 Fo j df r Top-Dressing Experiments. 
 
 3 6 Results of ^ ie on ** c i a l Agricultural Experi- 
 
 Nitrate on ment Stations have made many experi- 
 
 Money Crops. ments to determine the value of top- 
 dressings of Nitrate of Soda, particu- 
 larly the New Jersey Station. The work of this Station 
 demonstrated the value of Nitrate top-dressing on 
 various fruits and vegetables. The Rhode Island Ex- 
 periment Station (see Bulletin 71) made a top-dressing 
 test on grass land and the results also indicated a 
 profitable use of this chemical fertilizer. 
 
 The experiment was made on three plots, all of 
 which were treated with ample quantities of Phosphoric 
 Acid and Potash. One plot received no Nitrate, one 
 plot a top-dressing of 150 pounds per acre, and the 
 remaining plot a top-dressing of 450 pounds of Nitrate 
 per acre. The seed used was one-quarter red clover, 
 one-quarter redtop, and one-half timothy. The yield 
 in barn-cured hay was as follows: 
 
 No Nitrate 1 . 60 tons. 
 
 150 Ibs. Nitrate 2.24 tons. 
 
 450 Ibs. Nitrate 3.28 tons. 
 
 The season was not good hay weather on account 
 of an early and severe drouth, yet the top-dressing of 
 150 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre increased the crop 
 of hay 40 per cent., and the top-dressing of 450 pounds 
 gave an increase of 105 per cent. In summarizing the 
 results the Station reports that in spite of weather so un- 
 favorable that there was practically no second crop, a 
 top-dressing of 150 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre 
 increased the crop in value $6.94, at a cost for Nitrate 
 of $3.30; a top-dressing of 450 pounds per acre increased 
 the value of the crop $16.98 at a cost of $9.90. 
 
 Plant Food Need of Crops. 
 
 The chemical analysis of plants 
 What Crops shows the actual amounts of Nitrogen, 
 
 Take out of Potash and Phosphoric Acid they con- 
 
 Soils, tain, and is a fairly good guide for the
 
 omposition of fertilizers. In an examination of the 
 
 e .f. i i i i Plants 
 
 fertilizer requirements or plants by studying their 
 
 analysis, we must keep in mind the fact that the whole 37 
 plant must be considered not only the grain, straw, 
 etc., but also the stubble and roots. 
 
 The Storrs Experiment Station of Connecticut 
 reported on an experiment with timothy hay, with 
 results as follows: 
 
 Yield 
 per acre. Nitrogen. Potash. Phos. Acid. 
 
 Hay ............. 3,980 Ibs. 39.0 Ibs. 51.5 Ibs. 13.9 Ibs. 
 
 Stubble and roots. 8,223 " 90.1 " 55.8 " 25.2 
 
 Total 12,203 Ibs. 129 . 1 Ibs. 107 . 3 Ibs. 39 . 1 Ibs. 
 
 The quantities of plant food actually 
 contained in the crop, computed on the 
 best known fertilizer materials, are Nitrate Food 
 represented by 807 pounds of Nitrate 
 of Soda, 215 pounds of muriate of potash, and 280 
 pounds of acid phosphate. This illustration is interest- 
 ing as showing the really heavy consumption of plant 
 food by ordinary farm crops. While the yield in this 
 case is a large one, it is precisely such yields all farmers 
 are striving for. It is probably true that an acre appli- 
 cation of 800 pounds of Nitrate of Soda would not give 
 profitable returns with this crop; but such crops actu- 
 ally make use of soil Nitrogen and the roughage of the 
 farm, and to do this most effectively top-dressings of 
 Nitrate are advised to "start the crop off " in the spring. 
 
 In actual farming operations, the greater part of 
 the timothy crop will be returned to the soil in the form 
 of farmyard manure, much of which will be applied in 
 the fall. A considerable portion of the Nitrogen con- 
 tained in this manure will be converted into Nitrate 
 during the fall and winter, but there is always a great 
 lack of Nitrate in the early spring, when the plants most 
 need it, and this shortage continues until the soil warms 
 and becomes less charged with water, when the organ- 
 isms of the soil are enabled to convert the vegetable 
 substance containing Nitrogen into the form suitable for 
 the uses of the plants. Until this action, the plants
 
 F pints reanv starve for Nitrate; a situation instantly relieved 
 
 by top-dressings of Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 38 
 
 Suggestions for Top-Dressing Crops. 
 
 It must be understood that fertilizers do not take 
 the place of tillage. However thoroughly a crop may 
 be fertilized, without proper preparation of the soil the 
 result must be more or less a failure. In top-dressing 
 it is very important that the Nitrate of Soda be thor- 
 oughly ground, so an even distribution can be made; 
 the fertilizer must go to the plant, not the plant to the 
 fertilizer. 
 
 From New Jersey Agricultural 
 Experiment Station. 
 
 Abstract of Bulletin 172. 
 The Cost of Active (Available) Nitrogen. 
 
 By Edward B. Voorhees and William S. Myers. 
 
 The annual consumption of fertilizers is, as near 
 as can be estimated, 7,000,000 tons, which at an aver- 
 age cost of $25 per ton, makes a total expenditure of 
 $175,000,000. 
 
 This great quantity of fertilizer is being used for 
 increasing the crops of grain, hay, potatoes, fruits, 
 market garden and staple crops. The money is ex- 
 pended for Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, and 
 notwithstanding the claims made for superior brands 
 and special formulas, the returns have been alone due 
 to the actual amounts of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
 potash that these crops have been able to obtain from 
 the total in the fertilizers used, and there is no mystery 
 of mixing about it. 
 
 Of the sum annually paid for the three constituents, 
 Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, if on the basis 
 of an average of: 
 
 Ammonia 2% 
 
 Available phosphoric acid ' . . . . 8% 
 
 Potash 4%
 
 over one-half is paid for Nitrogen, which is the only 
 one of the three essential elements that is likely to 
 suffer any considerable loss. Thus a little less than 
 half of the total expenditure is made for these two ele- 
 ments phosphoric acid and potash. The remainder 
 is paid for a constituent which in organic form is likely 
 not to be available. 
 
 Experiments in Germany, England and the United 
 States, conducted along this line for years, show that, 
 
 39 
 
 Quick and Luxuriant Growth of Shrubbery, Produced in Two 
 Seasons by the Use of Nitrate. New Jersey. 
 
 on the average, not more than 70 per cent, of the 
 quantities of Nitrogen applied, even in the best forms, 
 is recovered in the crops. 
 
 From the standpoint of crop, it is evident that the 
 utilization of Nitrogen is a much more important matter 
 than the use of either phosphoric acid or potash. Al- 
 though the further fact that a pound of any kind of 
 Nitrogen, capable of being used in a commercial fer- 
 tilizer, costs from four to five times as much as a pound
 
 F Piants ^ " ava ilable" phosphoric acid or of potash, is an added 
 
 - reason for greater care in its purchase and use. 
 40 Nitrogen as Nitrate of Soda is the only commer- 
 
 cial form of active Nitrogen available for immediate 
 use by most plants; Nitrogen, as ammonia, is less 
 active and less available than the Nitrate. 
 
 Organic forms of Nitrogen have to decay first, 
 changing to ammonia and then to Nitrate, and are 
 therefore less active and less quickly available; besides, 
 they vary in their rate of availability according to 
 the source of supply and their character. Materials 
 which are likely to decay quickly, as dried blood, dried 
 meat, dried fish and cottonseed meal, show a fair rate 
 of availability, while forms like ground leather and 
 ground peat show a very low rate of availability. A 
 pound of organic Nitrogen varies much in availability, 
 therefore, according to its source, whether derived from 
 dried blood or peat, or from intermediate products, 
 and if much free sulphuric acid is present, its avail- 
 ability is retarded. 
 
 Since Nitrogenous materials are variable in their 
 rate of availability that is, the rate at which the Ni- 
 trogen in them may be absorbed by the plant the 
 farmer should know the degree of dependence that can 
 be placed on the different materials he wants his 
 Nitrogen active and available. Hence, the chemical 
 and physical characteristics of the various forms of 
 Nitrogen have been made the subject of very consider- 
 able study and investigation, in order that approximate 
 values in respect to availability may be assigned to 
 each form. Sufficient work has been done thus far 
 to establish a trustworthy relationship between the 
 Nitrate, ammonia and organic Nitrogen, in the form 
 of dried blood. 
 
 The very extensive investigations conducted at 
 Darmstadt, Germany, show that for the crops tested 
 namely, barley, oats, rye, wheat, mangels, sugar- 
 beets and potatoes there was returned in the har- 
 vest 62 parts of Nitrate Nitrogen for every hundred 
 parts applied; 44 parts of ammonia Nitrogen for 
 every hundred parts applied, and 40 parts of organic 
 Nitrogen for every hundred parts applied as dried
 
 blood. In no case is the recovery equal to two- 
 thirds of the Nitrogen applied; besides, there are wide 
 variations in the amount recovered in the different 
 forms. 
 
 In 1898, plant nutrition experiments were begun 
 at the New Jersey Station, one object of which was to 
 study the "relative availability" of these three forms 
 of Nitrogen, using a rotation of corn, oats, wheat and 
 timothy, crops which, because of their long periods 
 
 Privet Hedge at Left and Vines Showing Result of One Year's 
 Use of Nitrate. New Jersey. 
 
 of growth would be likely to absorb relatively large 
 proportions of organic Nitrogen. The results of these 
 experiments for two rotations (10 years) show that the 
 recovery for Nitrogen as Nitrate was 62.09 parts per 
 hundred; for the Nitrogen as ammonia 43.26 parts per 
 hundred, and for organic (dried blood Nitrogen), 40 
 parts per hundred. These results agree almost exactly 
 with those obtained at Darmstadt. Figuring the above- 
 mentioned returns from Nitrate of Soda, since it shows 
 the highest recovery as 100, the relative availability of 
 
 41
 
 F p!ants ^ ie Nitrogen as ammonia would be 69.7 and of Nitrogen 
 
 - as dried blood 64.4. 
 
 * 2 These figures possess a very great practical signifi- 
 
 cance, as they have a direct bearing upon the profitable 
 or unprofitable purchase and use of the Nitrogen con- 
 tained in the fertilizers now offered in our market. 
 
 Commercial conditions fix the price of the various 
 Nitrogenous materials. There is no strict relationship 
 as yet between commercial and agricultural values. 
 
 Garbage-tankage, tanned leather scraps and feath- 
 ers are used in large quantities in some of the large 
 fertilizer factories. The Nitrogen in these products is 
 admittedly much less available than is that in dried blood, 
 and its cost to the manufacturers is small. For gar- 
 bage-tankage, leather scraps, feathers, wool waste and 
 peat, prices are merely nominal. The cost of handling 
 and reducing these products to forms capable of being 
 used in mixtures, of course, naturally adds to the cost. 
 These materials should be regarded in the same light 
 as the insoluble phosphates and potash compounds- 
 amendments rather than sources of direct supplies of 
 available plant-food and be paid for accordingly. 
 
 Since their establishment, the Experiment Stations 
 have consistently urged the farmers to be guided in 
 their purchase of fertilizers, not only by the quantities 
 of the constituents present in the mixtures offered, 
 but also by the kind that is used in them, pointing 
 out the importance of selecting brands which contain 
 high percentages of available plant-food, more especially 
 of Nitrogen, because of its relatively greater importance 
 and its higher cost. The results obtained in the inves- 
 tigations referred to emphasize very strongly the wis- 
 dom of such advice in reference to the most valuable 
 element Nitrogen . 
 
 A concrete example will make clearer the commer- 
 cial phases of the question. The analysis of the vari- 
 ous brands sold in the State of New Jersey in a recent 
 year, shows an average of 2.5 per cent, of total Nitrogen, 
 divided as follows: 
 
 Nitrate.. 48% or 19% of the total 
 
 Ammonia 77% or 30% of the total 
 
 Organic 1 . 32% or 51% of the total
 
 Assuming that the forms of organic Nitrogen used p? od t for 
 
 in these brands were as good as in dried blood, it would 
 
 require 1.55 pounds of the organic Nitrogen to furnish 43 
 as much "available" Nitrogen as is contained in 
 1 pound of Nitrate of Soda Nitrogen and 1.43 pounds 
 of the ammonia Nitrogen to furnish as much "avail- 
 able" Nitrogen as is contained in one pound of the 
 Nitrate of Soda Nitrogen. Yet, merely because of 
 commercial conditions, the farmer paid a higher price 
 per pound for his organic Nitrogen than he paid for his 
 Nitrate and his ammonia Nitrogen. Using the same 
 relations that exist in the commercial cost of Nitrogen, 
 the actual prices paid were for organic Nitrogen 26.52 
 cents per pound, ammonia Nitrogen 23.73 cents and 
 Nitrate Nitrogen 23 cents. At these prices, the Nitro- 
 gen purchased in New Jersey last year cost the farmers 
 about $1,157,400 and in the entire country nearly 
 sixty times as much. 
 
 If, however, the returns from the different forms 
 of Nitrogen were in the same proportion, as indicated 
 in the experiments, which must be admitted to be 
 relatively correct for Nitrate and ammonia, and, as- 
 suming that the organic was as good as that in dried 
 blood, the cost of the "available" Nitrogen in the three 
 forms actually was: 
 
 Per Ib. Per Ib. 
 
 For organic. .41 cts. While the farmer For organic. ..14.8% 
 
 For ammoma.34 cts. should have paid, on For ammonia. 16.1% 
 
 For Nitrate . . 23 cts.the basis of availability For Nitrate. . . 23.0% 
 
 and a saving to the farmers of the State of $383,940 
 would have been effected. If, therefore, instead of 
 buying organic and ammonia Nitrogen, Nitrate of 
 Soda only had been purchased, the same gain in crop 
 from the use of the Nitrogen could have been purchased 
 for $733,460 instead of $1,157,500. 
 
 Assuming that practically the same relations in 
 forms of Nitrogen existed for all the fertilizers made 
 and sold in the whole country this year, the actual cost 
 of the Nitrogen was, in round numbers, $60,000,000, 
 while, on the basis of efficient availability, it should 
 have cost but $43,000,000.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 44 
 
 The point of importance, therefore, is the price 
 that is paid for the organic forms of Nitrogen. In the 
 above discussion, it has been assumed that the organic 
 Nitrogen contained in the fertilizers has been derived 
 from dried blood, or from similar materials. As a 
 matter of fact, however, dried blood does not con- 
 stitute even a large proportion of the organic Nitrogen- 
 ous materials used the bulk of the Nitrogen being de- 
 rived from products of a lower grade. Various kinds of 
 
 Hedge of California Privet Three Years Old, Fertilized for 
 Three Years by Nitrate. New Jersey. 
 
 meat and bone, tankage, dried fish, fish scrap, cottonseed 
 meal, garbage-tankage, leather meal and even peat, 
 being used to supplant products of the higher grade. 
 These Nitrogen-carriers, have been shown to have a 
 wide range in availability, the leather and peat rating 
 in availability as low as 4 in comparison with Nitrate 
 at 100 and barnyard manure as low as 3. 
 
 It may be urged, first, that these products possess 
 some value as sources of Nitrogen and, second, they
 
 have physical uses as an absorbent and in improving 
 the condition of mixtures containing Nitrates, acid 
 phosphate and potash salts, and, that proper conser- 45 
 vation of natural resources demands that waste Nitro- 
 genous materials should be utilized. The points are 
 conceded, but let no farmer pay a high Nitrogen price 
 for a mere absorbent filler or a conditioner. The 
 Experiment Stations do not discourage, but strongly 
 encourage, the utilization of waste products containing 
 Nitrogen. They would be false to their duty to the 
 farmers, however, if they did not clearly point out to 
 them what is known of the real agricultural value of 
 such products. It is not merely a question of use- 
 it is a question of cost. 
 
 It is not economy to save refuse Nitrogenous ma- 
 terials, if the cost of the Nitrogen to the farmer is 
 greater and his returns less than may be obtained by 
 the use of Nitrogen from materials of known value. 
 Farmers have been and are now spending thousands of 
 dollars for Nitrogen for which they do not receive even 
 a proportionate return. 
 
 To the farmer, it should be purely a business propo- 
 sition. He buys Nitrogen, in order that he may get 
 a return in his crop. If in one case 100 pounds of 
 Nitrogen contributes 60 pounds to the crops upon 
 which it is applied, and in another 100 pounds con- 
 tributes but 40 pounds to the crops, the purchaser 
 should not pay the same for the second as for the first, 
 for if he did so he would pay 50 per cent, more per 
 pound for his "available" Nitrogen. That is, if the 
 cost of one hundred pounds of Nitrate Nitrogen was 
 $14, the cost of the dried blood, one hundred pounds 
 of Nitrogen should be but $10, for the basis of value 
 is the amount available in each case. 
 
 How Nitrate of Soda Helps Crops. 
 
 The highest agricultural authorities have estab- 
 lished by careful experimentation that 100 pounds per 
 acre of Nitrate of Soda applied to crops has produced 
 the INCREASED yields tabulated as follows:
 
 Food for Barley 400 Ibs. of grain. 
 
 Plants Oats 400 
 
 46 Rye 300 
 
 Wheat. . 300 
 
 Potatoes 3,600 
 
 Hay, upwards of 1,000 
 
 Tubers. 
 Barn cured. 
 
 Cotton 500 Seed cotton. 
 
 Sugar Beets 4,000 Tubers. 
 
 Beets 4,900 
 
 Sweet Potatoes 3,900 
 
 Cabbages 6,100 Pounds. 
 
 Carrots 7,800 Pounds. 
 
 Turnips 37 per cent. 
 
 Strawberries 200 quarts. 
 
 Onions 1,800 Pounds. 
 
 Asparagus . 100 bunches. 
 
 Tomatoes ; 100 baskets. 
 
 Celery 30 per cent. 
 
 Hops 100 pounds. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda is a plant tonic, and an energizer; 
 is it NOT a stimulant in any sense of the word. 
 
 It may be used alone, without other fertilizers, as a 
 Top-dressing, at the rate of not more than 100 pounds 
 to the acre. 
 
 Profits from the Use of Fertilizers. 
 
 The aim usually in the use of artificial fertilizers 
 is to so supplement soil supplies of plant-food as to 
 obtain a profit, and, as already intimated, the profits 
 for the different crops will, to some extent, be in pro- 
 portion to their economical use of the constituents 
 applied. Still, one should not be deterred from the use 
 of fertilizing materials, even if the conditions should 
 render the application apparently wasteful, or a small 
 recovery of the constituents applied, provided the in- 
 crease in yield will more than pay the cost of the appli- 
 cation. The farmer should calculate what increase in 
 crop it is necessary for him to obtain in order to make 
 the use of fertilizers profitable, and if only this is ob- 
 tained he should not condemn their use. Many persons 
 seem to have gotten the impression that there is some 
 mystery connected with fertilizers, and that their use 
 is a gamble at best, and are not satisfied unless the
 
 returns from the investment in them are disproportion- 
 ately large. We very often hear the statement that, 
 by the use of certain fertilizers, the crop is doubled or 47 
 tripled, as if this were a remarkable occurrence and 
 partook of the nature of a mystery. Such results are 
 not mysterious they can be explained; they are in 
 accordance with the principles involved. 
 
 In an experiment on celery it was shown that the 
 weight of celery from an application of 400 pounds per 
 acre of Nitrate of Soda was two and one-half times 
 greater than that obtained on the land upon which no 
 Nitrate was used, and that very great profit followed 
 its use. This result, while remarkable in a way, was 
 not mysterious; if all the Nitrogen applied had been 
 used by the crop, there would have been a still greater 
 increase. It simply showed that where no extra Nitro- 
 gen had been applied the plant was not able to obtain 
 enough to make the crop what the conditions of the 
 season and soil, in other respects, permitted. In other 
 words, that the soil did not contain a complete food; the 
 .Nitrogen was necessary to supply the deficiency. Favor- 
 able conditions are, however, not uniform, and vari- 
 ations in return from definite applications must be 
 expected. 
 
 It is quite possible to have a return of $50 per acre 
 from the use of $5 worth of Nitrate of Soda on crops of 
 high value, as, for example, early tomatoes, beets, cab- 
 bage, etc. This is an extraordinary return for the money 
 invested and labor involved; still, if the value of the in- 
 creased crop from its use was but $10, or even $8, it 
 should be regarded as a profitable investment, since no 
 more land and but little more capital was required in 
 order to obtain the extra $5 or $3 per acre. It is the 
 accumulation of these little extras that oftentimes 
 change an unprofitable into a profitable practice.
 
 Food for PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS AS A RESULT OF 
 
 EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 48 
 
 I. For Crops of High Commercial Value. 
 
 It is well understood by all market 
 gardeners that, in their business, liberal 
 manuring must be practised, and that 
 the manures used must contain an abundance of Nitro- 
 gen, that may be quickly used by the plant, if rapidity 
 of growth and early maturity are to be attained. The 
 experiments with Nitrate of Soda were, therefore, 
 planned to show in which directions the benefits from 
 its use were observed whether, for example, in the 
 larger yield of a crop of the same general character; or 
 whether, together with the larger yield, there was an 
 earlier maturity of those crops in which early maturity 
 is an important factor; or whether the marketable qual- 
 ity was improved, thus returning a larger profit for the 
 same yield; or whether all of these factors were involved; 
 and the results showed that, as a whole, benefits were 
 obtained in all these directions. The more important 
 crops of this class were included in these experiments. 
 In the growing of this crop, whose 
 
 Beets. value ma y ran S e from $ 300 to $ 600 
 
 per acre, the amount of plant-food an- 
 nually applied is usually far in excess of that removed 
 in the crops of any year, in order to guarantee against 
 any shortage of food should unfavorable weather con- 
 ditions intervene; the crop must be kept growing at all 
 hazards. In good practice an application of from 
 fifteen to twenty tons of manure and about one ton of 
 a high-grade commercial fertilizer are used per acre. 
 The plants are usually grown under glass, and trans- 
 planted as soon as the land is fit to work. Hence the 
 questions asked by the experimenter were, first, 
 whether an additional application of Nitrogen in the 
 form of a Nitrate would be a profitable practice in con- 
 nection with this heavy application of all of the plant- 
 food constituents, and second, how much should be 
 used. The applications, therefore, ranged from 400 to
 
 700 pounds per acre. The results from the experiments 
 of two years were emphatic in showing an increase in 
 yield and a considerable profit each year, and though 
 the profits were not in proportion to the amount of 
 
 49 
 
 Ash. 
 
 Without Dressing. 
 
 With 300 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda 
 to the Acre. 
 
 Nitrogen applied, the largest net returns were obtained 
 from the heaviest applications; the average net return 
 per acre from 400 pounds was $24.40, and from 700 
 pounds, $47.55. The influence of the Nitrate was
 
 F Piants n ticeable mainly upon the earliness of crop. In the 
 first experiment the yield of the first picking was 63 
 5 per cent, greater from the Nitrated plots than from the 
 one upon which no additional Nitrate had been used. 
 The extra early yield, for which the highest prices were 
 obtained, was increased from 8.3 per cent, on the plot 
 on which 400 pounds were used to 12.8 per cent, on 
 the plot which received 700 pounds per acre, an in- 
 creased yield at a less cost per unit of harvesting- 
 points of great importance. 
 
 The amounts used mav range from 
 
 mg 40 to 80 P unds P er acr e> depending 
 upon the conditions, always remember- 
 ing that the richer the soil and the better its condition 
 the larger will be the amount of Nitrate that can be 
 used to advantage. The beets are usually transplanted, 
 and one-half of the amount of Nitrate of Soda used may 
 be applied either before transplanting or immediately 
 after, and in about three weeks the balance may be ap- 
 plied. In applying Nitrate after the plants have made 
 considerable growth of top, care should be taken to dis- 
 tribute it as near as possible between the rows, or, if 
 broad-casted, only when the leaves are perfectly dry, so 
 that all of the salt may reach the soil, and thus not be 
 liable to injure the plants. Where it does not seem 
 practicable to make the application of Nitrate of Soda 
 separately, then the Nitrate, in the quantity desired, 
 may be mixed with the commercial fertilizer and all 
 applied at the same time. This practice saves labor 
 and danger of injuring the foliage, though it may result 
 in a slight loss of the Nitrate, as it should be applied 
 long enough before the plants are set to permit of its 
 thorough distribution in the soil. Still, the danger of 
 loss is not great, unless the season is so extremely wet 
 as to prevent cultivation. 
 
 In the case of asparagus, which is a 
 perennial, the final results of the experi- 
 ments have not yet been secured, though the experience 
 of practical growers is unanimous in favor of its use. 
 This crop, as is the case with early beets, requires heavy 
 manuring or fertilizing, or both, for the. highest profit. 
 The advantage of the extra dressings of Nitrate of Soda
 
 over other forms of Nitrogen lies chiefly in the fact that 9 od for 
 
 it may be appropriated immediately, either for supply- ans 
 
 ing the needs early in the season or to stimulate the si 
 
 Norway Maple. 
 
 With Manure Alone. 
 
 With Manure and 300 Ibs. Ni- 
 trate of Soda to the Acre. 
 
 growth of tops after cutting has ceased and the crowns 
 are exhausted. Where manure is used alone in liberal 
 amounts, the top-dressing with Nitrate would not be
 
 Food for likely to be so useful an adjunct as where commercial 
 
 _ fertilizers, containing high percentages of minerals, 
 
 S 2 have been used, as it must be remembered here, as 
 
 always, that Nitrogen is not a complete food, but an 
 
 element of food, and cannot exert its full effect except 
 
 in the presence of the necessary supply of the mineral 
 
 elements. 
 
 In the early spring, as soon as the 
 
 IfeinNttrate land is fit to cu ! tivate > tne beds are 
 ploughed or cultivated, throwing the 
 
 earth away from the crowns, and commercial fertili- 
 zers, rich in Nitrogen 5 to 6 per cent. are applied, 
 over the row, at the rate of 800 to 1,000 pounds per 
 acre. As asparagus is a perennial, and the growth 
 in the spring depends largely upon the food stored 
 up in the roots in the fall, the effect of the spring 
 application is not so noticeable in the early cuttings, 
 but materially benefits the later cutting. Commercial 
 beds are usually cut for about two and one-half months, 
 and this long period of continuous removal of shoots 
 reduces the vitality of the crowns, and because the 
 vigor of growth and size of the tops measures, to a 
 marked degree, the size of the next crop, as soon as 
 cutting is finished from 250 to 400 pounds per acre of 
 Nitrate of Soda should be applied. The roots immedi- 
 ately absorb this available form of Nitrogen, which 
 stimulates and strengthens the plant, and enables it to 
 appropriate the excess of minerals which have been 
 applied, and, as a consequence, a large, vigorous and 
 healthy growth of top is made, which not only results 
 in storing the food in the roots for use the next season, 
 but it enables the plant to resist the ravages of the rust. 
 There is no other form of Nitrogen that can be used or 
 other means by which this object can be so readily 
 accomplished as by a liberal supply of Nitrate of Soda, 
 and the result is, not only a larger yield, but a greater 
 proportion of large shoots, which increases the market 
 value of the crop; the growers who practice this system 
 have no difficulty in contracting their entire crop from 
 year to year at very remunerative prices. 
 
 A careful study of the special needs 
 Jsary es. Q f pi ants S } 1OWS that there is no other
 
 one crop that responds more favorably to the use of 
 immediately available Nitrogen than early tomatoes. 
 The influence of the use of Nitrate is not only shown in 53 
 the increase in the yield in some cases practically 
 doubling it but in the improved quality of crop, and 
 because of the larger crop an increased maturity is vir- 
 tually secured. These are all points of extreme prac- 
 tical importance. The results of all the experiments 
 conducted in different parts of the country and in 
 different seasons show an average gain in yield of about 
 50 per cent., with an average increased value of crop 
 of about $100 per acre. 
 
 In the growth of this crop two 
 methods are used, depending largely p r a C tic e S 
 upon the character of the soil and its 
 previous treatment in reference to commercial fertili- 
 zers or manures. In the first, where the farmyard 
 manure and commercial fertilizers, rich in minerals, 
 have been used on previous crops, then Nitrogen in 
 the form of Nitrate only is used, and the application 
 ranges from 150 to 250 pounds per acre. By this 
 method the yields are not so large, but the crop is 
 usually earlier, and the net profit is quite as great as 
 if larger applications of manure or fertilizer were made 
 at the time of setting the plants. The object is early 
 tomatoes, and, under average conditions of season 
 and markets, any application of fertilizer or any prac- 
 tice which would tend to encourage a later growth 
 or longer season would reduce proportionately the net 
 profits. 
 
 In the other method, farmyard manures are usu- 
 ally spread upon the soil in the fall or winter, thor- 
 oughly worked into the soil in the spring. A fertilizer 
 containing chiefly phosphoric acid and potash is applied 
 broadcast previous to setting the plants, and at the 
 time of setting an application of 100 to 150 pounds per 
 acre of Nitrate of Soda is applied around the hill or 
 over the row. After two or three weeks, depending 
 upon the season and the relative growth of the plants, 
 another application of Nitrate of Soda at the same 
 rate is made. This, because it minimizes the inter- 
 ruption in the feeding of the plant by furnishing im-
 
 Food for mediately available Nitrogen, causes not only an in- 
 
 ! crease in the yield and marketable quality of the entire 
 
 54 crop, but it materially increases the quantity of early 
 
 fruit. The results of four years' experiments show 
 
 that, by this method, the value of the increased yield 
 
 of what may be regarded as extra early fruit averaged 
 
 about $45 per acre. 
 
 As in other cases , care should be used 
 
 Nitate. in the a PP lication of Nitrate; it should 
 
 not come in too close contact with 
 the plants, and, if broadcasted after the plants are 
 set, it should be done when they are dry, so that all 
 of the Nitrate may reach the soil. Where a larger 
 quantity is used, as, for example, 300 pounds or more, 
 it is very desirable that fractional dressings should be 
 made, though care should be used not to make the 
 second application too late, as it encourages a later 
 growth of plants and retards maturity. 
 
 Cabbage is a gross feeder, and 
 ^ e * the crop can utilize large quantities of 
 plant-food to good advantage. The experiments with 
 this crop show that even where the land has been fer- 
 tilized with what would be regarded as reasonable 
 amounts of fertilizers adapted for the purpose, extra 
 dressings of Nitrate have given very profitable returns. 
 The yield has been increased from 40 to 80 per cent, 
 and the net value of crop from $53 to $80 per acre. 
 The experiments also show that what may be regarded 
 as a large quantity of Nitrate, namely, 400 pounds per 
 acre, is superior to any smaller quantity, and further, 
 that this had better be applied in two rather than in 
 a greater number of fractional dressings, as the later 
 applications have a tendency to disproportionately in- 
 crease leaf growth and retard heading. The most re- 
 markable effect of the Nitrate is shown in the influence 
 it exerts upon the marketable quality of the crop. In 
 the experiments conducted the addition of Nitrate re- 
 sulted in more than doubling the value of those heads 
 which were marketable that is, where no Nitrate was 
 applied, $1 per hundred was received, and where 400 
 pounds of Nitrate were used the price was $2.50 per 
 hundred. These results suggest a reason for the lack
 
 of success of many growers, who depend solely upon 
 applications of mixed fertilizers. 
 
 On soils well adapted for the crop ss 
 
 - medium sandy loams the land Application 
 should be plowed early and well culti- 
 vated. If manures are readily attainable, a dressing 
 of ten tons per acre may be applied and well worked 
 into the soil; previous to setting the plants a fertilizer 
 rich in Nitrogen, one containing 6 to 7 ammonia, 6 to 
 8 phosphoric acid, and 6 to 8 potash, should be applied, 
 preferably broadcast, at the rate of 800 to 1,000 pounds 
 per acre. At the time of setting, or very shortly after, 
 Nitrate of Soda, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, 
 should be applied, preferably along the row, and cul- 
 tivated in; this followed two or three weeks later with a 
 second dressing of 200 pounds. The effect of these 
 applications that is, the presence of an abundance of 
 available Nitrogen will be to stimulate and strengthen 
 the plant, so that it will make use of all of the other 
 food in the soil, and be able to overcome, in a great de- 
 gree, any unfavorable conditions that may prevail later 
 in the season. The natural tendency of the plant to 
 absorb food is gratified, and a maximum crop is the 
 result. 
 
 This is a crop of very considerable 
 importance in market garden districts, Turnips* 
 and in certain sections is very profit- 
 able. The profit, other things being equal, is measured 
 by the earliness with which the crop may be gotten into 
 the market. The gains obtained in the experiments 
 from the use of Nitrate have ranged from 30 to over 
 100 per cent., according to the amount applied and 
 method of application. The increased value of crop, 
 due to the Nitrate, averaged about $30 per acre a 
 very handsome return from the use of the extra fer- 
 tilizer. 
 
 Where soils have been previously 
 liberally fertilized, particularly with the S c atl -on. 
 mineral elements, the recommenda- 
 tions for fertilizers, which have in practice proved very 
 satisfactory, are as follows: Prepare the soil early and 
 apply a light dressing of manure, either previous to
 
 F pilnts Pl wm g or a ft er plowing, and harrow in well, and apply 
 
 a commercial fertilizer rich in minerals, say, with a 
 
 s 6 composition of 2 per cent. Nitrogen, 8 per cent, phos- 
 phoric acid and 5 per cent, potash, at the rate of 1,000 
 pounds per acre. After the plants have germinated and 
 are well started, apply, broadcast, 150 pounds per acre 
 of Nitrate of Soda, following this in two or three weeks 
 with a second application of 150 pounds. The first 
 dressing will serve to stimulate leaf growth and a deep 
 penetration of root, and the second dressing will en- 
 courage a rapid growth of the turnip, so necessary if 
 high quality is to be obtained. Applications made 
 later than one month after the seeding usually encour- 
 age too large a leaf growth, thus reducing the yield of 
 early crop. In the experiments three equal dressings 
 of 133 pounds each reduced the yield by over 3,000 
 pounds per acre below that which was obtained in two 
 equal dressings of the same amount as suggested here- 
 with. The e Tect of the third dressing seemed to be to 
 induce growth of top rather than root. The increase 
 in the maturity that is, the quantity of early crop- 
 will be directly increased, in so far as the Nitrate in- 
 duces a larger crop, which is one of the first results of 
 its application. 
 
 Very great progress has been made 
 in the growth of sweet corn for the 
 early market, due both to the development of harder 
 varieties and to greater care in the selection and use of 
 fertilizing materials. These hardy varieties of sweet 
 corn are now frequently planted as early as March as 
 far north as New Jersey, and, when planted so early, 
 the soil supplies of Nitrogen are yet unfavorable for 
 the change of organic or other forms of Nitrogen into 
 the Nitrate form. Hence, Nitrate should constitute a 
 large part of the nitrogenous food of the plant if early 
 maturity is to be accomplished. Practice has shown 
 that, by small fractional dressings of Nitrate early, 
 maximum results may be obtained. In the prepara- 
 tion of the soil for the growth of this crop, therefore, 
 considerable organic nitrogenous material may be 
 used to advantage. 
 
 A good practice is to manure the soil, either during
 
 the fall or winter, with from ten to twelve tons per 
 acre, and apply previous to planting or setting the 
 plants (in many cases the plants are 57 
 
 started in the plant-house), a fertilizer p r a C tice S ' 
 rich in phosphoric acid and potash, 
 also containing organic forms of Nitrogen. At time of 
 planting use a compost in the hill, and use the Nitrate 
 as a side dressing after the corn is well rooted. The 
 advantage of the compost and organic forms of Nitro- 
 gen is that they supply the soil with an abundance of 
 readily fermentable material, which, to some extent, 
 warms the soil, besides containing substances useful in 
 later stages of growth. Nitrate may be applied in 
 three dressings, at the rate of 100 pounds per acre in 
 each dressing, and the dressings should be so distributed 
 as to cover the season of growth that is, as soon as 
 plants begin to form ears the last application of Nitro- 
 gen may be made, which encourages a quick growth of 
 the ears and also makes them much larger. The in- 
 creased gains per acre when the Nitrate has been used 
 in this way have ranged from $18 to $40 a very 
 profitable use of Nitrogen, as the gain is really in 
 excess of that which would be obtained by average 
 methods of manuring. 
 
 Soils suitable for the growth of 
 muskmelons are preferably light, sandy tts * 
 
 loams, not naturally well supplied with any of the con- 
 stituents of plant growth. The crop does not require 
 large quantities of plant-food, but must have the 
 needed amount in available form early in the season. 
 Experiments that have been conducted through several 
 seasons show that the best form of Nitrogen for this 
 crop is the Nitrate, and that preferably two applica- 
 tions should be made. The increase in yield from the 
 addition of Nitrate of Soda has averaged, practically, 
 100 per cent., with an average increased value of crop 
 of $100 per acre. The increased value is obtained be- 
 cause of a large crop of finer quality, as a very marked 
 influence of the added nitrogenous substance is noticed 
 in marketable quality of the total crop, reducing very 
 materially the percentage of culls. The experiments 
 showed that, while the percentage of culls, where no
 
 F piants N^rogen was applied, averaged 40 per cent., the aver- 
 
 age per cent, of culls on the fertilized area was but 
 
 5 8 25 per cent., indicating that the normal development 
 of fruit requires a sufficient amount of available 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 On light soils, apply broadcast dur- 
 
 ' ing fal1 or winter > 8 to 10 tons of 
 
 manure, which should be plowed in 
 
 early in spring. After the land is prepared, a high- 
 grade fertilizer should be applied broadcast, at the 
 rate of 600 to 800 pounds per acre, and harrowed in 
 previous to planting. After the plants are well started, 
 apply 100 pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda; belore 
 the vines begin to run, make an additional application 
 of 100 pounds per acre. Care should be taken in the 
 application of the Nitrate, as suggested in the case of 
 the other crops, not to allow the salt to come in contact 
 with the foliage of the plants. 
 
 In the case of cucumbers, heavier 
 soils may be used, and larger quantities 
 of fertilizers applied. In our experiments, the applica- 
 tion of Nitrate in addition to regular methods of fer- 
 tilization resulted in a very large increase in crop- 
 over 100 per cent. and an increase in net value of 
 over $60 per acre. The amounts of Nitrate applied may 
 range from 250 to 300 pounds per acre, and it should 
 preferably be distributed more evenly throughout the 
 season than in the case of the melons; 300 pounds per 
 acre, in three applications, gave the best results. The 
 effect of the Nitrate here, as in the case of melons, was 
 particularly noticeable in maintaining a rapid and con- 
 tinuous growth of vine and fruit, thus materially re- 
 ducing the proportion of culls. For growing this crop 
 to best advantage, the soil should either be well man- 
 ured or a commercial fertilizer, rich in all of the con- 
 stituents, should be applied at the rate of 400 to 600 
 pounds per acre, previous to planting; and after the 
 plants have well started, 100 pounds per acre of Nitrate 
 of Soda should be applied; this to be followed with two 
 further dressings of the same amount. The time be- 
 tween the dressings may range from two to three 
 weeks, according to season.
 
 Celery is a crop that responds most pS2?ts r 
 
 profitably to an application of an abun- 
 dance of available Nitrogen. This fertilizer not only 59 
 increases the yield, but very materially improves the 
 quality of the crop. Where the soil is naturally rich, 
 or where what may be regarded as good methods of 
 practice, in reference to fertilizers, are followed, extra 
 applications of Nitrate result in very largely increased 
 yields and proportionate improvement in quality. In 
 the experiments that were conducted, it was shown that 
 where ordinary treatment was given, and a small and 
 unprofitable crop was obtained, the addition of a few 
 dollars' worth of Nitrate changed the crop into a very 
 profitable one; and in the case of a soil that was re- 
 garded as good enough to produce a fair crop, the addi- 
 tion caused a large increase in total crop, and a very 
 marked improvement in the quality. The selling price 
 of roots grown with Nitrate was 150 per cent, greater 
 than where none was applied, and 100 per cent, greater 
 than where an insufficient amount was used. The in- 
 creased value per acre of the crop from the best use of 
 the Nitrate was over $250. 
 
 The celery crop is expensive, both 
 i i i i i ,1 Methods of 
 
 in plants and in labor, and since the cost A-_I,V 
 
 **Ti .. ,., Application, 
 
 ol these items is the same whether the 
 
 crop is large or small, intensive systems of feeding the 
 crop usually give excellent returns. The crop is also 
 very much improved in quality if the conditions are 
 made favorable for .continuous and rapid growth, hence 
 an abundance of moisture and of immediately available 
 food are prime essentials. The former can be con- 
 trolled to a large extent by good methods of culture, 
 but the best culture of the best soils is not capable of 
 providing the necessary food, and, of the essential 
 elements of food, Nitrogen seems to be the one that 
 contributes especially to rapidity of growth and to the 
 formation of stalk which possesses that peculiar crisp- 
 ness which in so marked a degree measures marketable 
 quality. Soils that are deep, moist and rich in organic 
 matter are best suited for the crop; these should be 
 heavily manured, say, at the rate of ten to fifteen tons 
 per acre, and should also receive liberal amounts of
 
 F piants high~g rao1 e commercial fertilizer, at the rate of 600 to 
 
 800 pounds per acre, all applied broadcast previous to 
 
 60 setting the plants. After the plants are well started, 
 apply 200 pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda along the 
 row, and, if the weather is dry, cultivate it in, though, 
 ordinarily, the moisture in the soil is sufficient to cause 
 an immediate distribution of the salt; and in three to 
 four weeks make a second application of Nitrate of the 
 same amount and in the same manner. The two appli- 
 cations of Nitrate, of 200 pounds each, will, it is be- 
 lieved, give, on the average, better returns than smaller 
 amounts or a greater number of applications, though 
 the conditions of season may warrant such changes from 
 this method as the judgment of the grower may dictate. 
 The growing of peppers has become 
 a considerable industry in market gar- 
 den districts in recent years. Studies of the special 
 needs of the crop show that, on good soils, well adapted 
 for the plant, additional dressings of Nitrate are neces- 
 sary for best results the gain in yield averaging 35 
 per cent., and the increased value of crop due to the 
 added Nitrates averaging $30 per acre. A large quan- 
 tity 300 pounds per acre seems to be much superior 
 to any less amount, and, owing to the fact that peppers 
 continue to form during the entire period of growth, 
 the distribution of the Nitrate throughout the season 
 is desirable where large quantities are applied. Where 
 more convenient the first application of Nitrate may be 
 applied at time of setting the plants, in order to prevent 
 any delay in growth after setting. The later fractional 
 applications are distributed throughout the season, two 
 or three weeks apart. 
 
 In the growing of early potatoes it 
 es ' is essential that an abundant supply 
 of Nitrogen be at the disposal of the plant. The ex- 
 perience of growers has clearly demonstrated this fact, 
 and, until commercial fertilizers came into general use, 
 most growers used large quantities of yard manure, in 
 order that the plant should suffer no lack of this ele- 
 ment. With the introduction of commercial fertilizers, 
 the question of greatest importance has been the source 
 of Nitrogen best suited to meet the .demands of the
 
 special early growth. The experiments which have 
 been conducted with a view to answering this question 
 have shown clearly that while Nitrate is most useful, 6l 
 a combination of the Nitrate with the quickly available 
 organic forms, as dried blood, or with both organic and 
 ammonia forms, is preferable to the use of any single 
 form. 
 
 On good potato soils, therefore, a 
 good fertilization should consist of from Practice 3 ' 
 800 to 1,000 pounds of a fertilizer con- 
 taining Nitrogen, 4 per cent.; available phosphoric acid, 
 8 per cent., and potash, 10 per cent.; one-third of the 
 Nitrogen at least to be derived from Nitrate of Soda 
 and the remainder from quickly available organic forms. 
 On soils in good condition the fertilizer may be applied 
 in the row at the time of planting, though many prefer 
 to apply one-half of the desired amount broadcast pre- 
 viously and the remainder in the row with the seed. 
 Where there appears to be a deficiency of Nitrogen, 
 the application of 100 pounds of Nitrate per acre at 
 the time of blossoming will encourage the rapid growth 
 of tubers, though retarding, to some extent, the time 
 of ripening. 
 
 The sweet potato finds its most ^ 
 congenial home in a light, sandy soil, 
 the physical character of the soil measuring, to a large 
 extent, the quality of the crop, though the method of 
 fertilization will also influence this to a certain extent. 
 This plant seems to have the power of acquiring from 
 the soil Nitrogen that is inaccessible to other plants, 
 and thus, where large applications of this element are 
 made, a tendency to undue growth seems to be encour- 
 aged, and also to change the marketable quality of the 
 tubers, causing a long, rooty growth, rather than a 
 compact, nodular form. The use of a small amount of 
 Nitrogen is, however, desirable, an increase of from 
 50 to 70 bushels per acre being secured from such use. 
 Hence, soils rich in Nitrogen, or those upon which 
 Nitrogen has been previously applied in considerable 
 quantities, do not produce tubers of the character de- 
 manded by our northern markets a small, round tuber, 
 which cooks dry and has a nutty flavor. These char-
 
 F Piants ac teristics of quality cannot be secured in crops grown 
 - on heavy soils, nor on sandy soils too liberally supplied 
 62 with Nitrogen. 
 
 The fertilizer may be applied at the 
 Methods of - ^ j_i i 
 
 Practice time ot making up the rows, in order 
 
 that it may be evenly distributed be- 
 fore the slips are planted. This will encourage im- 
 mediate growth of plant, and the small quantity of 
 Nitrate which is applied early in the season will not 
 militate against the proper development of the tuber, 
 as an absence of Nitrogen in the soil after the Nitrate 
 has been taken up will discourage the formation of the 
 rooty form of tuber, which is marketable at a lower 
 price. 
 
 Experiments have also demonstrated the necessity 
 in the soils of an abundance of minerals, and a fertilizer 
 containing 2.5 per cent. Nitrogen, 7 per cent, available 
 phosphoric acid and 10 per cent, potash, one-half the 
 Nitrogen to be drawn from Nitrate, seems to meet the 
 requirements better than one containing a larger 
 amount of Nitrogen. 
 
 II. For Crops of Low Commercial Value. 
 
 . r . The growth of hay and the cereals, 
 
 ay an ram. wnea t and rye, forms a very important 
 part of the farming interests of the Eastern, Middle 
 and Southern Coast States. The areas of these crops 
 in eighteen States, including Tennessee and Kentucky, 
 are, in round numbers, as follows: 
 
 Hay 15,000,000 acres. 
 
 Wheat 8,000,000 " 
 
 Rye 772,000 " 
 
 In most of these States large quantities of com- 
 mercial fertilizers are used, either because the soils are 
 naturally poor or because they have been depleted of 
 their original constituents by continuous cropping, and, 
 even with added fertilizers, the yields are not large 
 enough to make the crops in themselves highly profit- 
 able. In many States the yield in particular districts 
 is large, but the average yield of hay is but 1.25 tons
 
 per acre, of wheat, but 13 bushels per acre, and but 15 
 bushels of rye. The aggregate production of these 
 crops is, however, very large, and, because of the con- 6 3 
 ditions which prevail, it is likely that their growth will 
 continue for some time to come, though it is eminently 
 desirable that the average yield should be increased. 
 
 One of the chief reasons for the low average yield 
 is that the farming is on the "extensive" rather than 
 on the "intensive" plan. The relatively large areas 
 used are not well prepared for the seed, and the fer- 
 tilizers applied do not fully supplement soil supplies of 
 plant-food. These conditions, too, are not liable to 
 change at once, because the farmers are not yet pre- 
 pared to adopt the more rational intensive system; the 
 adjustment to new conditions requires time. The sug- 
 gestions here given as to the use of top-dressings of 
 nitrogenous substances are therefore of primary im- 
 portance, because, if followed, they will enable the farmer 
 to obtain more profitable crops, and will encourage the 
 gradual adoption of better systems of practice. 
 
 The farmers have, however, reached the point 
 where they are asking the general question: "How 
 shall I profitably increase the yields of these crops?" 
 They are not satisfied with present conditions, nor 
 with the general advice to supply the crops with addi- 
 tional plant-food. The advice is not definite enough, 
 and they are not sure that the cost of expensive plant- 
 food will be returned in the immediate crop, and they 
 cannot afford to wait for future crops to return an 
 interest on the invested capital. As soon as it is made 
 clear that a profitable increase in crop from the use 
 of fertilizers is a reasonable thing to expect, then the 
 questions are; -first, "What shall I use?" second, "How 
 much shall I use per acre?" and third, "When and how 
 shall it be applied?" Experiments that have been 
 conducted with the use of Nitrate of Soda answer all 
 of these questions in a definite and specific way. 
 
 In the case of hay, from timothy 
 and other grasses, the experiments that y * 
 
 have been conducted answer the first question "What 
 shall I use?" as follows: Use Nitrate of Soda, because 
 it is a food element that is especially needed; it is
 
 F Plants som ble in water and can be immediately taken up by 
 - the plants and supplies them with that which they need 
 6 4 at the time they need it it can be used by them early 
 in the spring before other forms of applied Nitrogen 
 are usable and before other soil supplies are available. 
 The results of experiments conducted through a period 
 of nine years, and in different sections of the State, 
 show that upon soils which will produce crops ranging 
 from one to three tons per acre, a gain in yield of from 
 9 to 54 per cent., or an average increase of 32.7 per 
 cent., may be expected from the use of from 100 to 150 
 pounds per acre, which would show an average gain 
 in yield of 654 pounds per acre; based on the average 
 yield of this section of the country of 1.25 tons per 
 acre, the gain would be 820 pounds. This increase at 
 an average price of $12 per ton would mean about $5 
 per acre, or $2 more than the cost of the material. A 
 very satisfactory profit, when it is remembered that it 
 is obtained at the same cost of labor and of capital in- 
 vested in land. 
 
 The second question, as to how much 
 ^tTn ^f uch shall be applied: experience teaches 
 
 Applied 6 ih&t on ^ so ils> in a good state of 
 
 cultivation, 150 pounds per acre would 
 be regarded as the most useful amount, though on poor 
 soils, 100 pounds would be better, and on richer soils, 
 as high as 200 or 250 pounds per acre may be used with 
 advantage. The reason why a smaller amount is 
 recommended on poor soils is because on such soils 
 there is liable to be a deficiency of the mineral elements, 
 and inasmuch as the Nitrate is not a food complete in 
 itself, but an element of food, the plant would be 
 unable to utilize it to the best advantage in the absence 
 of the necessary minerals. Where the soils are good 
 or under the intensive plan, larger amounts may be used, 
 as under this system all the constituents are supplied 
 in reasonable excess, besides, every precaution is taken 
 to have the physical condition of the soil so perfect as 
 to provide for the easy distribution and absorption of 
 the food applied. In experiments conducted in Rhode 
 Island the largest profit was obtained from the applica- 
 tion of 450 pounds per acre, together with the necessary
 
 minerals. This method of practice is one which' should 5 d f for 
 
 , . . i i i i "i i Plants 
 
 be the ultimate aim, and can be accomphshedjby gradu- 
 
 ally increasing the amounts as the profits from the crops 6 s 
 grown from the application of smaller amounts warrant. 
 
 The experiments, the results of 
 which are confirmed by experience, also Application, 
 answer the third question, as to when 
 it shall be applied. Apply as a top-dressing in spring, 
 after the grass has well started, when the foliage is dry, 
 and preferably just before or just after a rain. If applied 
 when vegetative functions are active, it is immediately 
 absorbed, and not only strengthens the plant but 
 causes it to throw its roots deeply into the soil and to 
 absorb more readily the mineral food, and thus utilize 
 to a fuller degree the amount of Nitrate applied. Fre- 
 quently, however, not only is the yield increased, but 
 the quality of the hay is improved that is, there is 
 proportionately more nitrogenous substance in the hay 
 than in that obtained where no Nitrogen has been 
 used, so that unless the Nitrate has been absorbed uni- 
 formly we cannot expect the yield that may be calcu- 
 lated from the amount of Nitrogen applied. These 
 experiments suggest, further, that, owing to the diffi- 
 culty of evenly distributing a small amount of Nitrate 
 of Soda, and owing, also, to the fact that, on soils that 
 have been seeded with grass, there is frequently a 
 deficiency of mineral elements, a mixture may prefer- 
 ably be used which is rich in Nitrate, usually one-half, 
 the balance consisting of acid phosphate, ground bone 
 and muriate of potash. The soluble minerals are 
 readily carried to the roots of the plants, but the 
 ground bone feeds the surface roots, and the Nitrate 
 is absorbed quite as readily as if not used with any 
 other material. This method is to be recommended 
 whenever the land is in good condition, and it is desired 
 to keep up the content of the mineral constituents in 
 the soil, as well as to avoid any danger of overfeeding 
 with Nitrogen, which would have a tendency, particu- 
 larly in the warmer climates, of causing a softer growth 
 and formation of mildew. This is liable to occur 
 where the Nitrogen is in excess and the ration is not 
 well balanced.
 
 F S!, Tin, The answer to the questions as 
 
 Wneat. j . i , .-. 
 
 applied to wheat are, in essence, the 
 
 66 same, though modified in particular points, owing to the 
 fact that the wheat is grown for grain, rather than for 
 weight of total produce, as in the case of hay, and 
 also because wheat, being seeded in the fall, has not 
 so large a root system as grass, and therefore 
 greater care should be used in the application of the 
 material. Nitrate of Soda is, however, the substance 
 that is likely to give the most satisfactory results as a 
 top-dressing, because, as already pointed out, it is 
 soluble, and can thus reach every point of the soil 
 without the necessity of cultivation and it is immedi- 
 ately available, and thus supplies food at once or at 
 the time most needed, energizing the plants weakened 
 by. the winter and strengthening those already vigor- 
 ous and enabling them to secure a larger proportion 
 of the mineral elements. The time of application 
 should be early in the spring, or after growth has started. 
 The results of experiments con- 
 Gains from the ducted to answer this- question show a 
 of Soda ^ am m kth grain and straw from the 
 
 top-dressing of Nitrate of Soda. The 
 yields per acre, without the top-dressing, ranged from 
 eleven to twenty-seven bushels of grain per acre and 
 from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of straw, thus showing a 
 wide variation in the character of the soils used and 
 in seasons, making the average of the results generally 
 applicable. 
 
 The gain in yield of grain ranged from 25.9 to 
 100 per cent., while that of straw ranged from 54 to 
 100 per cent., or an average of 60.8 per cent, increase 
 in the case of the grain, and 83.8 per cent, increase 
 in the case of the straw. The value of these increased 
 yields, at average prices, shows a large profit in all 
 cases. Applying this to the average yield per acre of 
 wheat and straw, namely, thirteen bushels of wheat and 
 1,600 pounds of straw for the Eastern and Southern 
 States included in our discussion, we find a gain of 7.9 
 bushels of wheat and 1,340 pounds of straw, and a 
 valuation of seventy-five cents per bushel for wheat 
 and $6 per ton for straw, which prices, probably repre-
 
 sent the average, though not as high as are now pre- 
 vailing, the total value of the increase is $9.95, or a 
 net gain of $6.20 per acre, using the price of $50 6 7 
 per ton for Nitrate of Soda. The profit here indi- 
 cated is a good one and should make wheat raising 
 more encouraging, besides stimulating the farmer to 
 better practice in other directions. The calculated 
 yields from the use of Nitrate are not unreasonable to 
 expect, since on good wheat soils and with fairly good 
 management, without the additional Nitrate, the aver- 
 age yield is over twenty bushels per acre. 
 
 In reference to the second ques- 
 tion, as to how much Nitrate shall be to A 
 applied, the experiments show that on 
 soils in a good state of cultivation, those that will 
 produce about fifteen bushels per acre without top- 
 dressing, 150 pounds per acre, the average amount 
 used in the experiments, would be the most useful; 
 though, on poorer soils, which would average ten to 
 twelve bushels per acre, 100 pounds would be better, 
 for the reasons already discussed in the case of hay. 
 
 On better soils, where quantities larger than 150 
 pounds per acre seem desirable, it is strongly recom- 
 mended that two applications of equal weight be made; 
 the first, when the plants have well started, and the 
 second, when the crop is coming into head. Very often 
 the season is such as to encourage a rapid change of 
 the insoluble Nitrogen in the soil, in which case too 
 large an application in the spring would tend toward 
 an undue development of leaf and the ripening would 
 be impaired, hence the advantage of dividing the 
 amount is apparent, as, if the season is good and the 
 growth normal, the second application may be dis- 
 pensed with. Where the soil is liable to be deficient 
 in minerals, and this is often the case, the Nitrate may 
 be mixed with other materials, as recommended for 
 hay, the excess of minerals not used for the wheat 
 providing for the following crop. 
 
 The three experiments with rye in Rye. 
 1894 confirm the conclusions reached in 
 both the experiment on hay and on wheat, that Nitrate 
 of Soda as a top-dressing proves desirable in effectually
 
 Fo pfants j ncreasm g the yield of both grain and straw, and which 
 _ is accomplished at a profit. The average yield of crops 
 68 without top-dressing ranged from 9.3 to 15.4 bushels 
 of grain, and the increase from the application of 100 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda ranged from 21 to 37 per 
 cent, for grain, and from 33.5 to 37 for straw, or an 
 average increase of 28.5 per cent, for grain and 35.7 
 for straw. The yield obtained without top-dressing 
 is not so large as in the case of the wheat, nor is the 
 increase proportionately as large, due undoubtedly to 
 the fact that the rye is usually grown on poorer land 
 than wheat, and that only 100 pounds are used, though 
 this small amount is recommended because of the rela- 
 tively lower price of grain. Applying this percentage 
 increase, however, to the average yields, as shown by 
 the States mentioned, namely, fifteen bushels of rye, 
 and 1,800 pounds of straw per acre, we have a gain of 
 4.28 bushels of grain and 603 pounds of straw. At 
 sixty cents per bushel for the grain, and $12 per ton 
 for the straw, the gain is $6.18, or a net profit from 
 the use of Nitrate of Soda of $3.93 per acre, a very 
 handsome return for the investment. The suggestions 
 as to the amount and time to apply are practically 
 the same as for the wheat and hay, though, owing to 
 the fact that the straw is relatively more valuable 
 than the grain, larger applications may be made for 
 rye than for wheat, as an abnormal increase in the 
 proportion of straw would not result in lowering the 
 total value of the crop. 
 
 At this Station during the years 
 Experiments 1399 to 1902 seven experiments were 
 
 CJ?s F rage conducted with Nitrate as a top-dress- 
 
 ing on forage crops, the Nitrate being 
 used in addition to the manures and fertilizers generally 
 used, and the following tabulations show the yield and 
 gain per acre obtained. It will be observed that in all 
 cases a very marked increase, due to the application 
 of Nitrate, occurred on all crops except the barley, 
 which, owing to unfavorable weather conditions, did 
 not make a large yield. Applying this percentage 
 increase to what has been shown to be average yields 
 of these crops without Nitrate, we have the follow-
 
 ing table, which shows the gain per acre and the value 
 of the increase on all crops at an assumed value of $3 
 per ton : 
 
 Yield of Forage Crops Per Acre. 
 
 
 _ 03 
 
 t- V 
 
 3 '? 
 
 FERTILIZER. 
 
 Increased Yield. 
 
 Percentage, Gain. 
 
 H 
 
 8, 
 I 
 
 > 
 
 Increased Yield. 
 
 Value of Increased 
 Yield at $3 per Ton. 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 Rye 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 Ibs. 
 9,520 
 9,280 
 
 14,355 
 20,400 
 6,250 
 2,400 
 
 Ibs. 
 13,100 
 15,000 
 
 21,540 
 26,800 
 9,530 
 4,720 
 
 Ibs. 
 3,580 
 5,720 
 
 7,185 
 6,400 
 3,280 
 2,320 
 
 37.6 
 61.6 
 
 50.0 
 31.4 
 52.5 
 96.6 
 
 Ibs. 
 10,000 
 10,000 
 
 14,000 
 20,000 
 10,000 
 8,000 
 
 Ibs. 
 3,760 
 6,160 
 
 7,000 
 6,280 
 5,250 
 
 7,728 
 
 $5.64 
 9.24 
 
 10.50 
 9.42 
 7.88 
 11.59 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Barnyard Mil- 
 let 
 
 Corn 
 
 Oats and Peas . 
 Barley 
 
 
 It will be observed that the value of the increased 
 crop ranges from $5.64 to $11.59 per acre a profitable 
 increase in every case, as the average cost of the Nitrate 
 did not exceed $3.60. This profit does not take into 
 consideration the fact that the average increase for all 
 the crops was over 50 per cent., thus reducing, in this 
 proportion, the area required for the production of a 
 definite amount of food a point of vital importance in 
 the matter of growing forage for soiling purposes. In 
 other words, it is shown that, not only is there a profit- 
 able gain, but that with these crops the application of 
 Nitrate of Soda made it possible to double the number 
 of cattle or the number of cows that could be kept on a 
 definite area. 
 
 In the case of the wheat and rye the application 
 was made when the plants were well started in the 
 spring. In the case of the spring or summer-seeded 
 crops the applications were made after the plants were 
 well started and root systems well established and ready 
 for the rapid absorption of food. In 
 raising forage crops the best results, in 
 fact, satisfactory results, can only be 
 
 Methods of 
 Application. 
 
 69
 
 F Piants btained when grown under the intensive system. 
 
 - The soil must be well prepared and an abundance of 
 
 7 all the elements of plant-food supplied. Hence, the 
 
 application of Nitrate may be greater than is usually 
 
 recommended for grain crops under the extensive 
 
 system. 
 
 Although there are many valuable suggestions 
 offered by the experiments, at least two are of funda- 
 mental importance, and cannot be too strongly urged 
 upon the attention of farmers: 
 
 1. That the constituents Nitrogen, phosphoric 
 acid and potash, as found in commercial supplies fur- 
 nishing these elements, do serve as plant-food, nour- 
 ishing the plant in the same manner as those in home 
 manures, and should, therefore, be liberally used, in 
 order to guarantee maximum crops. 
 
 2. Of these constituent elements Nitrogen is of 
 especial importance, because it is the one element 
 which, in its natural state, must be changed in form 
 before it can be used by the plants. Hence, its applica- 
 tion in an immediately-available form is especially ad- 
 vantageous for quick-growing vegetable crops, whose 
 marketable quality is measured by rapid and contin- 
 uous growth, and for those field crops which make their 
 greatest development in spring, before the conditions 
 are favorable for the change of the Nitrogen in the soil 
 into forms usable by plants.
 
 Staple Crops. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Cotton and Fiber Plants. 
 
 Cotton is profitably grown on nearly all kinds of 
 soil, but does best perhaps on a strong, sandy loam. 
 On light uplands the yield is light, but with a fair pro- 
 portion of lint; on heavy bottom lands the growth 
 may be heavy, but the proportion of lint to the whole 
 plant very much reduced. 
 
 The preparation of the soil must be even and thor- 
 ough; light soils should be plowed to a depth of six 
 inches, heavy soils about eight inches. The rows should 
 be four feet apart; on very rich soils the hills may be 
 made twelve inches apart, but, on the light soils com- 
 mon to cotton sections, twenty -four inches is a better
 
 Plants 
 72 
 
 Food for S p ace between plants. About one bushel of seed per 
 
 i i 11 
 
 acre is the usual allowance. 
 
 Many fertilizer formulas have been recommended, 
 and by all kinds of authority, and green manuring is 
 widely advised as a means of getting a supply of cheap 
 ammonia; but, with this crop especially, cheap am- 
 moniates are very dear. The cotton plant should 
 have stored up all the food it needs by the 1st or 15th 
 
 Products of Auburn Cotton Plots, Group 1. 
 
 Yields of Seed Cotton. 
 Plot 1. Plot 3. Plot 4. 
 750 Ibs. 1272 Ibs. 1440 Ibs. 
 
 of August; from this time on growth should be checked 
 that the plant may develop the formation of seed and 
 lint. If, on the contrary, plant food is still supplied 
 late in the season, new growth is the result, and in con- 
 sequence a lessened production of lint and seed. The 
 lower grade ammoniates, such as cotton-seed meal, 
 green manuring, ftankage, and dried blood, continue 
 to supply available Nitrogen until checked by cold
 
 weather, hence these forms of ammoniates are not de- p? od j or 
 
 sirable for the most economical production of cotton. 
 
 In order to supply the necessary plant food for the earl- 73 
 ier stages of growth, so much of these low grade am- 
 moniates must be used that injury from lack of ripening 
 is almost sure to occur. 
 
 The^ most- rational way of fertilizing cotton is to 
 apply the phosphoric acid and potash with the seed, 
 
 Products of Auburn Cotton Plots, Group 2. 
 
 Yields of Seed Cotton. 
 
 Plot 1. Plot 3. Plot 4. 
 
 930 Ibs. 1284 Ibs. 1776 Ibs. 
 
 or just before seeding. As soon as the plants are well 
 above ground, top-dress along the rows with 100 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda per acre, and work in well with the 
 cultivator. This furnishes the cotton plant with pre- 
 cisely the Best Form of Nitrogen, Nitrate, for rapid 
 growth, and does not continue to push the plant long 
 after new growth should have ceased.
 
 Fo pf n? r ^ ne nun d re d pounds of Nitrate of Soda may be used 
 
 as a top-dressing four weeks after planting. 
 
 74 Successful results have been obtained by using 
 
 Nitrate alone, either at the time of planting, at the 
 ratio of 100 pounds to the acre, or a spoonful of this 
 salt placed around and near each cotton bush later, 
 mixing it thoroughly with the dry soil. Avoid placing 
 the Nitrate on the plant or in contact with it". 
 
 Fertilization and Cultivation of Cotton. 
 Bulletin of North Carolina Department of Agriculture. 
 
 Cotton is generally grown on ridges. 
 This is necessary on wet soils, but on 
 all fairly well-drained upland and sandy soils we are 
 convinced that level and frequent shallow cultivation, 
 as was indicated for corn, is the best and most eco- 
 nomical method to follow in growing cotton. Ridge 
 culture may give better results in very wet years, but 
 taking the seasons as they come the advantage will lie, 
 we think, with flat culture. 
 
 On light lands it will be good practice to apply 
 Nitrate as a side-dressing about the middle of June. 
 Good results come from the use of it in this way on 
 heavy types of land. Where land does not produce a 
 good stalk of cotton, and fertilizers are used which 
 contain only a moderate amount of Nitrogen, or 
 ammonia, good results are obtained from a side- 
 dressing of 50 to 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per 
 acre. The Nitrate should be distributed along one 
 side of the row, or where there is a ridge in the middle 
 it may be put on this, and when the ridge is thrown 
 out the Nitrate will be thrown on two sides of the row. 
 The Alabama Agricultural Experi- 
 Cotton mg nient Station at Auburn, Alabama, has 
 made some interesting experiments in 
 fertilizing cotton. Experiments were conducted in 
 many different parts of the State and on various kinds 
 of soil. 
 
 It was noticed that in nearly every case 96 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda, when used with acid phosphate, gave 
 a better yield than 240 pounds cotton-seed meal when
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers on Cotton. 
 
 NITRATE. NITRATE. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 75 
 
 Locality and Character of Soil. 
 
 No Fertilizer. 
 
 240 Ibs. Acid Phosphate, 
 per Acre. 
 
 T. 
 
 "8.3 
 % 
 
 ts o 
 
 7? 
 PH 
 *-> y 
 
 23^ 
 
 M 5 fe 
 
 g^& 
 
 . f: 
 
 in i*i 
 jQ ' 
 
 CO 
 0> 0* 
 
 -$$ 
 
 3 
 " a, 
 
 ^JL 
 
 flPn H 
 
 SIS'* 
 
 O CJ tc 
 
 o< 
 
 to to 
 
 J3J3 
 
 
 
 * Tjl 
 
 (N 04 
 
 sff 
 
 2|i 
 
 Jt V ,J 
 J|>PL| -g C 
 
 2 ."S 'S < 
 Jll S 
 
 ^^^ & 
 
 JJJ 
 
 "" o^ 
 o * o 
 
 O <N 
 
 
 Yield 
 aer Acre. 
 Lbs. 
 
 Yield 
 per Acre. 
 Lbs. 
 
 Yield 
 per Acre. 
 Lbs. 
 
 Yield 
 per Acie. 
 Lbs. 
 
 Yield 
 per Acre. 
 Lbs. 
 
 Barbour Co., Sandy Loam. . 
 Elmore Co., Gray Sand 
 
 624 
 469 
 
 672 
 736 
 
 1216 
 1088 
 
 768 
 960 
 
 1020 
 1088 
 
 Elowah Co., Red Loam 
 
 240 
 
 616 
 
 1000 
 
 720 
 
 952 
 
 Greene Co., Sandy 
 
 104 
 
 512 
 
 960 
 
 1056 
 
 1256 
 
 Clay Co., Soil Red 
 
 389 
 
 480 
 
 800 
 
 704 
 
 848 
 
 Calhoun Co., Mulatto Soil. . 
 Lawrence Co., Clay Loam.. . 
 Cullman Co., Sand and 
 Gravel 
 
 171 
 235 
 
 347 
 
 480 
 600 
 
 928 
 
 640 
 
 864 
 
 1080 
 
 624 
 688 
 
 1096 
 
 816 
 904 
 
 1120 
 
 Madison Co., Clay Loam. . . 
 Randolph Co., Sandy Loam. 
 Butler Co., Light Sand 
 
 312 
 
 288 
 200 
 
 448 
 384 
 640 
 
 800 
 
 752 
 744 
 
 544 
 544 
 760 
 
 800 
 544 
 800 
 
 Marengo Co., Dark Sand. . . 
 
 648 
 
 816 
 
 936 
 
 784 
 
 968 
 
 used with the same quantity of acid phosphate. The 
 240 pounds of cotton-seed meal contained more Nitro- 
 gen than 96 pounds of Nitrate, and cost more than the 
 Nitrate, yet did not give, as a rule, as good results. As 
 a rule, potash did not pay, except on sandy land. 
 While the "no fertilizer" acre gave only a small yield, 
 the best results were obtained from the combination 
 of Nitrate, phosphate and potash, but where the land 
 was fairly good, the potash did not seem to be 
 necessary. 
 
 Cotton-seed meal has been an economical source 
 of Nitrogen, but it tends to make the soil sour, stale 
 and mouldy. Its use should never exclude the use of 
 Nitrate Nitrogen, i.e., Nitrate of Soda, at the rate of 
 100 pounds to the acre. 
 
 Two bales of cotton may be made on the same
 
 F p!anS ^ an( ^ w *th the same labor which now makes one. 
 - Nitrate of Soda fed to growing crops at the right time 
 repays its cost many times over. 
 
 If there is no Nitrate present, the plant must wait 
 until the Nitrogen in the cotton-seed meal becomes 
 nitrated, which, in cool, damp soil takes a considerable 
 time. Thus the plant, in its most critical stage, is held 
 back and checked in its growth, from which it never fully 
 recovers. On the other hand, if a small quantity of 
 Nitrate is used, the plant can take it up at once and 
 get a good strong start by the time the cotton-seed 
 meal is converted into the Nitrate form, the only form 
 that can be used by the plant. 
 
 Profitable Use of Nitrate of Soda on Cotton. 
 
 In forty tests in 1904 at the South Carolina 
 Experiment Station, where Nitrate of Soda was used 
 at the rate of 200 pounds to the acre, the yield was 
 1,740 pounds of seed cotton per acre, compared with 
 an average yield of 868 pounds per acre for thirty-four 
 plots on which various fertilizers were used, and an 
 average yield of 425 pounds per acre for six unfertil- 
 ized plots. 
 
 The table on page 77 shows the average yearly 
 yields per acre for the four years during which the 
 experiments were carried on, together with the profits 
 shown by the use of various fertilizers, is condensed 
 from similar tables on pages 21, 22 and 23 of Bulletin 
 145 of the South Carolina Experiment Station, Clem- 
 son College, S. C., and from a report for 1910 from 
 the same station. 
 
 Doubling the Cotton Crop a Problem of 
 Sane Fertilizing. 
 
 Should the world's cotton spinning demands re- 
 quire the doubling of the American cotton crop within 
 the next five or ten years, along what lines of develop- 
 ment in means and methods could it be most economi- 
 cally accomplished? 
 
 This is a question which some consider a practical 
 proposition. They look forward to an era, after the
 
 Food for 
 
 Average Yearly Profits from Use of Fertilizers for the Years Plants 
 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910. 
 
 Kind of Fertilizer 
 
 1, 
 
 r* Q 
 
 >ve Unfertilized 
 Increase due to 
 r.)" l~-J 
 
 of Increase 
 ts per Pound. 
 
 *> . 
 
 o 3 
 U.a 
 
 "8 
 8 c 
 
 
 rti O< 
 
 > 
 
 < gra 
 
 
 
 ^3*S 
 
 O 
 
 N 
 
 481 Ibs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Acid Phosphate 
 
 690^ a 
 
 209^ Ibs. 
 
 $ 8.38 
 
 $ 3.45 
 
 $ 4.93 
 
 Muriate of Potash. . 
 
 55V/2 " 
 
 69^ 
 
 2.78 
 
 1.94 
 
 .84 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . . 1 
 Muriate of Potash } 
 
 751X2 ' 
 
 270J/S 
 
 10.82 
 
 5.39 
 
 5.43 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . . ) 
 Muriate of Potash \ 
 Cottonseed Meal . J 
 
 865% 
 
 384% " 
 
 15.37 
 
 7.17 
 
 8.20 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . . 1 
 Nitrate of Soda. . J 
 
 1004% " 
 
 523% " 
 
 20.95 
 
 9.15 
 
 11.80 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . . 1 
 Muriate of Potash \ 
 Nitrate of Soda... j 
 
 1013 " 
 
 532 " 
 
 21.28 
 
 12.04 
 
 9.24 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . 1 
 Cottonseed Meal. [ 
 Nitrate of Soda. . J 
 
 1060 " 
 
 579 
 
 23.16 
 
 11.88 
 
 11.28 
 
 Acid Phosphate. . 1 
 Muriate of Potash 1 
 Cottonseed Meal. [ 
 Nitrate of Soda. . J 
 
 1113% 
 
 632% 
 
 25.31 
 
 13.81 
 
 11.50 
 
 77 
 
 current depression is passed, of new areas of investment. 
 A new period of railway construction is then expected 
 to break out in Asia, Africa, Latin-American countries 
 and in Australasia. Railway building always brings 
 with it an enormous demand for cotton textiles and 
 many capable judges recognize that neither the present 
 mill capacity nor the available supply of cotton may 
 be adequate for the world's requirements of the chief 
 textile fabric five or ten years hence.
 
 F piants Fertilization is 50 per cent of the producing factors 
 
 necessary to increase the yield of cotton up to the 
 
 7 8 average Egyptian productiveness. Egypt's cotton av- 
 erage is about 400 pounds to the acre, and in 1912 it 
 was 426 pounds against our own average of about 180. 
 The other elements include seed selection, the applica- 
 tion of natural manures, plowing under green manures 
 and thorough tillage and drainage. 
 
 But fertilizing depends very largely on the ingre- 
 dient which is selected to do the fertilizing. Of the 
 three chief fertilizing elements potash, phosphoric 
 acid and nitrogen the nitrates are by all means the 
 most important because they supply the energizing 
 element in plant life. The rational use of nitrates, of 
 about 100 pounds an acre, is therefore, the most im- 
 portant fertilizing principle in the increase in the pro- 
 duction of cotton, because it is the factor which enables 
 the plant to make the most out of its environment. 
 The great difference between the American fertilizing 
 methods and those of Europe and Egypt is in the pro- 
 portion of nitrogen used in increasing the size of the 
 crops. The average composition of fertilizers sold in 
 the United States is inferior in this main element of 
 available nitrogen. The cotton belt, which now ranks 
 first in fertilizer consumption, includes in the average 
 composition of fertilizers about eight parts of phos- 
 phoric acid, four of potash and two of nitrogen, of which 
 the whole is never available, that is, free to act in its 
 fertilizing function. In Europe and Egypt the com- 
 position is eight of phosphoric acid, four of potash and 
 four and one-half of nitrogen, practically all of which 
 is available. 
 
 The American farmers' progress, especially in the 
 cotton country, is being hindered by the use of inferior 
 fertilizers. A pure fertilizer law is needed as much as 
 a pure food law. Farmers do not know enough about 
 the availability of the higher grade fertilizer ingredients 
 which are necessary to more intensive cultivation. 
 Germany imports more nitrates than we do, for her 
 territory of about the size of Texas. Last year that 
 country took 700,000 tons, compared with 550,000 tons 
 imported by the United States. Europe ships her
 
 Food foi 
 Plants
 
 F piants Phosphoric acid here and takes her nitrates from Chile, 
 - in which the energizing plant-producing power is nearly 
 80 all available. 
 
 If cotton growing, on the 35,000,000 acres now 
 under that plant, could be brought by rational fertiliz- 
 ing and by ordinary improvements in seed selection 
 and soil treatment to the Egyptian standard of 400 
 pounds to an acre, the yield of the country could there- 
 by be raised to 28,000,000 bales a year. Rural credit 
 institutions for the supply of necessary capital at low 
 cost and the diversion of immigration into the cotton 
 states, would insure the necessary labor and capital. 
 One thing more the invention of a successful mechan- 
 ical cotton picker and the American cotton crop 
 would be on a fair way to double itself within another 
 decade. 
 
 Flax and Hemp. 
 
 For Hemp. 100 pounds Nitrate per acre may be 
 applied as a top-dressing at the time of planting. 
 
 For Flax. 100 pounds Nitrate per acre may be 
 applied as a top-dressing at the time of planting. 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 The value of tobacco depends so much upon its 
 grade, and the grade so much upon the soil and climate, 
 as well as fertilization, that no general rules for tobacco 
 culture can be laid down. Leaving out special ones, 
 such as Perique, the simplest classification of tobacco 
 for the purposes of this book is as follows: Cigar. 
 Tobacco for cigar manufacture, grown chiefly in 
 Connecticut and Wisconsin. Manufacturing. Tobacco 
 manufactured into plug, or the various forms for pipe 
 smoking and cigarettes. All kinds of tobacco have the 
 same general habits of growth, but the two classes 
 mentioned have very different plant food requirements. 
 
 Cigar tobaccos generally require a rather light soil; 
 the manufacturing kinds prefer heavy, fertile soils. In 
 either case, the soil must be clean, deeply broken, and 
 thoroughly pulverized. Fall plowing is always prac- 
 tised on heavy lands, or lands new to tobacco culture.
 
 Tobacco may be safely grown on the same land year Food for 
 
 after year. The plant must be richly fertilized; it 
 
 has thick, fleshy roots, and comparatively little forag- 8l 
 ing power that is, ability to send out roots over an 
 extensive tract of soil in search of plant food. 
 
 Fertilizer for tobacco is used in quantities per 
 acre as low as 400 pounds, and as high as 3,000 pounds. 
 It should always be supplemented by a top-dressing of 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 No Nitrate. Virginia Experiments. 100 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda 
 
 per acre. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, along the rows of young plants, rang- 
 ing from 200 to 400 pounds per acre. Manufacturing 
 tobaccos are particularly benefited by the application 
 of Nitrate of Soda. While the production of leaf may 
 be enormously increased by abundant use of this 
 Nitrate, the other plant food elements should also be 
 used to secure a well matured crop. In the case of 
 cigar tobaccos, Nitrate should be used exclusively, as
 
 Fo pi d f ? r ft i g difficult to secure a thoroughly matured leaf unless 
 
 the supply of digestible Nitrogen is more or less under 
 
 82 control, a condition not practicable with ordinary fer- 
 tilizers. Should the crop at any time before mid- 
 August take on a sickly, yellow color, Nitrate of Soda 
 should be broadcasted at once, along the rows, and at 
 the rate of 200 pounds per acre. If this broadcasting 
 can be done just before a rain, the results will appear 
 more promptly. 
 
 Tobacco growing is special farming, and should 
 be carefully studied before starting in as a planter. 
 For small plantations, the plants are best bought 
 of a regular seedsman. The cultivation is always 
 clean, and an earth mulch from two to three inches 
 in depth should be maintained that is, the surface 
 soil to that depth kept thoroughly pulverized. 
 
 At the Kentucky Experiment Station, experiments 
 were made with fertilizers on Burley Tobacco. The 
 land was "deficient in natural drain- 
 Tobacco, age," so that the fertilizers could 
 hardly be expected to have their full effect. Yet, as 
 will be seen by the following table, the profits from 
 the use of the fertilizers were enormous: 
 
 Experiments on Tobacco at the Kentucky 
 Experiment Station. 
 
 Value of 
 
 Yield of tobacco pounds. tobacco 
 
 Fertilizer per acre. Bright. Red. Lugs. Tips. Trash. Total, per acre. 
 
 1. No manure 200 360 60 540 1160 $67.20 
 
 2. 160 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda... 230 450 310 90 530 1610 138.40 
 
 3. 160 Ibs. sulp. of potash; 160 
 
 h Ibs. Nitrate of Soda 190 755 605 120 140 1810 190.45 
 
 4. 320 Ibs. superphosphate; 
 
 160 Ibs. sulp. of potash; 
 
 160 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda 310 810 420 10 360 2000 201.20 
 
 The tobacco was assorted by an expert and the 
 prices given as follows: Bright and red, fifteen cents 
 per pound; lugs, six cents per pound; tips, eight cents 
 per pound; trash, two cents per pound. 
 
 One hundred and sixty pounds Nitrate of Soda, 
 costing about $3.75, increased the value of the crop 
 $71.20 per acre!
 
 We recommend for tobacco a mixture of 200 ? 0< l for 
 
 pi a fire 
 
 pounds Nitrate of Soda, 300 pounds superphosphate, 
 
 and 200 pounds sulphate of potash per acre. This 8 3 
 mixture would cost about $28.00 per ton and would 
 contain over 6 per cent, of Nitrogen. This is nearly 
 twice as much Nitrogen as would be obtained in a 
 "complete fertilizer" or "special tobacco manure," 
 costing $35.00 per ton. 
 
 Timothy and related grasses feed heavily on 
 Nitrogen; they are able to transform it completely 
 into wholesome and digestible animal food. When 
 full rations of plant food are present a good crop of 
 grass will remove upwards of the equivalent of the 
 active fertilizer ingredients of 200 pounds of Nitrate 
 of Soda, 200 pounds muriate of potash and 200 pounds 
 of phosphate. These amounts are recommended to be 
 applied per acre as top-dressing for grass lands; and 
 if wood ashes are available 400 pounds per acre will 
 be very beneficial in addition to the above. Grass 
 lands get sour easily, especially when old, and when 
 they do, one ton of lime per acre should be harrowed 
 in before seeding down anew. The seeding must be 
 done before September, and the above-mentioned 
 ration should be used as a top-dressing the following 
 spring, soon after the grass begins to show growth. 
 
 If all the conditions are favorable from three to 
 five tons of clean barn-cured hay, free from weeds, 
 may reasonably be expected. When grass crops are 
 heavy and run as high as 4J^ tons per acre field-cured, 
 it is safe to allow 20 per cent, shrinkage in weight for 
 seasoning and drying down to a barn-cured basis. 
 Nitrate of Soda, the chief constituent of the prescribed 
 ration, pushes the grass early and enables it to get 
 ahead of all weeds, and the crop then feeds econom- 
 ically and fully on the other manurial constituents
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 84 
 
 Grass. 
 
 1. Product of one square foot 2. Product of one square foot 
 
 of ground in field yielding over of ground in adjoining field 
 
 three tons per acre of cured (not fertilized with Nitrate of 
 
 timothy hay fertilized with Ni- Soda) yielding one ton per acre 
 
 trate of Soda. 
 
 of cured hay. 
 
 Highland Experimental Farms, New York.
 
 present in the fertilizer mentioned in the formula and ? od x for 
 
 i M Plants 
 
 present in the soil. 
 
 When clean No. 1 hay sells above $16.00 per ton 8 s 
 the financial results are very satisfactory. Nitrate can 
 sometimes be used alone for a season or two and at 
 very great profit, but a full grass ration is better in 
 the long run for both the soil and crop. Generally 
 speaking, 100 pounds of Nitrate, if used under proper 
 conditions, will produce an increase of from 1,000 to 
 1,200 pounds of barn-cured, clean timothy hay, the 
 value of which shall average from $8.00 to $10.00. 
 Compared with the value of the increased hay crop, 
 it pays well to use Nitrate liberally on grass lands. 
 
 Making Two Blades of Grass Grow Where 
 Qne Blade Grew Before. 
 
 Grass is a responsive crop and the part played 
 by mineral chemical fertilizers, as proven in Rhode 
 Island, shows the striking effect of Nitrate on yields 
 and feeding quality. 
 
 Since all the other fertilizers were alike for the 
 three plots and had been for many years, and since 
 the general character of the soil and the treatments the 
 plots had received were uniform, any differences must 
 be ascribed to the influence of the varying quantities 
 of Nitrate of Soda. These differences, so far as they 
 are shown by the weights of the crops for four years 
 are given in brief below: 
 
 Yield of Cured Hay Under Different Rates 
 of Nitrogenous Fertilization. 
 
 Yield of Cured Hay. Average 
 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, Yields 
 
 Nitrate of Soda applied. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. in Tons. 
 
 None 5,075 4,000 3,290 2,950 1.9 
 
 150 Jbs. per acre*... 6,300 5,600 5,550 4,850 2.8 
 450 Ibs. per acre*... 6,913 8,200 9,390 8,200 4.1 
 
 * Amount slightly reduced in 1901 and 1902.
 
 F piants wh t th These figures show a uniform, con- 
 
 Figures Show sistent and marked advantage from the 
 
 use of Nitrate of Soda; and the effect 
 of its absence is shown by the steady decline of the 
 yields on the no-Nitrate plot from year to year. In 
 each year the use of 150 pounds of Nitrate gave in- 
 creased yields over the plot without Nitrogen, the gain 
 varying from 1,200 to almost 2,300 pounds, an aver- 
 age gain of about seven-eighths of a ton of hay. Three 
 times this amount of Nitrate did not, of course, give 
 three times as much hay, but it so materially increased 
 the yield as to show that it was all used to good advan- 
 tage except, perhaps, in the second year. This was an 
 exceptionally dry year and but one crop could be cut. 
 The advantage from the Nitrate showed strikingly in 
 the production of a rapid and luxurious early growth 
 while moisture was still available. This supply of 
 readily soluble food comes just when it is most needed, 
 since the natural change of unavailable forms of Nitro- 
 gen in the soil to the soluble Nitrates proceeds very 
 slowly during the cool, moist weather of spring. The 
 full ration of Nitrogen, 450 pounds of Nitrate, more 
 than doubled the yield of hay over that produced on 
 the no-Nitrate plot in 1900 and in the next two years 
 it nearly tripled the yield. The average increase over 
 the 150 pound plot was one and three-tenths tons and 
 over the plot without Nitrogen was two and five-eighths 
 tons. 
 
 Effect on Quality of Hay. 
 
 Almost as marked, and certainly 
 How Nitrate more surprising and unexpected, was 
 
 f ifoe ^ he effect of the Nitrate u P n the <l ual - 
 ity of the hay produced. 
 
 The hay from the plots during the 
 first season was of such diverse character that different 
 ton values had to be placed upon it in estimating the 
 profit from the use of fertilizers. That from the no- 
 Nitrate plot, since it contained so much clover at both 
 cuttings, was considered worth only $9.00 a ton; the 
 first cutting on the small Nitrogen ration was *valued
 
 Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (1). 
 
 Types oi Characteristic Rock Shattering 
 
 87 
 
 Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (3).
 
 Fo p?aSs at $ 12 - 00 and tlie second cutting at $10.00; while 
 
 $16.00 and $12.00 were the values given to the first 
 
 88 and second cuttings respectively on the plot receiving 
 the full ration of Nitrate. 
 
 But the reduction in the percentage of clover was 
 not the only benefit to the quality of the hay. The 
 Nitrate also decreased the proportion of red top as 
 compared with the finer timothy. This tendency was 
 noticed in the second year, when a count of the stalks 
 on selected equal and typical areas showed 13 per cent, 
 of timothy on the 150 pound plot, and 44 per cent, on 
 the 450 pound plot. In the third year the percentages 
 of timothy were 39 per cent, and 67 per cent., respec- 
 tively, and in the fourth year the differences were even 
 more marked. 
 
 Timothy is a grass which will not tol- 
 erate an acid soil, and it is probable 
 
 for Grass SSary ^ a ^ ^ ne ^ mm S given these plots in 
 1897 did not make them as "sweet'' as 
 would have been best for this crop. Now, when Nitrate 
 of Soda is used by plants, more of the nitric acid is used 
 than of the soda and a certain portion of the latter, 
 which is an alkali, is left to combine with other free 
 acids in the soil. This, like lime, neutralizes the acids 
 and thus "sweetens" the soil for the 
 How Nitrate timothy. Red top, on the contrary, 
 
 Neutralizes Soil does well on soils which are slightly acid, 
 
 Sweetens the anc ^ so wou ^ have the advantage over 
 goil. timothy in a soil not perfectly sweet. 
 
 With the assistance of the Soda set 
 free from the Nitrate, the timothy was more than able 
 to hold its own and thus to make what the market calls a 
 finer, better hay; and since the market demands tim- 
 othy and pays for it, the farmer who sells hay is wise 
 if he meets the demand. 
 
 Financial Profit from Use of Nitrate. 
 
 How It Pa s Frequently more plant food is paid 
 
 for and put on the land than the crop 
 can possibly use, the excess being entirely thrown away, 
 or, at best, saved to benefit some subsequent crop.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 89 
 
 Rock before Blasting One Pound of Forty Per Cent. Dynamite. 
 
 Same Rock Shattered by the Explosion of Dynamite.
 
 F piant r ^is was ^ ar f rom t^e case m these trials. Indeed, it 
 
 was found by analysis of the hay that more potash was 
 
 9 removed by the crops of the first two years than had 
 been added in the muriate used, consequently the 
 amount applied upon each plot was increased in 1901 
 and in 1902. The Nitrogen requirement of the crops 
 was found to be slightly less than was supplied in 450 
 pounds of Nitrate and the amount was reduced to 400 
 pounds in 1 90 1 , and changed to 4 1 5 pounds in 1 902 . The 
 Nitrate on the second plot was also reduced in propor- 
 tion. The phosphoric acid, however, was probably in 
 considerable excess, since liming sets free phosphoric 
 acid already in the soil and so lessens the apparent 
 financial profit; but not to an excessive degree. 
 
 Excess of Value of Hay Over Cost of Fertilizers. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda applied. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. Average 
 
 None $6.09 $13.42 $12.13 $7.44 $9.77 
 
 150 Ibs.* 14.34 20.37 23.97 16.52 18.80 
 
 , 450 Ibs.* 19.62 30.40 40.70 32.74 30.86 
 
 * Slightly reduced in 1901 and 1902. 
 
 Practical Conclusions. 
 
 From these striking results it must be evident that 
 grass land as well as tilled fields is greatly benefited by 
 Nitrate, and that it would be to the advantage of most 
 farmers to improve the fertility of their soils by growing 
 good crops of grass, aided thereto by liberal fertilizing. 
 The application should be in the 
 
 Grass Land? f orm of a to P- dr ? ssm g applied very early 
 in the spring in order that the first 
 growth may find readily available material for its sup- 
 port and be carried through the season with no check 
 from partial starvation. 
 
 On land which shows any tendency to sour, a ton 
 to the acre of slaked lime should be used every five or 
 . six years. This makes the land sweet and promotes 
 the growth of grass plants of the best kinds. 
 
 Lime should be sown upon the plowed land and 
 harrowed into the soil. Top-dressing with lime after 
 seeding will not answer, and, in the case of very acid
 
 soils, the omission of lime at the proper time will neces- 
 sitate re-seeding to secure a good stand of grass. 
 
 All the elements of fertility are 91 
 
 essential so that ordinarily complete f er- 
 tilizers may be used, Nitrate being used 
 as a top dresser, though on some soils 
 rich in phosphoric acid or potash, one or both of these 
 ingredients may be used in small quantity. This is 
 particularly true of phosphates after lime has been ap- 
 plied to the soil, since lime aids to set the phosphoric 
 acid free from its natural insoluble combinations. 
 
 Grass seems to demand less phosphoric acid than 
 was applied in the test; but it responds with increasing 
 profit to applications of Nitrate of Soda up to 250 
 pounds to the acre when ample supplies of potash and 
 phosphates are present. 
 
 No stable manure has been used upon the field 
 under experiment for over twenty years. 
 
 The Bulletins of the Rhode Island Agricultural 
 Experiment Station, or Farmers' Bulletin No. 77, pub- 
 lished by the United States Department of Agriculture, 
 tells how and when to use lime. Details of excellent 
 grass experiments, to be found in recent Bulletins 
 issued by the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment 
 Station, Kingston, Rhode Island, tell about Nitrate of 
 Soda. 
 
 It may not be out of place here to 
 
 mention the fact that Mr. Clark's f'^A 
 , . . . 111 as Used in 
 
 success in obtaining remarkably large Clark's Grass 
 
 yields of hay for a number of years, an Cultivation. 
 average of 9 tons of cured hay per 
 acre for 11 years in succession, has been heralded 
 throughout the United States. He attributes his suc- 
 cess largely to the liberal dressings of Nitrate of Soda 
 which he invariably applies to his fields early in the 
 spring, and which start the grass off with such a vigor- 
 ous growth as to shade and crowd out all noxious 
 weeds before they get fairly started and which result 
 in a large crop of clean and high priced hay. 
 
 It is also known that many who have tested his 
 methods have met with failure chiefly because they 
 neglected to supply the young grass plants with a
 
 F pi df t r sufficient amount of readily available food for their 
 
 use in early spring, and before the organic forms of 
 
 9 2 Nitrogen, which exist in the soil only 
 
 in an insoluble form and which can- 
 
 How Careful 
 Cultivation 
 May Aid in the 
 Profitable Use 
 of Nitrate. 
 
 not be utilized by the plants as food, 
 are converted into soluble Nitrates by 
 the action of bacteria in the soil. This 
 does not occur to any great extent until 
 the soil warms up to summer temperature when it is 
 too late in the season to benefit the crops' early spring 
 growth. 
 
 It is important that we always bear in mind the 
 fact that our only source of Nitrogen in the soil for all 
 plants is the remnants of former crops (roots, stems, 
 dead leaves, weeds, etc.) in different stages of decom- 
 position, and that in the early spring there is always 
 
 Grass. 
 
 1. Without Nitrogen. 2. H Ration of Nitrogen. 3. Full Ration 
 
 of Nitrogen. 
 
 All three fertilized alike with muriate of potash and acid phosphate. 
 R. I. Bu. 103. 
 
 a scarcity of Nitrogen in the soil in an available form, 
 for the reason that the most of that which was con- 
 verted into soluble forms by the action of the soil 
 bacteria during the warm summer months of the pre- 
 vious year was either utilized by the plants occupying 
 the ground at that time or has been washed down 
 below the reach of the roots of the young plants by 
 the melting snow and the heavy rains of late winter 
 and early spring. 
 
 When we consider the fact that most plants 
 require and take up about 75 per cent, of their total
 
 Nitrate Ammoniate during the earlier stages of their 
 growth and that Nitrogen is the element most largely 
 entering into the building up of the life principle (or 93 
 protoplasm) of all plants, it is plain that we cannot 
 afford to jeopardize the chances of growing crops by 
 having only an insufficient supply of immediately avail- 
 able Nitrogen when it is most needed. 
 
 According to experiments in Rhode Grass. 
 Island, soils are less exhausted when 
 complete fertilizers are used with Nitrate than when 
 no Nitrate is used. The soda always left behind after 
 the Nitrate of Soda is used up conserves the lime 
 and potash, and unlocks the soil silicates and thereby 
 frees lime and magnesia. The feeding value of hay 
 is far greater when Nitrate is used as a fertilizer in this 
 connection. 
 
 Growing Timothy Hay 
 for Market. 
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers, 
 
 Highlands Farms, 
 1904-1906. 
 
 Growing hay for market is a subject that is receiv- 
 ing much attention from progressive farmers of late for 
 several reasons, viz: 
 
 First, growing hay for market on a portion of the 
 farm is a partial solution of the serious labor problem; 
 since it is much easier to get several hands during the 
 rush of the short haying season than to get good, 
 efficient labor for eight or nine months of the year; 
 
 Second, there are usually several fields on nearly 
 every farm in most sections, which, owing to the heavy 
 character of the soil, or for various other reasons, are 
 more suitable for growing hay than for growing the 
 several crops usually grown in a regular rotation; 
 
 Third, where the method of seeding down a por- 
 tion of a large farm to hay has been practiced it has 
 frequently proven that the net profit per year from
 
 Food for the smaller acreage devoted to grain and hoed crops, 
 
 because of the more liberal fertilizing and better cul- 
 
 94 tivation given them, was as great as was formerly 
 obtained from the entire farm, leaving the value of the 
 hay as clear gain over the old method. 
 
 The selling price per ton of good Number One 
 Timothy Hay in the markets of America usually ranges 
 between 10 and 20 per cent, higher than that of clover 
 hay, the difference frequently being nearly enough to 
 cover the cost of harvesting and marketing the crop. 
 This, coupled with the fact that the yield per acre of 
 timothy is about equal to that of clover, and it is much 
 easier to cure into good marketable condition, makes it 
 evident that timothy is the more profitable to raise for 
 market in those States where the soil and climatic con- 
 ditions are favorable. 
 
 We have been trying to grow timothy by seeding it 
 with wheat or rye, and smothering it out with the grain 
 crop the first year, and again with clover the second 
 year, until the remaining timothy plants have become 
 so weakened because of these unfavorable conditions 
 and the lack of necessary plant food that they can only 
 make a stunted growth. The result of this general 
 method of growing hay has been an average yield for the 
 whole country of one and one-quarter tons per acre, 
 while, by adopting better methods, it is possible to 
 grow three or four tons per acre and, where conditions 
 are extremely favorable, as much as six tons of timothy 
 per acre can often be grown in one season. 
 
 In view of the conditions here pointed out, an ex- 
 periment was planned in order to determine whether on 
 soils naturally well adapted for hay growing, but out of 
 condition, it is practicable to properly prepare the land 
 and to maintain the meadow so as to secure profitable 
 crops for a period of years by the use of commercial 
 fertilizers alone. 
 
 Location of the Experiments and 
 Condition of the Land. 
 
 The land upon which the experiments were made is 
 located on the eastern central grazing and dairy
 
 plateau of New York, at Highlands Experimental 
 farms. Both river flatland and upland soils were used, 
 making it possible to study both kinds of soil where 95 
 climatic and seasonal conditions were the same. The 
 character of the flatland is made up of silt, which is of 
 considerable depth and which is still being deposited by 
 means of overflows each spring. It was badly infested 
 with wild sedge grass, and one portion of the meadow 
 had not been harvested for several years. The uplands 
 are more or less rolling, of light loam, not excessively 
 rich in humus, and sometimes affected by droughts. 
 
 Preparation of Soil and Seeding. 
 
 Preparation for the experiments was begun in 1904; 
 and typical areas were laid off and the land prepared in 
 the best manner. 
 
 A method of seeding in this part of the State is to 
 sow timothy in corn at the last cultivation, usually the 
 latter part of July. The corn was planted as early as 
 possible, and just before the last cultivation 20 quarts of 
 timothy seed were used per acre. On the flatland the 
 crop of wild sedge grass was cut early in June, the field 
 plowed, and quite frequently cultivated until about 
 the first of September, when it was carefully seeded at 
 the rate of 20 quarts of timothy per acre. 
 
 Two methods of seeding were practiced on the up- 
 land; in one case the pasture was plowed early, seeded to 
 oats, and as soon as the crop was harvested, the stubble 
 was plowed, then frequently cultivated, and seeded with 
 20 quarts of timothy per acre about the 15th of Septem- 
 ber. In the other case, the pasture land was plowed in 
 June, rolled down and thoroughly and frequently cul- 
 tivated and similarly seeded about the 24th of Septem- 
 ber. The latter method, however, did not kill the 
 native grass, and is not recommended. 
 
 Fertilizers Used. 
 
 Since one object of this experiment was to deter- 
 mine whether profitable cropping could be continued for 
 more than one season, the land was not only thoroughly
 
 Fo pi dfor prepared, but amply supplied with phosphoric acid, 
 _ potash and lime, in order that there might be no defi- 
 96 ciency in the quantity of mineral constituents required 
 for the crop. On the highest and most gravelly portion 
 of the upland, stable manure was applied to supply 
 humus and increase the absorptive power of the soil, 
 and on all the land one ton of lime w T as applied per acre 
 before plowing; after plowing and rolling, and before 
 harrowing, there was applied to each acre 600 pounds 
 acid phosphate, 200 pounds sulphate of potash, and, in 
 addition to this, the lowland received an application of 
 740 pounds of basic slag phosphate, and the upland 540 
 pounds. The Nitrogen was all in the form of Nitrate, 
 and was applied as a top-dressing in the spring. 
 
 The following table shows the kinds and amounts 
 of fertilizers that were applied for the crops of 1905 and 
 1906: 
 
 Kind and Quantity of Fertilizers Used Per Acre. 
 
 UPLAND. LOWLAND. 
 
 1905. 1906. 1905. 1906. 
 
 Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
 
 Lime 2,000 2,000 
 
 Wood Ashes 520 520 
 
 Acid Phosphate 600 578 600 578 
 
 Basic Slag 540 .... 740 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 200 200 
 
 .Nitrate of Soda 200 168 200 112 
 
 The mineral fertilizers for the crop of 1905 were 
 applied in the fall of 1904, those for the crop of 1 906 were 
 applied during the summer of 1905. The Nitrate of 
 Soda was all applied as a top-dressing in the spring, and 
 was evenly distributed as soon as the grass had nicely 
 started. The quantities of Nitrate applied were not as 
 large as is sometimes recommended, but sufficient to 
 provide for a large yield, if fully utilized. 
 
 The effect of the thorough preparation of soil was 
 noticeable at once in the good stand of plants secured, 
 and in the vigorous growth and good top made in the 
 fall. The plants wintered well, and after the Nitrate 
 top-dressing had been made the grass on these plots 
 grew luxuriantly, and made a large yield of hay, as is 
 shown in the tabulated statements herewith.
 
 The records include all the items of cost of prepar- 
 ing the land, fertilizing and seeding. This initial cost is 
 relatively high, but since the expectation was to con- 97 
 tinue experimenting upon grass for a period of years, 
 the cost per annum of preparation, seeding and fertiliz- 
 ing is considerably lessened. 
 
 Cost Per Acre of Preparing Upland and Lowland, 
 Seeding and Fertilizing. 
 
 Cost per Acre. 1 
 No. Times. Each Time 1 
 
 Plowing 1 $2 . 00 
 
 "otal Cost 
 Upland. 
 
 $2.00 
 .60 
 6.00 
 .20 
 1.62 
 .20 
 1.20 
 6.50 
 4.20 
 5.00 
 3.65 
 
 per Acre. 
 Lowland. 
 
 $2.00 
 .60 
 6.00 
 .20 
 1.62 
 .20 
 1.20 
 6.50 
 4.20 
 5.00 
 
 Rolling 3 .20 
 
 Pulverizing 8 .75 
 
 Sowing seed one-half each way. .2 .10 
 20 qts. seed @ $2.60 per bu. . . - 1.62 
 Dragging in seed 1 .20 
 
 Sowing fertilizers 4 . 30 
 
 2,000 Ibs stone-lime @ $6.50 per ton 
 
 600 Ibs. acid phosphate (14%) @ $14.00 per ton. 
 200 Ibs. sulphate of potash @ $50.00 per ton 
 540 Ibs. Thomas phosphate @ $13.50 per ton 
 740 Ibs. Thomas phosphate @ $13.50 per ton 
 
 5.00 
 
 
 Total cost for a 6-year period $31.17 $32 . 52 
 
 Cost for one year $5 . 19 $5 .42 
 
 This cost of preparation, fertilizing and seeding, 
 which may seem relatively high to farmers who have not 
 been accustomed to so thoroughly prepare the soil or to 
 fertilize so heavily, is really not greater than seeding 
 actually costs when the object is to obtain only one crop. 
 The cost of plowing is the same in any case, and the 
 ordinary preparation, seeding and manuring or fertiliz- 
 ing will make the average cost of seeding nearly as high 
 as is here given for each acre per year. Many farmers 
 will also object to this heavy fertilization with minerals; 
 the answer to this is that if grass is to be seeded down for 
 a series of years, it would be folly not to supply an 
 abundance when it is possible to thoroughly distribute 
 them throughout the entire surface soil, so that the feed- 
 ing roots reaching everywhere in it may find food, hence 
 the heavy application when seeding down. Later appli- 
 cations must be made upon the surface and can only 
 gradually work down into the lower layers.
 
 Food for 
 
 - _ 
 
 9 8 
 
 niain point, however, is to determine whether it 
 is a paying proposition, and the following tables show 
 the yield and value of crops, as well as the profits 
 derived when mineral fertilizers only are used, and also 
 when Nitrate of Soda is used in addition. 
 
 Yield of Crops in 1905. 
 
 UPLAND. LOWLAND. 
 
 Without With 200 Ibs. Without With 200 Ibs. 
 
 Nitrate. Nitrate Nitrate. Nitrate 
 
 per acre. per acre. 
 
 Yield per acre. . 3,180 Ibs. 8,340 Ibs. 6,985 Ibs. 8,712 Ibs. 
 Increase from Ni- 
 
 trate ......... 5,160 Ibs. 162% 1,727 Ibs. 24.7% 
 
 Crop of Grass Grown by Nitrate Top-Dressing. 1906. 
 
 These results are strikingly significant, showing in 
 the first place the difference in adaptability of the two 
 soils for hay growing. The upland was deficient in 
 humus, and being dry and gravelly, was unable to pro- 
 vide Nitrogen in any quantity although an abundance 
 of minerals was present. The lowland, on the other 
 hand, containing a large proportion, was capable of fur-
 
 nishing the Nitrogen needed for a relatively large crop, 
 or more than double that on the upland. This is a very 
 clear illustration of the importance of the use of Nitrogen 
 with minerals, if full crops are to be harvested. The 
 application of Nitrate of Soda on the upland proved 
 much more efficient than on the lowland, not only in 
 supplying Nitrogen in immediately available forms, but 
 in energizing the plants to obtain more from the soil, 
 showing a gain in yield of 162 per cent., while on the low- 
 land the gain was but 24.7 per cent.; the soil itself being 
 able in this case to supply a larger proportion of the 
 Nitrogen required to produce a crop as large as the 
 climatic and seasonal conditions would permit. The 
 main point, however, is not how large a yield may be 
 obtained, but the profits that may be derived. The 
 following table shows the financial results of the two 
 experiments from two standpoints: (1) whether it is 
 profitable to grow hay under the conditions, as outlined 
 here; and (2) whether the use of Nitrate will pay. 
 
 1905. 
 Cost of Crops. 
 
 
 ,TJ "jjj 
 
 03 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 05 fl .S 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 fl 
 
 H 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 || 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 P 
 
 isoi : 
 
 f-i "3 -^> " ' *> 
 
 M QJ 00 U flj 
 
 &as .- 
 
 d +3 
 ft 
 
 a 
 
 03 
 
 o 
 H 
 
 O 
 
 PH^ 
 
 v fl 
 
 *- 
 
 |g 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 UPLAND: 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 With Nitrate... 
 Without " ... 
 
 LOWLAND: 
 
 8340 
 
 $5.19 
 5.19 
 
 $5.20 
 
 $0.30 
 
 3.18 
 
 $19.03 
 8.37 
 
 $50.24 
 19.08 
 
 $31.21 
 10.71 
 
 $20.50 
 
 
 
 With Nitrate... 
 Without " ... 
 
 8712 
 6985 
 
 5.42 
 5.42 
 
 5.20 
 
 0.30 
 
 8.71 
 6.99 
 
 19.63 
 12.41 
 
 52.27 
 41.91 
 
 32.64 
 29.50 
 
 3.14 
 
 
 
 The first point of importance shown by this detailed 
 statement is that notwithstanding the expense involved, 
 there is a profit in hay growing; that it pays to expend 
 money for the good preparation of soil, for good seed and 
 for fertilizers in fact, if the entire cost had been 
 charged to the first crop, there would have been a profit 
 of $5.23 per acre where Nitrate was used on the upland. 
 Second, that it pays to use Nitrate; and third, that the 
 
 99
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 of soil to which Nitrate is applied measures in a 
 marked degree the profit to be derived from its applica- 
 tion. On the upland, the crop without Nitrate was 
 worth but $19.08 per acre, while the application of 200 
 pounds of Nitrate caused the value to increase to $50.24 
 a gain of $31.16 per acre; deducting the cost of the 
 Nitrate and extra cost of harvesting, we have a net 
 increase in value of $20.50 per acre, or for each dollar 
 invested a net return of nearly $4.00. 
 
 On the lowland, the crop without Nitrate was worth 
 $41.91 per acre, and, with Nitrate, $52.27, a gain of 
 
 The Tedders follow the Mowing Machines for rapid curing of heavy 
 
 crops of hay. 
 
 $10.36, which is reduced to $3.14 when the cost of 
 Nitrate and harvesting is deducted, still a good profit 
 on the investment, though clearly indicating that 
 Nitrogen was not the limiting factor in crop production 
 as was the case on the upland. In making the tables, 
 the actual cost of labor, seed and fertilizers was used. 
 The value of the hay was estimated at $12.00 per ton, 
 and based on weights at time of harvesting. The shrink- 
 age of hay will range from 15 to 25 per cent. ; assuming 
 the shrinkage to be as unusually high as 25 per cent.,
 
 the value per ton would have to increase to $16.00 to 
 balance, which is lower than prevailing prices have been 
 since that year for No. 1 Timothy. 
 
 Crops of 1906. 
 
 The experiment was continued in 1906, on the same 
 areas. In order to insure a constant and abundant 
 supply, mineral fertilizers were again added in the form 
 of wood ashes and acid phosphate, and in the amounts 
 shown in the table, namely, 520 pounds of wood ashes 
 and 578 pounds of acid phosphate per acre on both the 
 fields. 
 
 The applications of Nitrate were, however, reduced 
 from 200 to 168 pounds on the upland; and to 112 
 pounds on the lowland per acre. These fertilizers were 
 all evenly distributed in the spring of 1906. The effect 
 of the Nitrate was again immediately noticeable in in- 
 creasing the vigor of the plants. The yields were as 
 follows : 
 
 Yield of Crops in 1906. 
 
 UPLAND. LOWLAND. 
 
 With With 
 
 Without 168 Ibs. Without 112 Ibs. 
 
 Nitrate. Nitrate Nitrate. Nitrate 
 
 per acre. per acre. 
 
 Yield per acre 3,200 Ibs. 6,240 Ibs. 5,920 Ibs. 8,080 Ibs. 
 
 Increase from Nitrate 3,040 Ibs. 95.0% 2,160 Ibs. 36.4% 
 
 These results confirm those for 1905 on the whole, 
 though there are points of difference which may be 
 reasonably charged to season and to the effect of the 
 growth of the first crop. On the upland, which was 
 poor in humus and Nitrogen, the yield of the plot with- 
 out Nitrate differs but little from that of 1905, while on 
 the lowland, the soil rich in humus, the yield without 
 Nitrate is much lower than in 1905. On the upland 
 the Nitrogen at the disposal of the plant did not exist 
 in easily changeable forms, and hence was not largely 
 exhausted under the energy of the extra mineral food. 
 The lowland, on the other hand, doubtless contained 
 considerable Nitrogen in easily changeable forms, 
 which under the stimulus of the available phosphoric 
 acid and lime was made effective on the^ grass, and
 
 102 
 
 Food for resulted in a comparatively large yield, leaving the soil 
 
 ! _! much poorer in Nitrogen for the next crop. 
 
 It would appear from this reasoning, that the need 
 for applied Nitrogen, while greater for the upland in 
 1905 than in 1906, is not so striking as in the lowland. 
 This assumption is borne out by the facts; the gain on 
 the upland in 1905 is 3,040 pounds, or 95 per cent., 
 as against a gain of 5,160 pounds, or 162 per cent, in 
 1906; while the gain on the lowland is 36.4 per cent, in 
 1906, as against 24.7 per cent, in 1905. The lower 
 
 Hay Weeds 
 Unfertilized 
 
 Hay Weeds Hay Weeds? 
 
 Nitrate of Soda Sulphate of Ammonia 
 
 Hay Weeds 
 Dried Blood 
 
 Hay Weeds 
 Limed 
 
 percentage increase in yield from Nitrate on the upland 
 being due in part, at least, to the fact that the Nitrate 
 used in 1905 energized the plants to acquire more from 
 soil sources than was possible with the use of minerals 
 only, and in part to the lower quantity, applied in 1906, 
 168 pounds instead of 200 pounds. 
 
 On the lowland the greater percentage increase this 
 year, due to Nitrate, is for the same reason that it was 
 greater in 1905 on the upland than in 1906. This is a 
 clear demonstration again of the influence of character
 
 of soil as a determining factor. Instead of reducing the 
 amount of Nitrate used in 1906, it should have been in- 
 creased, especially on the upland. The value of crop 
 and profits are also influenced by the smaller amounts 
 of Nitrate applied, as shown in the comparative profits 
 in the tabulated statement. 
 
 1906 
 Cost of Crops. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 a ** 
 
 .23 
 :3 oS 
 
 l.-a 
 
 M 
 
 O 
 O a> 
 
 M 
 
 
 CD 
 
 S - 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 
 
 .2-3 
 
 "+3 
 
 a 
 
 0] O 
 
 <S a 
 
 i-S 
 
 
 IS 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 |1 
 
 s 
 
 E 
 
 "o 
 H 
 
 | 
 
 22 
 
 i2 03 
 E 
 
 
 KJ 
 
 o] CQ 
 
 ffl 03 
 
 F p.fc< 
 
 03 
 
 
 o o 
 
 +3 
 
 32!j 
 
 
 r 1 
 
 S 1 
 
 
 P. 
 
 m 
 
 
 o 
 
 B 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 UPLAND: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 With Nitrate... 
 
 6240 
 
 $5.19 
 
 $12.60 
 
 $0.90 
 
 $6.24 
 
 $24.93 
 
 $37.44 
 
 $12.51 
 
 $10.20 
 
 Without " ... 
 
 3200 
 
 5.19 
 
 7.90 
 
 .60 
 
 3.20 
 
 16.89 
 
 19.20 
 
 2.31 
 
 
 LOWLAND: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 With Nitrate. . . 
 
 8080 
 
 5.42 
 
 11.04 
 
 .90 
 
 8.08 
 
 25.44 
 
 48.48 
 
 23.04 
 
 7.36 
 
 Without " ... 
 
 5920 
 
 5.42 
 
 7.90 
 
 .60 
 
 5.92 
 
 19.84 
 
 35.52 
 
 15.68 
 
 
 In making up this table, the actual cost of labor and 
 fertilizers is recorded, while the value of dry hay was 
 estimated to be $12 per ton when stored, as in 1905. 
 
 As a whole, the results confirm those of 1905 in 
 showing a profit in all cases, ranging from $2.31 per acre, 
 without Nitrate, on the upland; to $23.04 with Nitrate, 
 on the lowland. It is to be expected from the preceding 
 discussion that the relative profits from the use of 
 Nitrate on the two areas is changed, the net profit of 
 $20.50 on the upland being reduced to $10.20, and that 
 of $3.14 on the lowland being increased to $7.36 per acre. 
 These net results, secured under what would be regarded 
 as expensive methods, are certainly satisfactory from a 
 financial standpoint, and indicate that on lands requir- 
 ing expensive treatment hay growing may be made 
 profitable, and warrant the following general sugges- 
 tions as to the growing of profitable crops : 
 
 The essential conditions necessary for obtaining 
 maximum crops of timothy are, first, a clean, thick 
 stand of healthy timothy plants; second, an abundance 
 of available plant-food is needed by the plants to make 
 a normal growth. 
 
 I0 3
 
 Food for Jt mus t not be overlooked that available plant-food 
 
 at the right time implies that there shall be sufficient 
 
 I0 4 moisture present in the soil to carry the plant-food into 
 the roots of the plants in a soluble form; and just in 
 proportion as we fail to have a sufficient supply of 
 moisture present when needed, we render our supply 
 of plant-food unavailable as far as plant growth is con- 
 cerned. Thus, it is well known that very frequently 
 the limiting .factor in the growth of plants is a lack of 
 sufficient moisture in the soil at a critical time rather 
 than a deficiency of actual plant-food in the soil. 
 
 For this reason it is best to select those portions of 
 the farm for growing timothy, in which the soil is rather 
 heavy and retentive of moisture. When there is a 
 supply of stable manure available for use in hay grow- 
 ing, it should, whenever possible, be plowed under or 
 otherwise worked into the soil before seeding, and not 
 be used as a top-dressing on meadows already seeded, 
 for the reason that the chief value of stable manure is 
 that it adds large quantities of humus-making material 
 to our soils, and the soils need their humus in them and 
 not on them. For similar reasons stable manure should 
 be applied to those soils most deficient in humus and not 
 to the muck lands and those that are naturally moist. 
 
 Preparing Land. 
 
 The river-bottom lands, because of their silt forma- 
 tion and the added fertility which they receive in their 
 annual overflow, together with their abundant supply of 
 moisture during the entire season, are able to produce 
 the largest crops of timothy, at the lowest cost per ton, 
 but these soils are usually very foul with quack, sedges 
 and wild grasses, which must be largely eradicated, in 
 order to get a stand of clean timothy. 
 
 Where there are stumps or rocks that would inter- 
 fere with the operations of haying machinery, it is 
 advisable to remove them wherever possible, and it 
 was found that the judicious use of dynamite effected a 
 great saving in the time and expense of this operation. 
 
 After plowing, the land should be rolled and then 
 thoroughly worked every week or ten days up to seeding
 
 time. The field should be worked in small lands, going 
 around each land, and always lapping the harrow one- 
 half, so that the surface may be kept level. Io s 
 
 If there are any deep holes in the field, resulting 
 from the removal of boulders or other cause, they should 
 be filled in at the time of the first harrowing, and if 
 there are any surface ditches they should be made 
 shallow with gradually sloping sides, wherever possible, 
 so that the entire surface of the field can be gone over 
 with a mowing machine in any direction when the hay 
 crop is to be harvested. 
 
 The difference in the expense of preparing a field 
 right, or only partially so, is very slight, when consider- 
 ing possible breakage of machinery when harvesting the 
 crops of several years, figured on the basis of low 
 cost per ton of product, and this factor is of double im- 
 portance in the preparation of land on which it is 
 possible to harvest two crops each season. 
 
 Liming. 
 
 It is known that timothy cannot thrive and yield 
 maximum crops in a sour soil, while red-top seems to 
 delight in such soil, and one of the surest indications that 
 a soil is sour is when we find the timothy meadow run 
 out after two or three years and the ground occupied 
 by red-top. The presence of sorrel, five-finger, 
 mosses, daisies and mulleins are also indications of a 
 sour soil, and timothy cannot be made to do its best on 
 those soils until they are made sweet. The quickest and 
 most practical way to accomplish this is by the liberal 
 application of lime in some form. This may be applied 
 in the form of stonelime, either ground or unground, or 
 air-slaked; or in connection with potash in wood ashes. 
 The amount of lime to apply should be generally about 
 one-half ton per acre. 
 
 If we use lime in the form of ashes or ground stone- 
 lime, it can be drilled into the soil at the right depth 
 with a fertilizer drill, but if we use air-slaked lime or 
 lump lime and slake it in the field, it should be spread 
 either before plowing or immediately after the first 
 harrowing and before the ground is rolled, so that the
 
 Food for bulk of the lime will get down into the soil at the right 
 
 * iflnis i | 
 
 depth. 
 
 Mineral Fertilizers. 
 
 This question of the correct application of the 
 mineral elements of plant-food is of great importance, 
 and has not received the consideration it deserves 
 especially is this so in regard to fertilizing meadows or 
 grass lands, which usually remain seeded down for 
 several years, and there is no time after the seed is 
 sown that the phosphoric acid and potash can be gotten 
 down into the soil where they belong, which place is from 
 three to six inches under the surface. When phosphoric 
 acid or potash are used as a top-dressing for meadows, 
 it is known that they become fixed largely in the surface 
 and consequently tend to attract the feeding roots of 
 the plants to the surface of the soil, where they are 
 least able to withstand the effects of drought, which is so 
 often such a serious factor. 
 
 The amount of phosphoric acid and potash to be 
 used depends upon the soil entirely, and can only be 
 approximated, but the fact that they both become fixed 
 in the soil so that there is practically no danger of loss 
 from one season to another, allows us to be more liberal 
 than we otherwise would, and since the best time to 
 apply it is before the seed is sown, we should be liberal 
 in regard to the quantity used for obvious reasons. 
 
 For good, medium-clay land of average fertility, 
 there should be drilled into the soil broadcast, at least 
 300 pounds per acre of 16 per cent, acid phosphate and 
 300 pounds of ground bone, also 150 pounds per acre of 
 sulphate of potash or its equivalent, and if the soil is a 
 poor, sandy or gravelly soil, or a peaty or muck soil, 
 which are known to be usually deficient in these ele- 
 ments, the quantity of each should be doubled. Re- 
 member when it comes to fertilizing our crops, the 
 question we should ask ourselves is not "how much 
 will it cost me to furnish my crop with the food that it 
 needs?" but "how much will it cost me not to do so?" 
 
 Acid phosphate appears to be the safest and the 
 best form in which to apply phosphoric acid to soils 
 for hay growing generally.
 
 High-grade sulphate of potash is one of the most 
 satisfactory of the commercial potash salts and its use 
 does not tend to deplete the soil of its lime as does the I07 
 use of muriate of potash. The phosphoric acid and 
 potash should be applied to the soil broadcast to the 
 depth of at least three inches from one to two weeks 
 before sowing the seed. Hard-wood ashes are excellent 
 when not adulterated, as a source of potash and lime. 
 
 Seeding. 
 
 Twenty quarts per acre of the best recleaned 
 timothy seed obtainable is the right quantity to sow 
 per acre, and this should be sown between August 15th 
 and September 15th, the time that timothy naturally 
 reseeds itself. It can best be sown with a wheelbarrow, 
 broadcast grass seeder, sowing ten quarts each way of 
 the field for most even distribution, after which the 
 seed should be dragged into the soil about one inch 
 deep, by going over the field once or twice with a slant- 
 tooth drag or a weeder with sufficient weight attached 
 to obtain the desired result. 
 
 Finish the operation by going over the field with a 
 roller, to roll down the loose stones on the surface and to 
 compact the surface soil, thus bringing the moisture to 
 the surface so that the seed will all germinate at once 
 and come up evenly over the entire field. 
 
 Nitrate Application. 
 
 So far we have insured a good, clean, thick stand of 
 healthy timothy plants, and we have supplied them 
 liberally with the mineral plant foods that are liable to 
 be deficient in the soil, but we have made no provision 
 for the plants having an abundant supply of available 
 Nitrogen the next spring when they are making their 
 most rapid growth, and their need is greatest. At that 
 time there is always a scant supply of soluble Nitrogen 
 in the surface soil, owing to the fact that when the excess 
 moisture settles down into the lower levels of the soil 
 it carries Nitrogen in solution with it, and the stores of 
 humus Nitrogen are not rendered soluble, except in 
 very slight amounts, until the soil warms up to a
 
 Fo piants Degree f temperature wherein the soil bacteria again 
 become active and convert organic and other forms of 
 108 Nitrogen into Nitrates. 
 
 To overcome this natural deficiency of soluble 
 Nitrogen at a critical time in the growth of the timothy 
 plants, we must supply it in an available form, and this 
 can best be done by applying broadcast about 100 to 
 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre as a top-dressing 
 as soon as the excess moisture has settled down out of 
 the surface soil and growth starts in the spring, between 
 April 10th and May 10th, in our principal hay growing 
 States. 
 
 In other words, as Professor Thomas F. Hunt puts 
 it, in Cornell University Experiment Station Bulletin, 
 No. 247, p. 203: 
 
 "Having water-soluble Nitrogen on tap at the right hour and 
 the right place is one of the factors that enabled the Cornell 
 Station to grow three and one-half tons of timothy hay on Dunkirk 
 clay loam, when without this artificial help only about one and one- 
 half tons could be raised." 
 
 Report of Experiments. 
 Season of 1906. 
 
 Highland Experimental Farms, New York. 
 The average yields per acre of field-cured hay on 
 the uplands were as follows : 
 
 No Nitrate 3200 pounds per acre. 
 168 Ibs. Nitrate 6240 pounds per acre. 
 The average yields per acre of field-cured hay on the 
 lowlands were as follows : 
 
 No Nitrate 5920 pounds per acre. 
 112 Ibs. Nitrate 8080 pounds per acre. 
 
 Comparison of Yields, 1905 and 1906. 
 
 Uplands. 
 Season. 
 
 1905. No Nitrate 3180 Ibs. 300 Ibs. Nitrate 8340 Ibs. 
 
 1906. No Nitrate 3200 Ibs. 168 Ibs. Nitrate 6240 Ibs.
 
 Lowlands. ? 0< l for 
 
 _, Plants 
 
 beason. 
 
 1905. No Nitrate 6985 Ibs. 200 Ibs. Nitrate 8712 Ibs. I0 9 
 
 1906. No Nitrate 5920 Ibs. 112 Ibs. Nitrate 8080 Ibs. 
 Yield of original "No Nitrate" hollow square plot 
 
 in field of timothy and red top : 
 
 Season of 19053180 Ibs. 
 Season of 19061760 Ibs. 
 
 The yields are lower for 1906 than for 1905 owing to 
 smaller applications of Nitrate and probably also to the 
 fact that there was much less rainfall during the growing 
 season. 
 
 Experiments with Nitrate of Soda 
 on Oats and Peas for Hay. 
 
 Highlands Farms, 1907. 
 
 The original purpose of this experiment was to 
 study the effect of the application of different quantities 
 of Nitrate of Soda upon the yield of oats and peas as a 
 preparatory crop for seeding the land to permanent 
 meadows. The character of the soil has already been 
 described on previous pages; it is not rich in humus, 
 and thus not highly productive, without the application 
 of manures or of Nitrogen in some soluble form. The 
 location is such as to furnish excellent natural drainage, 
 and to enable the land to be rapidly improved by proper 
 methods of culture and fertilization. Since the land was 
 intended to serve as an experimental field for the grow- 
 ing of hay, it was well supplied at time of seeding with 
 the mineral elements, viz.: 500 pounds per acre of an 
 even mixture of ground bone, acid phosphate and sul- 
 phate of potash; this was applied broadcast, and har- 
 rowed in previous to seeding the oats and peas. The 
 land was thoroughly prepared early in the spring, 
 though owing to the lateness of the season the planting 
 was not made until May 1. 
 
 The plots were one-tenth of an acre in area, long 
 and narrow, and each plot separated from the other by
 
 F pi d ants nve ~f eet strips of land, which were kept cultivated and 
 - free from weeds. The scheme for treatment was as 
 1 10 follows : 
 
 Plot Treatment. Minerals. 
 
 1 Nitrate of Soda 10 pounds. 
 
 2 Nitrate of Soda 15 pounds. 
 
 3 Check Minerals only. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 20 pounds. 
 
 5 Nitrate of Soda 25 pounds. 
 
 6 Check Minerals only. 
 
 7 Nitrate of Soda 30 pounds. 
 
 8 Nitrate of Soda 35 pounds. 
 
 Since, as already stated, the primary purpose in the 
 planning of the experiment was to have the land seeded 
 down with grass immediately after the oats and peas 
 were removed, the use of the larger quantity of Nitrate 
 was made in order to study the question whether the 
 residual Nitrate from the large application would be of 
 service in hastening the germination and early growth of 
 the grasses that were to be seeded. 
 
 Owing to circumstances which prevented the carry- 
 ing out of this object, the study herewith includes only 
 the effect of the different quantities of Nitrate upon the 
 oat and pea crop. The mineral fertilizer was applied 
 immediately after plowing, and thoroughly harrowed 
 into the soil over the entire area; the Nitrate was next 
 applied, and the seed, at the rate of one and one-half 
 bushels each of oats and peas per acre, broadcasted 
 upon each plot and harrowed in. 
 
 Careful records were kept of the appearance of the 
 plots during the growing season; up to June 26, no ap- 
 parent difference was noticeable in the appearance and 
 size of the plants on the different plots. On July 3 
 there was a noticeable difference in the color, thickness 
 and height of the crops, and measurements showed the 
 plants on plots 1, 2, 3 and 6, to be 10 inches high, and 
 of a medium green color, fairly vigorous. On plots 4 
 and 5, the oats were noticeably taller, while upon plots 
 7 and 8, there was a very marked increase in size and in 
 the appearance of the crop, averaging 14 inches as 
 against 10 inches upon the four plots, and 12 inches 
 upon plots 4 and 5.
 
 Observations were taken thereafter each week until ? od for 
 
 the crop was harvested, Aug. 23. These differences in 
 
 appearance held throughout, becoming more striking as II: 
 the season advanced. For example, on July 24 and Aug. 
 7 the following observations were made: 
 
 July 24th. 
 
 Plot Inches. 
 
 1 Oats and peas 32, fair color, uneven, very few peas. 
 
 2 34, dark color, even, very few peas. 
 
 3 28, a little yellow, uneven. 
 
 4 38, very dark color, even. 
 
 5 38, very dark color, even. 
 
 6 28, fair color, uneven, very few peas. 
 
 7 40, very dark color, and even over the whole 
 
 plot. 
 
 8 40, very dark color, and even over the whole 
 
 plot. 
 
 N.B. Plots Nos. 4, 5, 7 and 8 are much heavier, darker in 
 color and are very even there is a greater number of peas and 
 they are in fine condition in these plots. Noticed some rust on 
 all the plots. On plots Nos. 1 and 6 the few peas there are seem 
 to be drying up. 
 
 August 7th. 
 
 Plot Inches. 
 
 1 Oats and peas 37, uneven, very few peas with no pods. 
 
 2 39, even, few peas. 
 
 3 31, uneven, few peas with no pods. 
 
 4 42, very even, plenty of peas. 
 
 5 42, very even, plenty of peas. 
 
 6 32, uneven, very few peas. 
 
 7 44, very even over whole plot. 
 
 8 44, very even over whole plot. 
 
 N. B. Same conditions prevail as last week with every plot 
 except that the straw is beginning to change its color. Plots Nos. 
 4, 5, 7 and 8 are somewhat greener than the rest, with plenty of 
 peas of good color, and with well-filled pods. Peas in plots Nos. 
 1, 2, 3 and 6 seem to be drying up, the few there are. 
 
 After Aug. 7, when the limit of growth had been 
 reached, no changes were observed in the appearance of 
 the plots; on Aug. 21, the crops were harvested, and on 
 Aug. 23 the field-cured crops on the different plots were 
 weighed and stored, with weights per plot as follows :
 
 Food for Plot. 
 
 ID] an to 
 
 1 Hay 320 pounds. 
 
 112 2 " 320 
 
 3 " 210 
 
 4 " 385 
 
 5 " 460 
 
 6 " -.290 
 
 7 " 540 
 
 8 ' 550 
 
 The first pointTrequiring particular notice is the 
 variation in the proportions of oats and peas on the 
 different plots. It is quite evident that the peas must 
 have drawn their Nitrogenous food from the soil rather 
 than from the air. While this difference in proportion 
 of oats and peas would make a difference in the quality 
 of the hay for feeding, it probably would not make any 
 difference in the price that would be received for it as 
 hay. The oat and pea crop is not generally grown for 
 market, but for use upon the farm and is an especially 
 valuable crop upon farms devoted largely to the growing 
 of hay for market, because furnishing food for stock, 
 and thus enabling the disposal of the high-priced hay, 
 though really less useful as feed. 
 
 The second point to be observed is that the Nitrate 
 increased the yield of crop in every instance above that 
 obtained on the check plots, and while the yields upon 
 the check plots are lower than upon any of the Nitrated 
 plots, that upon plot 6 is much higher than upon plot 1, 
 and this ca"n be explained on the ground that, owing to 
 the larger application upon plots Nos. 5 and 7, there 
 may have been some feeding upon the adjoining crops, 
 as the records show that up until the week of July 24, no 
 differences were discernible in the height and the appear- 
 ance of the oats upon the two plots, but after that date 
 the crop on plot 6 began to improve. The average, 
 however, of the two plots is so much lower than upon 
 any one of the others as to make the comparison a safe 
 one for study. 
 
 The folio wing -table has been prepared to show the 
 increase in yields upon the various plots, as compared 
 with the average of the two check plots :
 
 Table I. Yield of Oat and Pea Hay. 
 
 Yield per Yield per Increase due 
 Plot. Acre Total, to Nitrate. 
 Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
 
 Plot 
 
 1 Minerals + 100 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, 320 3,200 700 
 
 2 +150 320 3,200 700 
 
 3 only .................... 210 2,100 
 
 4 + 200 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, 385 3,850 1,350 
 
 5 +250 460 4,600 2,100 
 
 6 only .................... 290 2,900 ____ 
 
 7 + 300 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, 540 5,400 2,900 
 
 8 +350 550 5,500 3,000 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 113 
 
 It is very evident from a study of this table that 
 Nitrogen was essential in order that a larger crop might 
 be secured, for, although a reasonably liberal dressing 
 of minerals was applied upon the entire area, those plots 
 upon which no Nitrogen was applied showed a very 
 much lower yield than on any of the other plots, though 
 probably quite as high as is obtained on the average 
 from what is regarded in that section as fairly good hay 
 land. The increase, however, was very marked from 
 the addition of Nitrate, and is practically in proportion 
 to the amount added until a dressing of 300 pounds per 
 acre is reached. That is, it is shown that not only is 
 Nitrogen needed, but the conditions of soil and of season 
 were such as to enable the plant to utilize the Nitrogen 
 almost completely when as heavy a dressing as 300 
 pounds per acre was used, increasing the total tonnage 
 from 1J4 to nearly 2% per acre. 
 
 A study of this utilization is interesting. Assuming 
 the average composition of Nitrate of Soda to be 15.5 
 per cent. Nitrogen, and taking the average content of 
 protein in oat and pea hay, which for even mixtures of 
 oats and peas is 10.31 per cent, equivalent to 1.65 per 
 cent. Nitrogen, we find the following results: 
 
 Plot 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 4 
 5 
 
 . 7 
 8 
 
 Applie 
 15.5 Ibs. 
 23.2 
 31.0 
 38.8 
 46.5 
 54.5 
 
 d 
 Nitrogen 
 
 Increased Y 
 700 It 
 
 ield. 
 IS. 
 
 
 700 
 
 
 1,350 
 
 
 2,100 
 
 
 2,900 
 
 
 3,000 
 
 Recovered in crop. 
 11.55 Ibs. 
 11.55 
 22.28 
 34.65 
 47.85 
 49.50
 
 F piants ^^ On ^y was ^ e Nitrogen utilized well on prac- 
 
 tically all of the plots, but at the prices which prevailed 
 
 "4 for hay and feed during the season, the increased yield 
 from the larger applications proved to be more profitable 
 than those of the lower. In other words, the complete 
 utilization of Nitrate does not necessarily mean that 
 there shall be a proportionate profit derived, as the 
 profits will increase in a greater ratio, when the same 
 ratio of utilization is maintained in the larger applica- 
 tion. This is very clearly shown in the table of gross 
 and net values of crops, due to the application of 
 Nitrate. 
 
 Table II. Gross and Net Values of Crops. 
 
 Plot Value of Increase in Value Cost of Net Value of 
 
 Crop. of Nitrated Crop. Nitrate. Increased Crop. 
 
 1 $22.40 $4.90 $2.60 $2.30 
 
 2 22.40 4.90 3.90 1.00 
 
 3 17.50 
 
 4 26.95 9.45 5.20 4.25 
 
 5 32.00 14.50 6.50 8.00 
 
 6 17.50 
 
 7 39.80 22.30 7.80 14.50 
 
 8 40.50 23.00 9.10 13.90 
 
 Although the markets do not recognize oat and pea 
 hay in their classification, and thus establish a market 
 value, nevertheless its feeding value is recognized, and 
 its use upon the farm must have a direct bearing upon 
 the net profits that may be derived from the growing 
 of marketable hay, as it increases the quantity that may 
 be sold. 
 
 At the prices received for hay the past season, $14 
 per ton for well-cured oat and pea hay, would be re- 
 garded as a fair price. It will be observed that on this 
 basis the gross value of the yields on the different 
 Nitrated plots range from $22.40 for plots 1 and 2, to 
 about $40 per acre for plots 7 and 8, an increase of about 
 80 per cent., or a gain in value of increased crop ranging 
 from $4.90 to $23 per acre. Deducting the cost of the 
 Nitrate of Soda applied, the net increase in value of 
 crops ranges from $1 on plot 2 to $14.50 on plot 7, or 
 an increase in net value of crop on plot. 7 of more than
 
 seven times as much as the average of plots 1 and 2. 
 All were profitable, although the limit of net profit was 
 reached with an application of 300 pounds per acre. 
 That is, it seems that beyond that point the season and 
 climatic conditions rather than Nitrogen became the 
 limiting factors, when soils were supplied with enough 
 phosphoric acid and potash. The application of Nitrate 
 of Soda was profitable in all cases, though varying with 
 the amounts applied. 
 
 The farmer naturally desires to secure the greatest 
 net profit. On land of this sort, therefore, it would be 
 necessary for him to apply 300 pounds per acre; for a 
 large field this dressing would seem to be rather expen- 
 sive, taking into consideration the possible risk due to 
 unfavorable seasons. In many cases, too, the produc- 
 tive power of the soil may be greater than was here 
 found to be the case, when a less quantity of Nitrate of 
 Soda would meet the needs of a maximum crop. 
 
 The experiment gives suggestions on this point, 
 also. Averaging the yields obtained from the use of 
 Nitrate, it is found that the application of 100 pounds 
 of Nitrate increased the yield by nearly 800 pounds. 
 Taking this to be a fair guide, as to what may be ex- 
 pected from the application of Nitrate, the amounts to 
 be applied would be in proportion to the difference 
 between what the farmer estimates to be his average 
 yield and the possible production in his neighborhood. 
 For example, assuming that the average yield would be 
 3,000 pounds, without Nitrate, and the maximum yield 
 5,000 pounds with Nitrate, an application of 250 pounds 
 per acre would enable him to reach his maximum yield, 
 If, on the other hand, his estimated yield, without 
 Nitrate is 2,000 pounds, and his estimated maximum is 
 3,000 pounds, then the application of 125 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda per acre would supply all the needed 
 Nitrogen to make this yield. In either case, the Nitrate 
 would be used to quite as good advantage, as was shown 
 in this experiment, and the results profitable in both 
 cases, though, as in the experiment, the larger, yield 
 would give the largest net returns. It is more than 
 likely that on average soils an application ranging from 
 125 pounds to 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre
 
 Food for would be apt to meet the maximum requirements. 
 
 Hence, in practice savings may be effected if the farmer 
 
 116 is careful to study his range of yields for a period of 
 years, without manure, as well as the range of yields 
 under high fertilization, in order to determine the most 
 economical amount of Nitrate to apply. 
 
 The main results, however, lead to the conclusion 
 that Nitrate of Soda is a most useful form of Nitrogen 
 for oat and pea forage, and that it pays directly even on 
 relatively low-priced crops to apply as high as 300 
 pounds per acre, and indirectly in permitting of the 
 sale of a larger quantity of marketable hay at high 
 prices. 
 
 Field Experiments with Nitrate of Soda 
 at Highlands Farms 1908. 
 
 In the spring of 1908, other experiments were 
 planned and carried out for the purpose of studying 
 two fundamental questions: First, whether it would 
 pay to use Nitrate of Soda; and second, whether it 
 would pay to make more than one dressing. It was also 
 planned that the applications of Nitrate should be such 
 as to encourage the practical farmer to begin its use 
 that is, not to use a larger dressing than he would be 
 willing to purchase, and thus make the work educa- 
 tional in two directions. 
 
 Six experiments were planned with the following 
 crops : 
 
 Oats and peas Timothy hay 
 
 Oats Field corn 
 
 Barley White potatoes 
 
 and in each experiment six plots, one-tenth of an acre 
 in area, were used; these plots were separated by strips 
 five (5) feet wide, which were cultivated and kept free 
 from weeds. 
 
 In all cases, except for potatoes, the following min- 
 eral fertilizer was applied at the rate of 300 Ibs. per 
 acre,- spread broadcast and well harrowed into the soil: 
 
 Ground bone 100 Ibs. 
 
 Acid phosphate 200 
 
 Sulphate of potash 100
 
 and for potatoes 300 Ibs. per acre of the following mix- 
 ture was broadcasted : 
 
 Ground bone 100 Ibs. 
 
 Acid phosphate 350 
 
 Sulphate of potash 250 
 
 and at the time of planting 400 Ibs. per acre was well 
 distributed in the row. The amounts of Nitrate and the 
 method of application for the different crops were as 
 follows : 
 
 Oats and Peas. 
 
 Plot Treatment Minerals + Ibs. per plot Applied 
 
 1 Nitrate Of Soda 10 When seeded. 
 
 2 Check Minerals only 
 
 XT* i i ci i i f\ One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 
 3 JNltrate Of OOda 3 weeks later. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 15 when seeded. 
 
 5 Check Minerals only 
 
 ^ XT*J. i e o J i - One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 
 6 JNltrate of boda 15 3 Wee k3 later. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 1 Nitrate Of Soda 10 When seeded. 
 
 2 Check Minerals only 
 
 3XT*j. i. e a J -i f\ One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 Nitrate OI Soda 10 3 weeks later. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 15 when seeded. 
 
 5 Check Minerals only 
 
 6XT*j. j. a J -it One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 15 3 wee ks later. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 1 Nitrate Of Soda 15 When seeded. 
 
 2 Check Minerals only 
 
 3-KT'j. 4. e O J IK One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 
 Nitrate of soda 15 3 wee ks later. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 20 when seeded - 
 
 5 Check Minerals only 
 
 6x1*4. _.*.._ { c J cm One-half at time of seeding; balance 
 Nitrate Of boda 20 3 weeks later. 
 
 Timothy Hay. 
 
 1 Nitrate of Soda 15 When s 88 is wel1 staged. 
 
 2 Check 
 
 3M;+^o4- Q ^t Crwl.. 1 K One-half as soon as grass is well start- 
 
 IMtrate OI OOaa 15 ed ; balance 3 weeks later. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 20 When s rass is wel1 started. 
 
 5 Check 
 
 6XT;*r.4- ^t C,/l.. 0fi One-half as soon as grass is well start- 
 JNltrate Ot bOda 20 ed; balance 3 weeks later. 
 
 Field Corn. 
 
 1 Nitrate Of Soda 15 When planted. 
 
 2 Check Minerals only 
 
 3 Nitrate of Soda 15 10 iv W a tfo n n planted: 5 lbs ' at firat
 
 Food for ^' 
 Plants 4 
 
 5 
 
 118 
 
 6 
 
 Treatment Minerals + Ibs. per plot Applied 
 
 Nitrate Of Soda 15 7.5 Ibs. at first cultivation; 7.5 Ibs. at 
 
 Check Minerals only 
 Nitrate of Soda 15 
 
 third cultivation. 
 
 7.5 Ibs. at time of planting; 7.5 Ibs. at 
 third cultivation. 
 
 White Potatoes. 
 
 1 Nitrate of Soda 20 At time of 
 
 2 Check Minerals only 
 
 3 Nitrate of Soda 20 
 
 One-half at time of planting; one-half 
 broadcast at first cultivation. 
 
 4 Nitrate of Soda 25 At time of planting. 
 
 5 Check Minerals only 
 
 6XTJ* j. * C J ctK One-half at time of planting; balance 
 
 Nitrate of boda 25 at first cultivation. 
 
 Corn. 
 
 Corn in Ear 24 Bushels. 
 
 Average product per half acre 
 for U. S. of Corn with average 
 farm fertilization. 
 
 Corn in Ear 56 Bushels. 
 
 The product of half an acre of 
 corn fertilized with Nitrate of 
 Soda, home mixed with Phos- 
 phate and Potash. 
 
 The land in all cases was similar to that already de- 
 scribed for the highlands, namely, naturally good soil, 
 but deficient in physical character or in humus. 
 
 With the exception of timothy, the crops were all 
 planted at such times in the spring as was deemed most 
 satisfactory: timothy hay being seeded in the previous 
 year. In all of the experiments, the germination of seed
 
 was good, and conditions were favorable for a brief 
 period only, as one of the worst drouths in many years 
 prevailed throughout the entire season. In fact, but "9 
 little rain fell from the first of May until after the crops 
 were harvested, or practically from the time the crops 
 were planted until they were harvested. 
 
 Naturally, the results of the experiments were ex- 
 ceedingly variable, and thus less satisfactory than if the 
 seasonal conditions had been nearer the average. The 
 records are as follows: 
 
 Plot. 
 
 1 
 
 Oats for 
 
 Yield per Plot, 
 Hay. 
 Ibs. 
 
 320 
 
 Hay Forage. 
 
 Yield per Acre, 
 Hay. 
 Ibs. 
 
 3200 
 
 Gain in Yield 
 from Nitrate. 
 Ibs. 
 
 900 
 
 2 
 
 230 
 
 2300 
 
 
 3 
 
 310 
 
 3100 
 
 800 
 
 4 
 
 280 
 
 2800 
 
 500 
 
 5 
 
 230 
 
 2300 
 
 
 6.. 
 
 410 
 
 4100 
 
 1800 
 
 It will be observed that the yields were not large. 
 The oats were cut when the grain was in the dough 
 state and straw still green, or in the most suitable state 
 for hay. Under average seasonal conditions, the yields 
 should have been at least 50 per cent, higher. Neverthe- 
 less, the value of Nitrate is very clearly shown in all cases, 
 and reasonably uniform, except in the case of plot 6. 
 
 The percentage gain on the different plots range 
 from 21.5 per cent, on plot 4, to 78.3 per cent, on plot 6. 
 The average for the whole being 43 per cent, increase, 
 or an average gain per acre of 1,000 Ibs. of dried oat hay. 
 
 These experiments show very clearly, therefore, 
 that even in seasons of excessive drouths, the Nitrate 
 contributes very materially to the yield of crop and to 
 profit. Oat hay, while not ordinarily a marketable crop, 
 was worth on the farm at that time, in comparison with 
 other marketable hays, $18 per ton, hence the average 
 increase in yield would be worth $9, which, less the cost 
 of Nitrate applied, would leave a net profit of $5.25 per 
 acre ; only on plot 6 was the Nitrate utilized to the full- 
 est advantage, or the Nitrogen usually available from 
 Nitrate of Soda secured in the crop. The increased crop
 
 Plat s on P^ * WOU ^ be wor th, on the same basis as the aver- 
 ^.f age, $16.20, or a net profit for each acre of $12.45, which 
 120 corresponds with the increase which should, and prob- 
 ably would have been obtained in an average season. 
 
 2. Timothy Hay. 
 
 As was the case with oats, the season was such as to 
 prevent normal development there was only one light 
 rain after the first application of Nitrate was made, and 
 
 Forage Corn. 
 
 300 Ibs. Acid Phosphate. 
 100 Ibs. Sulphate of Potash. 
 150 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda. 
 Yield, 20 tons of green forage 
 corn per acre. 
 
 300 Ibs. Acid Phosphate. 
 100 Ibs. Sulphate of Potash. 
 Yield, 9^2 tons of green forage 
 corn per acre. 
 
 none after the second application. The records are as 
 follows : 
 
 Plot. 
 
 Yield per Plot. 
 Ibs. 
 
 780 
 575 
 745 
 770 
 470 
 680 
 
 Yield per Acre. 
 Ibs. 
 
 7800 
 5750 
 7450 
 7700 
 4700 
 6800 
 
 Gain from 
 
 Nitrate 
 
 per Acre. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 2575 
 
 2225 
 2475 
 
 1575
 
 The yields were good, notwithstanding the season; 
 the average yield on the unfertilized plots being over two 
 and one-half tons per acre, and although there was a 
 large variation in the yields of the two check plots, it 
 was not so great as to vitiate the results obtained, as the 
 differences between the yields of the two check plots was 
 not as great as the difference between the lowest yield on 
 the fertilized plot and the average of the check plots. 
 
 The increase in yield ranged from 1575 to 2575 
 pounds, or an average for all of the plots of 2212 pounds, 
 or over one ton per acre. 
 
 No special influence was observed, either from the 
 larger application or from the method of application 
 the one application, made at the time the plants had 
 well started, under the conditions prevailing this year, 
 gave the largest yield. This was to be expected, owing 
 to the fact that after the second application there were 
 no rains to distribute the Nitrate. Deducting the cost 
 of Nitrates, the net profits ranged from $4.45 to $11.70, 
 or an average of $8.70 per acre. The hay was valued 
 at $12 per ton, as stored in the barn; the average loss in 
 the barn was 18.5 per cent. Inasmuch as barn-cut hay 
 was selling at $14 per ton, the valuation of $12 was fair 
 for this season. This experiment, while not as illumi- 
 ating as would have been the case if the seasonal con- 
 ditions had been good, still verifies the conclusions 
 arrived at from the results obtained in previous experi- 
 ments, namely, Nitrate of Soda is one of the most im- 
 portant, useful and valuable forms of Nitrogen to use, 
 and the most profitable form to use as a top-dressing for 
 grass fields in the spring. 
 
 Oats and Peas for Forage. 
 
 The experiment with oats and peas suffered in 
 common with the others, due to the season, although ap- 
 parently in a greater degree, as the hot weather affected 
 the growth of the peas to a greater extent than it did the 
 oats alone. Unfortunately, through an error, the crop 
 on plot 1 was harvested before the others, and no record 
 was made of it. Discarding this, we find the yields to 
 be as follows :
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 122 
 
 Plot. 
 
 1 
 
 Yield per Plot. 
 Ibs. 
 
 Yield per Acre. 
 Ibs. 
 
 Gain from Nitrate 
 per Acre. 
 Ibs. 
 
 2 
 
 250 
 
 2500 
 
 
 3 
 
 350 
 
 3500 
 
 1100 
 
 4 
 
 330 
 
 3300 
 
 900 
 
 5 
 
 230 
 
 2300 
 
 
 6.. 
 
 290 
 
 2900 
 
 500 
 
 The yields were not large, and were quite variable 
 the average on the check plots being but slightly in 
 excess of 1 ton per acre. The increase in yield from the 
 use of Nitrate of Soda ranged from 500 to 1,100 Ibs. per 
 acre, or an average of 834 Ibs., an increase of about 60 
 per cent. Hence, notwithstanding the unfavorable 
 seasonal conditions, a profit was secured, the average 
 net profit at $12 for hay being $1.85 per acre, or for each 
 dollar invested there was a return of nearly $1.60. 
 
 Corn, Potatoes and Barley. 
 
 The crops of corn, potatoes and barley, on the other 
 experiments, although they grew well in the beginning, 
 were a failure, owing to the continued drouth. There 
 was practically no moisture in the soil when the crops on 
 the other experiments were harvested, at which time the 
 corn and potatoes were in the greatest need of moisture 
 the corn to enable it to develop and form ears and the 
 potatoes to set tubers and to provide for their growth. 
 
 Fertilizing Hay Crops in 
 California. 
 
 In the West Coast States wheat is sown for hay, 
 and cut green; likewise oats. 
 
 The experiments with fertilizers on oats-hay crops 
 by the California Experiment Station, begun in 1901, 
 were continued during the season of 1902-3. During the 
 season of 1901-2 it was found that the use of Thomas 
 phosphate slag and sulphate of potash with Nitrate of
 
 Soda did not pay as well as Nitrate of Soda used alone. 
 The experiments during the last season were planned to 
 test the availability of the phosphate after the first I2 3 
 season. It was thought that there was a possibility that 
 the insoluble slag phosphate would become more avail- 
 able the second season after applying it. The plots first 
 used in the experiments were subdivided and given 
 different applications of Nitrate of Soda, used alone and 
 in combination with sulphate of potash at the rate of 
 300 pounds per acre. 
 
 The yield of hay was lower on both fertilized and 
 unfertilized plots during the second season than it was in 
 the first. This difference is undoubtedly due to an un- 
 favorable season. The late spring rainfall failed almost 
 entirely, and to this, no doubt, must be attributed 
 the decreased yield. 
 
 An inspection of the summary of results shows that 
 the heaviest yields of hay on both red and granite soils 
 and the largest money returns per acre were obtained 
 from the plots which were fertilized with phosphate 
 during 1901-2. On red soil with oats-hay the gain from 
 the use of Nitrate of Soda on the plot which had phos- 
 phate the year previous was $11.70 per acre, as against 
 only $3.72 per acre where the Nitrate was used on land 
 having no previous fertilization. 
 
 On granite soil with oats-hay there was no gain 
 from the phosphate. The use of Nitrate of Soda alone 
 without previous fertilization yielded $9.44 per acre 
 profit, while on the plots having phosphate applied the 
 previous year, the gain was only $5.74 per acre. 
 
 In 1903 the heaviest yield of hay was obtained from 
 oats, and the largest profit per acre from wheat on 
 granite soil which had an application of Thomas slag, 
 sulphate of potash, and lime, in 1902. Nitrate of Soda 
 was used at the rate of 320 pounds per acre in 1903. The 
 yield of hay was 5,772 pounds per acre, and the resulting 
 profit $12.89 per acre. It should be remarked here, 
 however, that this plot was fertilized at a loss of $21.50 
 per acre in 1902; and as the application of Nitrate was 
 larger than was used on any other plot, the increased 
 returns were at least partly due to the increased supply 
 of the Nitrate.
 
 F Piants ^ e use ^ su lp na te of potash in combination with 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, on granite soil, did not pay in 1903. 
 
 I2 4 Potash was used at the rate of 300 pounds per acre. In 
 most cases the fertilizer cost more than the increased 
 crop of hay; hence its use incurred a loss of from 76 
 cents to $4.57 per acre. 
 
 The experiments with Nitrate of Soda used alone 
 were broadened in 1903 to test the efficacy of different 
 amounts per acre and the division of the application into 
 two doses. The results show that in 1903, 160 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda per acre in one application yielded the 
 largest profits viz.: $9.44 and $8.90 per acre, respec- 
 tively, on two plots on granite soil. In all cases the 
 yield was reduced when the fertilizer was put on in two 
 applications; thus, with 160 pounds per acre applied in 
 two doses, only $4.82 and $7.27 per acre were yielded 
 by two plots on granite soil. 
 
 WHAT PERCENTAGE OF WATER DOES 
 HAY LOSE DURING STORAGE? 
 
 Result of Rhode Island Official Experiment. 
 
 Hay which had been stored during the summer of 
 1901, was removed from the mow the following Febru- 
 ary, and found to contain 12.21 per cent, of water. A 
 careful comparison of other moisture determinations 
 of hay leads to the conclusion that 12.21 is a fair general 
 average of the percentage of water in the best quality 
 of barn-cured hay. When hay is first stored it usually 
 contains from 20 to 28 per cent, of moisture. The loss 
 in storage may be said to be about twelve to sixteen per 
 cent. 
 
 GRADES OF HAY AND STRAW. 
 
 Adopted by the National Hay Association. 
 
 HAY. 
 
 No. 1 Timothy Hay: Shall be timothy with not 
 more than one-eighth (%) mixed with clover or other
 
 tame grasses properly cured, good color, sound and well ? od for 
 
 iij Plants 
 
 baled. 
 
 Standard Timothy: Shall be timothy with not I2 $ 
 more than one-eighth (%} mixed with clover or other 
 tame grasses, fair color, containing brown blades, and 
 brown heads, sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Timothy Hay: Shall be timothy not good 
 enough for No. 1 not over one-fourth (j^) mixed with 
 clover or other tame grasses, fair color, sound and well 
 baled. 
 
 No. 3 Timothy Hay : Shall include all hay not good 
 enough for other grades, sound and well baled. 
 
 Light Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy mixed 
 with clover. The clover mixture not over one-third 
 (M) properly cured, sound, good color and well baled. 
 
 No. 1 Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and 
 clover mixed, with at least one-half (}/%) timothy, good 
 color, sound and well baled. 
 
 Heavy Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and 
 clover mixed with at least one-fourth (^) timothy, 
 sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and 
 clover mixed with at least one-third (^) timothy. Rea- 
 sonably sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 1 Clover Hay: Shall be medium clover not 
 over one-twentieth (Jg-) other grasses, properly cured, 
 sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Clover Hay: Shall be clover sound, well 
 baled, not good enough for No. 1. 
 
 Sample Hay: Shall include all hay badly cured, 
 stained, threshed or in any way unsound. 
 
 Choice Prairie Hay : Shall be upland hay of bright, 
 natural color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may con- 
 tain 3 per cent, weeds. 
 
 No. 1 Prairie Hay: Shall be upland and may con- 
 tain one-quarter (J4) midland, both of good color, 
 well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain 8 per cent, 
 weeds. 
 
 No. 2 Prairie Hay: Shall be upland, of fair color 
 and may contain one-half midland, both of good color, 
 well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain V&Yz per 
 cent, weeds.
 
 F pfaSs No> 3 Prairie Hay: Shall include hay not good 
 
 - enough for other grades and not caked. 
 126 No. 1 Midland Hay: Shall be midland hay of good 
 
 color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain 3 per 
 cent, weeds. 
 
 No. 2 Midland Hay: Shall be fair color or slough 
 hay of good color, and may contain V^/l P er cent, weeds. 
 Packing Hay: Shall include all wild hay not good 
 enough for other grades and not caked. 
 
 Sample Prairie Hay : Shall include all hay not good 
 enough for other grades. 
 
 STRAW. 
 
 No. 1 Straight Rye Straw: Shall be in large bales, 
 clean, bright, long rye straw, pressed in bundles, sound 
 and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Straight Rye Straw: Shall be in large bales, 
 long rye straw pressed in bundles, sound and well baled, 
 not good enough for No. 1. 
 
 No. 1 Tangled Rye Straw: Shall be reasonably 
 clean rye straw, good color, sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Tangled Rye Straw: Shall be reasonably 
 clean, may be some stained, but not good enough for 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 1 Wheat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean 
 wheat straw, sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Wheat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean; 
 may be some stained, but not good enough for No. 1. 
 
 No. 1 Oat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean oat 
 straw, sound and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Oat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean; may 
 be some stained, but not good enough for No. 1. 
 
 ALFALFA. 
 
 Choice Alfalfa: Shall be reasonably fine leafy 
 alfalfa of bright green color, properly cured, sound, 
 sweet, and well baled. 
 
 No. 1 Alfalfa: Shall be reasonably coarse alfalfa 
 of a bright green color, or reasonably fine leafy alfalfa 
 of a good color and may contain two per cent, of foreign 
 grasses, 5 per cent, of air bleached hay on outside of 
 bale allowed, but must be sound and well baled.
 
 Standard Alfalfa: May be of green color, of coarse 
 or medium texture, and may contain 5 per cent, foreign 
 matter. Or it may be of green color, of coarse or I2 7 
 medium texture, 20 per cent, bleached and 2 per cent, 
 foreign matter. Or it may be of a greenish cast of fine 
 stem and clinging foliage, and may contain 5 per cent, 
 foreign matter. All to be sound, sweet, and well baled. 
 
 No. 2 Alfalfa: Shall be of any sound, sweet and well 
 baled alfalfa, not good enough for standard, and may 
 contain 10 per cent, foreign matter. 
 
 No. 3 Alfalfa: May contain 35 per cent, stack 
 spotted hay, but must be dry and not to contain more 
 than 8 per cent, of foreign matter. Or it may be of a 
 green color and may contain 50 per cent, foreign mat- 
 ter. Or it may be set Alfalfa and may contain 5 per 
 cent, foreign matter. All to be reasonably well baled. 
 
 No grade Alfalfa : Shall include all alfalfa not good 
 enough for No. 3. 
 
 The Alfalfa, Cow Pea and Clover Question. 
 
 This class of plants has the proper- 
 ty of taking inert Nitrogen from the air Lelumes 
 
 and transforming it into combinations 
 more or less useful as plant food. This feature is of 
 great value to agriculture, but not so much from the 
 plant food point of view as from the fact that these 
 plants are rich in that kind of food substance commonly 
 called "flesh formers." Liberally fertilized, and not 
 omitting Nitrate in the fertilizer, we have a crop con- 
 taining more Nitrogenous food (protein or flesh form- 
 ers) than the Nitrogen actually given as fertilizer 
 could have made by itself. The most common plants of 
 this class are: alfalfa, alsike clover, crimson clover, red 
 clover, Japan clover, cow peas, lupines, Canadian field 
 peas, the vetches, etc. All these forage crops should 
 be sown after clean culture crops. The best method 
 of fertilizing is to apply from 300 to 500 pounds of 
 fertilizer early every autumn; in the spring, top-dress 
 with 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, and repeat with 
 about 100 pounds after each cutting. It is true that 
 clovers may supply their own nitrogenous plant food,
 
 F Piants kut this i s an experiment experienced farmers do 
 
 not often repeat. A fair green crop of clover, for 
 
 128 example, removes from the soil some 160 pounds of 
 Nitrogen, while in 500 pounds of Nitrate of Soda 
 there are less than 100 pounds. Undoubtedly, the 
 Nitrogen taken from the air is a great aid, but we should 
 not expect too much of it. The method of seeding 
 clovers depends much upon locality and soil needs with 
 reference to previous crops. Crimson clover and 
 Canadian field peas are usually sown in August, after 
 earlier crops have been removed, or even in corn fields. 
 Red clover is commonly sown in the spring on wheat or 
 with oats. 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 The soil for this grain, fall planting, ranges from a 
 clay loam to a moderate sandy loam. For spring wheat, 
 moist peaty soils are used. Wheat is usually grown in 
 rotation, in which case it nearly always follows corn, or 
 a clean culture crop. The nature of cultivation is too 
 well known to require mention here. Both spring and 
 winter wheat are commonly fertilized crops, particularly 
 the latter. The average fertilizer for wheat should con- 
 tain Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. This 
 fertilizer is applied with the seed, and at the rate of 500 
 pounds to the acre. Nitrate of Soda is also applied 
 broadcast as a top-dressing, soon after the crop shows 
 growth in the spring, at the rate of 100 pounds per acre. 
 Like all grains, wheat should have its Nitrate plant food 
 early, and in the highly available, easily digested Ni- 
 trated form, such as is only to be found commercially 
 as Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 The plant food needs of a crop of 30 bushels of 
 wheat per acre amounts to about 70 pounds of Nitrogen, 
 24 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 30 pounds of potash; 
 this includes the straw, chaff and stubble. One hundred 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda supplies about 16 pounds of 
 Nitrogen, so that the quantity mentioned for top- 
 dressing is a minimum quantity. Much has been said 
 of legume Nitrogen for wheat, the crop being generally 
 grown in rotation. Whatever Nitrogen the clover may 
 have gathered, a crop of timothy and a crop of corn must
 
 be supplied before the wheat rotation is reached. In 
 many cases, simply top-dressing with the Nitrate will be 
 found effectual. In all cases where the acre yields have 
 fallen off, a top-dressing of Nitrate of Soda should be 
 applied. 
 
 Professor Maercker states that Nitrate of Soda for 
 wheat is absolutely necessary under the conditions in 
 Germany, and that 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda pro- 
 Wheat. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 129 
 
 #. 
 
 j--v 
 
 ~. -^i^^f~"- iaiiiir 
 -- . i * 
 
 .-W*' 1 
 
 Wheat 14 Bushels. 
 
 Average product per acre for 
 the U. S. of wheat with aver- 
 age farm fertilization 1910. 
 
 Wheat 37 Bushels. 
 
 The product of an acre of 
 wheat fertilized with Nitrate of 
 Soda, home mixed with phos- 
 phates and potash 1910. 
 
 duces 300 to 400 pounds of grain and a corresponding 
 amount of straw. 
 
 Drill in with the wheat in the fall a 
 mixture of 250 pounds of acid phosphate 
 and 50 pounds Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 If your land is sandy, add 50 pounds of 
 sulphate of potash to the above. Early in the spring, 
 sow broadcast 100 pounds Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 
 Land sown to wheat in the fall and seeded down 
 
 How to Apply 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 to Wheat.
 
 Food for with timothy and clover giving a heavy crop, followed 
 
 ..Plants by a heavy hay crop the following year, proved the 
 
 130 beneficial after-effect of the Nitrate and that the Nitrate 
 
 Fertilizer Experiment with Wheat. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid and 
 
 and Potash with 1 oz. and Potash with j oz. Potash without 
 Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Yield: 3\ oz. Grain. Yield: If oz. Grain. Yield: f oz. Grain. 
 
 had not leached away as so many critics claim, and 
 further that the soil had not been exhausted. 
 
 Professor Massey writes in regard to the effect of 
 Nitrate of Soda on Wheat, as follows:
 
 I have made several experiments with Nitrate of Soda. The Food for 
 first was on wheat in Albemarle County, Virginia. I used 200 Plft nts 
 pounds per acre on part of the field which had been fertilized with 
 400 pounds acid phosphate in the fall. The result was 9 bushels 
 per acre more than on the rest of the field, and a stand of clover, 
 while none of any account stood on the rest of the field. 
 
 From 100 to 150 pounds of Nitrate 
 
 of Soda per acre should be broadcasted Wheat Experi- 
 
 i .1 . i ments in 
 
 on wheat, as soon as the new growth England 
 
 shows in the spring. The results of 
 such treatment are shown by experiments made by 
 three English gentlemen, which are tabulated as follows, 
 mineral plant food being present in abundance : 
 
 I. No Nitrate, 23 bu. 300 Ibs. Nitrate, 33.5 bu. Gain 46 p. ct. 
 II. 15 " 300 " 28.0 " " 87 " 
 
 III. 34 " 300 " 49.0 ' " 44 " 
 
 Average 59 
 
 Another illustration is an experi- 
 ment made by the late Dr. Voelcker; Cotton-seed 
 672 pounds of cotton-seed meal were Meal Compared 
 
 ,*. . .., -... IP with Nitrate, 
 
 used in comparison with 275 pounds ot 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, with the result that the latter gave a 
 return of 46.75 bushels per acre, a gain over the cotton- 
 seed meal of nearly 24 per cent., the above enormous 
 application of cotton-seed meal yielding but 37.7 bushels 
 per acre. 
 
 Forty Bushels of Wheat to the Acre a Possible 
 Average on Many Ohio Farms. 
 
 Bulletin 282, Ohio Experiment Station. 
 
 For twenty years the Ohio Experiment Station has 
 grown potatoes, wheat and clover in a three-year rota- 
 tion on one of its farms in Wayne county, a farm no 
 better in natural fertility than thousands of others 
 which may be found in this region of the State. 
 
 The land under experiment is divided into three 
 sections and each crop is grown every season. Each 
 section is sub-divided into plots of one-tenth acre each, 
 every third plot being left continuously without fertilizer
 
 Food for or manure, while the intervening plots have received 
 
 ^ ! different combinations of fertilizing materials, the 
 
 J 32 fertilizers being divided between the potato and wheat 
 crops. 
 
 The average yield of wheat in this test for the last 
 ten years has been twenty -five bushels per acre on the 
 unfertilized land. The application of 160 pounds of 
 acid phosphate per acre to wheat, following a like appli- 
 cation to potatoes, has increased the wheat yield by 
 five bushels. When to this application, 100 pounds of 
 muriate of potash was added for each crop, the yield 
 of wheat was increased by seven bushels, while the 
 use of a complete fertilizer, made up of 160 pounds of 
 acid phosphate, 100 pounds of muriate of potash and 
 the equivalent of 160 pounds of Nitrate of Soda for each 
 crop, has increased the total yield of wheat to more 
 than forty bushels per acre for the ten-year average. 
 
 The increase in the potato crop in each of these 
 cases has more than paid for the fertilizer, leaving the 
 increase in wheat as net gain, a gain which has been 
 further augmented by a considerable increase in the 
 yield of clover. 
 
 Not only has the yield been maintained at a high 
 point, but it seems to be steadily increasing; the average 
 yield for the three plots which receive the combination 
 given, and which are located in different parts of the 
 field, being 38J< bushels per acre for the first half of 
 the ten-year period, and 42J/2 bushels per acre for the 
 second half. 
 
 It has therefore been possible to produce forty 
 bushels of wheat per acre in Ohio as a ten-year average, 
 and to accomplish this result by a method which has 
 much more than paid the cost. 
 
 It is the general observation of farmers, that wheat 
 does exceptionally well when it follows potatoes, and 
 this fact in part accounts for the large yields obtained 
 in this experiment. The fact that the land was in good 
 condition to start with part of it having been cleared 
 from the forest for purposes of this test, must also be 
 borne in mind. But on another of the Station's Wayne 
 county farms, one which had been reduced to a very 
 low state of fertility by long continued and exhaustive
 
 cropping, an average yield of 28^ bushels of wheat per Food for 
 acre has been maintained for the same period in a rota- *"* s 
 tion of corn, oats, wheat, clover and timothy. J 33 
 
 In this test the unfertilized yield has been 9^ 
 bushels of wheat per acre. This yield has been increased 
 
 Fertilizer Experiments with Oats on Clay Soil. 
 
 Full Nitrate of Without Without Yield :|oz. grain 
 
 Soda Phosphoric Acid. Potash. Without 
 
 Fertilizing. Yield :foz. Yield: 2 oz. Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Yield : 3 oz. grain. grain. grain. 
 
 to 28J/2 bushels by a fertilizer of the same composition 
 as that above mentioned, namely: 160 pounds acid 
 phosphate, 100 pounds of muriate of potash and the 
 equivalent of 160 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 In this case, as in the potato rotation, the increase 
 in the other crops of the rotation has more than paid
 
 Food for a u the cos t o f the fertilizers, leaving the increase of 
 
 Plants , i 
 
 - wheat as clear gain. 
 
 *34 In this case also the rate of gain is increasing, the 
 
 average yield for the first five years of the period being 
 25 bushels per acre, as against 32 bushels for the last five 
 years, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt 
 that after the wasted fertility of this land has been re- 
 stored it will be possible to still further increase the 
 
 Rye. 
 
 Rye 18 Bushels. 
 
 Average product per acre for 
 the U. S. of rye with average 
 farm fertilization. 
 
 Rye 36 Bushels. 
 
 The product of an acre of 
 rye fertilized with Nitrate of 
 Soda, home mixed with phos- 
 phates and potash. 
 
 yield to a point equaling that in the experiment first 
 mentioned. 
 
 Wheat and Oats, Rye and Barley. 
 (Bulletin 44, Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station.) 
 
 This bulletin gives in detail the results of experi- 
 ments on wheat with fertilizers, in which Nitrate of
 
 Soda is compared with cotton-seed meal; in all cases the 
 plots were liberally supplied with phosphoric acid and 
 potash. The average yield of four plots in each instance J 3S 
 amounted per acre to 49.4 bushels for 
 Nitrate of Soda, and 40.1 bushels for otto?seed 
 cotton-seed meal, a gain for Nitrate of M ea n com- 
 Soda of over 23 per cent. A similar pare d on Wheat, 
 experiment with oats gave a return of 
 60 bushels for Nitrate of Soda and only 42 bushels for 
 cotton-seed meal, a gain for Nitrate over cotton-seed 
 meal of nearly 43 per cent. The Bulletin recommends, 
 even when cotton-seed meal is used in the complete 
 fertilizer, to employ Nitrate of Soda as a top-dressing 
 in the spring. 
 
 Three hundred pounds per acre more Wheat, Oats, 
 Rye or Barley may be raised by the use of 100 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda used as a top-dressing on the soil. 
 Frequent trials at Agricultural Experiment Stations the 
 world over fully prove this to be so. 
 
 MARYLAND 
 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
 
 Bulletin No. 91. 
 Page 44. Table 7. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda vs. No Nitrate of Soda Applied on 
 Wheat; Wheat Unfertilized in Fall. 
 
 Plot No. Yield of Grain per Acre, Bushels. 
 
 1. Neither fertilizer nor Nitrate of Soda 10.4 
 
 2. Nitrate of Soda, with no Other Fertilizer. . . 18.1* 
 
 Comparison of Nitrate of Soda and Sulphate of 
 Ammonia Both With and Without Lime. 
 
 As has already been explained, Nitrate of Soda 
 and Sulphate of Ammonia represent the mineral sources 
 of Nitrogen commonly found on the market. The 
 
 * Gain of 7.8 bushels, or 75 per cent.
 
 Food for Nitrate of Soda is readily soluble in water and is directly 
 ! available to plants; while the Sulphate of Ammonia, 
 J 3 6 though quite soluble, has to be changed into Nitrate be- 
 fore it can be used by crops. Hence the action of these 
 two materials is not the same on different soils and un- 
 der varying weather conditions. The sulphate has been 
 preferred by some because it would act slower; yet if 
 conditions for nitration were unfavorable, it might not 
 be available to the crop when needed. Again, under 
 some circumstances, Sulphate of Ammonia has been 
 found to be actually harmful* to plants. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL 
 EXPERIMENT STATION. 
 
 From Bulletin No. 56, p. 5. 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 /. Comparison of Varieties. IV. Home Manures. 
 
 II. Quantity of Seed per Acre. V. Commercial Fertilizers. 
 
 III. Experiment with Nitrogen. VI. Tillage. 
 
 If wheat is sown upon land deficient 
 izers. - n or g am ' c ma tter, it is wise to use a 
 
 complete fertilizer, containing Nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
 and potash. 
 
 If wheat shows an unhealthy appearance in early 
 spring, especially upon sandy lands, an application of 
 seventy -five pounds of Nitrate of Soda will prove bene- 
 ficial provided there is enough phosphoric acid in the 
 soil to co-operate with it and make the grain. 
 
 Experiment with Nitrogen. 
 
 . To compare effects of Nitrogen from 
 
 cgtton-seed meal and Nitrate of Soda 
 and the latter applied with the seed and as a top- 
 dressing. 
 
 The intention was to use on each plot a constant 
 quantity of phosphoric acid and potash as the equiv- 
 
 * On account of its leaving a strong mineral acid residue in the soil, after 
 its Nitrogen has been nitrated by the soil.
 
 alent of these ingredients in 200 pounds of cotton-seed JJ od , for 
 
 i .Plants 
 
 meal. 
 
 137 
 
 The first plot received cotton-seed meal alone 
 
 yield 17.5 bus. 
 
 The second, phosphoric acid and potash and 
 Nitrate of Soda all applied with the seed 
 yield 20 . 8 bus. 
 
 The third received only phosphoric acid and 
 
 potash yield 17.6 bus. 
 
 The fourth received in addition to phosphoric 
 acid and potash applied with the seed, 
 Nitrate of Soda as a top-dressing yield . . 19 . 4 bus. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 This crop does best on a strong clay loam, but the 
 soil must not be rich in organic matter. Soils naturally 
 rich in ammoniates are unfavorable, as one of the most 
 important points in high-grade barley is a complete 
 maturity of the grain. With soils rich in vegetable 
 matter, the supply of the only digestible Nitrogen or 
 what is exactly the same thing, Nitrates, continues so 
 late in the season that maturity is retarded seriously. 
 About 400 pounds per acre of fertilizer should be applied 
 broadcast before seeding. As soon as the grain is "up," 
 top-dress with 150 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 If the soil is very rich, apply only 100 pounds of Nitrate. 
 
 We would recommend drilling in with the Barley or 
 Oats a mixture of 250 pounds acid phos- 
 phate and 100 pounds Nitrate of Soda 
 per acre, and if the land is very sandy 
 add 100 pounds sulphate of potash to the mixture. 
 
 In an experiment at Woburn, made for the Royal 
 Agricultural Society of England, by the late Dr. 
 Voelcker, the following results were obtained: 
 
 Mineral manures and sulphate ammonia. . 36 . 75 bushels per acre. 
 Nitrate 275 Ibs. and minerals 42.50 bushels per acre. 
 
 Gain for Nitrate, 16 per cent. 
 
 The ammonia salt and the Nitrate used contained 
 the same amount of nitrogen plant food. Compared 
 with cotton-seed meal, 124 pounds of Nitrate of Soda
 
 Plants 
 138 
 
 F Di d ,!?I gave 49.5 bushels barley per acre as compared to 37 
 bushels from 1,000 pounds cotton-seed meal applied 
 the previous year. Gain for Nitrate 33.7 per acre. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 This grain does well on nearly all types of soil, but 
 responds freely to good treatment. There is a vast 
 difference in the quality of oats when grown on poor or 
 rich soils. Perhaps no other crop so effectually conceals 
 impoverishment; at the same time the feeding value of 
 oats grown on poor soil is very low. In the North oats 
 
 Oats. 
 
 30 Bushels. 
 
 Average product per acre, 
 for the U. S. of oats, with aver- 
 age farm fertilization. 
 
 65 Bushels. 
 
 The product of an acre of oats 
 fertilized with Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 are sown in the spring, and usually after corn or a turned 
 down clover sod. In such cases the crop is rarely ever 
 given fertilizer, but shows an excellent return for a top- 
 dressing of 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 The crop has strong foraging powers, and will find avail- 
 able mineral plant food where a wheat crop would 
 utterly fail. On soils pretty badly exhausted, an 
 application of 400 pounds of fertilizer will yield a 
 profitable return, provided the top-dressing of Nitrate
 
 is not omitted. Under any condition of soil or fertil- p?^ t for 
 izing, a sickly green color of the young crop shows need - 
 of Nitrate of Soda plant food, and the remedy is a top- *39 
 dressing of Nitrate. In seeding, use two or three 
 bushels to the acre. 
 
 In many places in Europe the cereals, like oats 
 and wheat, are planted or sown in rows and cultivated 
 as we cultivate Indian corn. It is claimed that this 
 increases yield materially, and is of great aid in helping 
 to avoid lodging. It requires less seed per acre and 
 increases the yield. 
 
 Another method in vogue is to sow less seed per 
 acre broadcast and use more fertilizer, so that the 
 individual stalks are stronger and bigger. 
 
 Autumn dressings of Nitrate are used frequently 
 in Europe, and in connection with minerals as much as 
 three hundred (300) pounds of Nitrate per acre is used 
 annually. 
 
 NITRATE TEST. 
 
 At Kentucky Experiment Station. 
 
 BULLETIN 99. 
 
 The oats in this experiment were sown in April and 
 harvested in July. Plot No. 1 was one acre in area; 
 the others were one-half acre each. 
 
 No fertilizer, yield, 27.5 bushels. 
 
 160 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, yield, 37. 1 bushels. 
 
 An authenticated experiment made by Mr. P. 
 Dickson, of Barnhill, Laurencekirk, N. B., gave a 
 return from the use of 112 pounds of Nitrate of Soda of 
 64 bushels per acre, while the soil without Nitrate gave 
 a crop of only 36 bushels. Top-dressings for oats 
 should average 100 pounds to the acre. 
 
 It should always be applied some ten days after the 
 young plants have broken ground. 
 
 Rye. 
 
 This is another illustration of the necessity of care 
 in the use of fertilizer Nitrogen. Rye does best on
 
 Food'for lighter soils so long as they are not too sandy, but if 
 
 ! the soil is rich in vegetable matter, or if a fertilizer is 
 
 HO used containing much organic ammoniate, the grain 
 yield will be disappointing; the crop fails to mature 
 in season because the Nitration of organic Nitrogen or 
 humus is greatest during the warm days of mid-summer, 
 and a constant supply of available Nitrate is being 
 furnished at a time when the crop should commence 
 to mature. The crop needs Nitrate, but it should have 
 been supplied during the earlier stages of growth. 
 Use at first a general fertilizer, 500 pounds per acre. 
 Top Dress as soon as the crop shows growth in the 
 spring with 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to the acre, 
 broadcast. 
 
 Buckwheat. 
 
 No Nitrate. 
 Yield, 19 bushels per acre. 
 
 Fertilized with 125 Ibs. Nitrate 
 
 of Soda per acre. 
 Yield, 38 bushels per acre. 
 
 Buckwheat. 
 
 This crop does well on almost all kinds of soil, 
 but should follow a grain or hoed crop that is, a clean 
 cultivation crop. On thin soils use about 400 pounds 
 of general fertilizer to the acre, applied just before
 
 seeding, or even with the seed. Heavy soils do not Food for 
 
 require fertilizing for this crop, as it has exceptional *" s 
 
 foraging powers, and will find nourishment where many HI 
 grain crops would starve. As soon as the plants are well 
 above ground, apply a top-dressing of 100 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda per acre, both on strong and light soils. 
 Use one bushel of seed per acre on thin soils, but a 
 heavier application on richer soils. 
 
 Corn. 
 
 This crop is specially adapted for making use of 
 roughage of all sorts. It has a long season of growth 
 
 Corn. 
 
 Fertilizer, 300 pounds per acre 
 minerals and 150 pounds per 
 acre Nitrate of Soda. Rate 
 of yield, 100 bushels ears per 
 acre, excellent quality. 
 
 Fertilizer, 300 pounds per acre 
 minerals only. Rate of yield, 
 80 bushels ears per acre, poor 
 quality. 
 
 and makes its heaviest demand for food late in the 
 season when the conditions are such that soil Nitration
 
 Food for i s a t it s highest period of development. It is also a 
 
 ! deep rooting crop and capable of drawing its food and 
 
 H 2 water from great depths. It needs vast quantities of 
 
 water, and the tillage must be very thorough that an 
 
 even earth mulch may be practically continuous. In 
 
 the early spring it frequently starts off slowly, and on 
 
 this account should have some help in the form of hill 
 
 applications of highly available plant food. 
 
 Sweet corn is quite a different crop from field corn; 
 it has a much shorter period of growth and should be 
 fertilized much more heavily. The object in this case 
 is not a matured grain, and Nitrate of Soda should be 
 used very liberally in the shape of top-dressings. 
 
 Hops. 
 A Record of Four Years' Experiments with Hops. 
 
 The experiments were conducted at Golden Green, 
 Hadlow, near Tunbridge, England, and under the 
 supervision of Dr. Bernard Dyer. Seven plots were 
 arranged, all except No. 7 receiving equal and ample 
 quantities of phosphoric acid and potash, but varying 
 amounts of Nitrate of Soda, and (plot 7) thirty loads 
 of stable manure. The fertilizing of the plots, and 
 the average crop, kiln dried hops per acre, with the 
 percentage of gain over the plot not treated with 
 Nitrate, are shown in the following table. 
 
 Plot and Fertilizer. Kiln dried Hops. Gain Per Cent. 
 
 1 No Nitrate 9.75 cwt. 
 
 2 2 cwt. Nitrate 12.00 23 
 
 3 4 " " 13.67 39 
 
 4 6 " " 13.75 41 
 
 5 8 " " 14.58 49 
 
 6 10 " " 14.58 49 
 
 7 30 loads manure 10 . 25 5 
 
 The results show a material gain in the crop from 
 the use of Nitrate of Soda, but the applications on 
 plots 5 and 6 are perhaps greater than will prove 
 economical. The quality of the crop was given ex- 
 haustive examination, with the results that plots 2, 3, 
 4 and 7 graded all the same, and the highest. The
 
 quality on the other plots was not materially different. Food for 
 
 As a result of the investigation, Dr. Dyer recommends ans 
 
 Nitrate of Soda strongly for hop growing, but suggests J 43 
 early applications. 
 
 Market Gardening with Nitrate. 
 
 The following is the result of a 
 practical study of conditions on a large Results in an 
 truck farm, near New York. In every Unfavorable 
 
 case the operations of the farm were Growing Sea- 
 . j . . .| , , son with Low 
 
 carried out on a strictly business basis. Prices for 
 
 The soil was a heavy clay with a rather Products, 
 intractable clay subsoil, decidedly not 
 a soil naturally suited to growing garden crops. The 
 weather was unfavorable, including the most severe 
 drought in thirty years; from March 22d to July 8th 
 practically no rain fell. Owing to the unfavorable 
 season, the grade of garden products was low, causing 
 a low ruling in prices. Details by crops follow : 
 
 Asparagus. 
 
 The bed was twenty years old, and had been neg- 
 lected. As soon as workable, it was disc-harrowed, and 
 later smooth-harrowed with an Acme harrow. Nitrate 
 of Soda was applied to the best test plots April 10th, 
 200 pounds per acre, sown directly over the rows and 
 well worked into the soil. A second application of 100 
 pounds per acre was made to plot 1 April 24th; and, on 
 the 29th, a third application of equal amount. 
 
 The experiment comprised three plots, two fertilized 
 with Nitrate of Soda, and one without Nitrate, plot 3. 
 Plots 1 and 2 ,treated with the Nitrate, produced market- 
 able stalks ten days in advance of plot 3, a very material 
 advantage in obtaining the high prices of an early 
 market. The results were as follows, in bunches per 
 acre: 
 
 Plot and Fertilizer. Bunches per acre. Gain. 
 
 3 No Nitrate 560 
 
 2 200 Ibs. Nitrate 680 120 
 
 1 400 Ibs. Nitrate.. 840 280
 
 Food for The financial results were as follows, prices being 
 
 Plants those actually obtained in the New York markets : 
 144 
 
 Plot 1. Plot 2. Plot 3. 
 
 Fertilizer, Nitrate 400 Ibs. 200 Ibs. 
 
 Gross receipts $207 . 90 $161 . 50 
 
 Fertilizer cost 8.40 4.20 
 
 Applying fertilizer 2 . 00 1 . 00 
 
 Net receipts 197.50 161.50 $112.00 
 
 Nitrate made gain 85 . 50 44 . 30 
 
 The use of 400 pounds of Nitrate of Soda produced 
 on plot 1 a gain of $85.50 on a fertilizer and application 
 cost of $10.40; the use of 200 pounds of Nitrate returned 
 a similar gain of $44.30 on a fertilizer and application 
 cost of $5.20. 
 
 Snap Beans. 
 
 The beans were grown for pods, or what is known as 
 string beans. Three varieties were experimented with, 
 Challenger, Black Wax, and the Red Valentine. Seeds 
 were drilled in May 10th, in rows two feet apart; on 
 May 22nd, an application of 100 pounds of Nitrate of 
 Soda per acre was made, and on the 27th, another 
 application of 150 pounds was drilled. June 12th, an 
 
 application of 50 pounds was drilled 
 Increase in along the rows, followed by 100 pounds 
 
 C ro P an d Bet- j une 19t h ; i n a n 4QO pounds of Nitrate 
 Resulted as ^ Soda per acre. Half the field was 
 
 well as Saving n t treated with Nitrate. In case of 
 in Time. the Black Wax beans, the Nitrated 
 
 land gave a crop 6 days in advance of 
 the part not treated with Nitrate, and the same gain was 
 made by the Nitrated Valentine beans. The Black 
 Wax beans treated with Nitrate produced 75 per cent, 
 more marketable crop than the non-Nitrated portion, 
 and the Valentine variety 60 per cent. Taking into 
 consideration the enhanced price due to earlier ripening, 
 the average price of the Nitrated Black Wax beans 
 averaged some 60 per cent, higher than the portion of 
 the field not treated with Nitrate of Soda; in like man- 
 ner, the increased price of the Valentine beans was 45 
 per cent.
 
 Beets. E? 0( l for 
 
 Plants 
 
 The crop must be forced to quick growth in - 
 order to obtain tender, crisp vege- 
 tables, quickly salable and at good Table Beets 
 prices. Nitrate of Soda was compared Grown on 
 with unfertilized soil, with the result p itr ! te f we ^ 
 that on the Nitrated plots marketable J t a jj ^ ^ a 
 beets were pulled 56 days from seeding; Ahead of Un- 
 the unfertilized plot required 72 days fertilized Plots. 
 to produce marketable vegetables. Ni- 
 trate of Soda was applied at the rate of 500 pounds per 
 acre, in four applications. 
 
 Early Cabbage. 
 
 The cabbage plots were thoroughly worked up, and 
 planted to Henderson's Early Spring Variety. Part 
 of the soil was treated with Nitrate 
 of Soda at the rate of 575 pounds 
 per acre, in five applications ranging Total Failure. 
 from May 1st to June 17th. The part 
 of the plot not treated with Nitrate of Soda was a total 
 failure, but allowing the same number of plants as the 
 fertilized portion, and also allowing for difference in 
 price on account of later ripening, the 
 crop on the portion not treated with A Dollar Spent 
 Nitrate should have returned a gross in 
 amount of $292.50. The Nitrated 
 portion returned gross receipts of $720, Crop. 
 from which deducting $19.50 for fertil- 
 izer and application of same, we have $700.50 for 
 Nitrate of Soda as compared with $292.50 without 
 Nitrate, a net profit for the Nitrate of $408. That is, 
 for every dollar spent for Nitrate of Soda, the crop re- 
 turned an additional $21 nearly. 
 
 Celery. 
 
 Crisp stalks of rich nutty flavor are a matter of 
 rapid, unchecked growth, and plant food must be 
 present in unstinted quantity, as well as in the most 
 quickly available form, the best example of which is
 
 Food for Nitrate of Soda. The soil was plowed early in May, 
 
 _ and subsoiled, thoroughly breaking the soil to a depth 
 
 J 46 of 10 inches. Thirty bushels of slaked lime were 
 
 broadcasted per acre immediately after 
 Extraordinary plowing, followed by a dressing of 20 
 Cek" 18 ^ ons stable manure, all well worked 
 
 into the soil. Plants were set May 10th. 
 The tract was portioned into three tracts for experi- 
 mental purposes ; plot 1 received 675 pounds of Nitrate 
 of Soda per acre in six applications, May 16th, 22nd, 
 June 1st, 10th, 17th and 24th. Plot 2 received 475 
 pounds in five applications, May 16th, 22nd, June 1st, 
 17th and 24th. Plot 3 was not treated with Nitrate 
 of Soda. 
 
 Plot 1 was ready for market July 6th, and was all 
 off by the 10th. Plot 2 was ready for market July llth 
 and was all harvested by the 14th. Plot 3 was prac- 
 tically a failure and was not harvested. Plot 1, being 
 first in the market, had the advantage of the best prices ; 
 the gross receipts were, per acre, $957.80; from which 
 must be deducted $18.67 for Nitrate of Soda and the 
 application of same a net result of $939.13 per acre. 
 Plot 2 gave a gross return of $676.30, from which 
 $13.72 must be deducted for fertilizer, leaving $662.58 
 per acre net. Plot 1 makes therefore a gain of $276.55 
 over plot 2, simply from the earliness in maturing, due 
 to the heavy applications of Nitrate, for the total crop 
 was approximately the same for both plots. 
 
 Cucumbers. 
 
 Plants were set in box frames May 4th. The 
 frames were well filled with rotted manure, and were 
 banked as a protection against late frosts. A portion 
 of the field was treated with Nitrate of Soda; on May 
 10th each plant was given a quart of a solution made 
 by dissolving three pounds of Nitrate of Soda in 50 
 gallons of water. Applications in quantity the same 
 were made on the experimental plot May 16th, 22nd, 
 29th, June 3rd, 9th, 15th, 22nd and 26th; making a 
 total of 165 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. On 
 June 27th the experimental plot was setting fruit
 
 rapidly, while the plot not Nitrated was just coming p? od . for 
 
 into bloom. The Nitrated plot was given on June 29th 
 
 a quart of a solution made by dissolving two ounces of '47 
 Nitrate of Soda in a gallon of water; and this appli- 
 cation was repeated July 3rd, 7th, 15th, 24th and August 
 8th. This practically doubled the Nitrate application. 
 
 The first picking on the Nitrated 
 plot was made July 1st, on the non- Gain in Time 
 Nitrated plot July 22nd, when prices ^ thi !, Crop k 
 were at the lowest point. After the & ^ fw?" " 
 early market season was over, the vines Weeks in 
 w T ere treated for pickling cucumbers, Advance, 
 the Nitrated plot receiving 50 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda dissolved in water as before ; later, two 
 applications of a quart each, containing half an ounce 
 per gallon. The result was that the vines continued 
 bearing until cut down by frost. The estimated yields 
 were as follows: Nitrated plot, per acre, 6,739 dozen, 
 plot not Nitrated gave per acre 948 dozen. 
 
 Sweet Corn. 
 
 The crop was planted on rather poor soil. Seed 
 was planted May 4th, and the cultivators started 
 May 12th. A portion of the field was selected for 
 experiment, and on this an application of 75 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda per acre was made May 20th, drilled 
 close to the row. A second application of the same 
 amount was made May 20th, and on June 5th a third 
 application. On June 17th there were 100 pounds 
 per acre applied and cultivated into the soil. The total 
 Nitrate applied to the experimental plot amounted to 
 325 pounds per acre. The Nitrated plot ripened corn 
 5 days ahead of the non-Nitrated portion, and pro- 
 duced 994 dozen ears against 623 dozen from an acre 
 not treated with Nitrate of Soda. The Nitrated crop, 
 being earlier in the market, brought better prices; 
 the gross return being $99.40 per acre as compared 
 with $62.30 for the non-Nitrated plot. The cost of 
 the Nitrate and its application expenses amounted to 
 $9.75 per acre, leaving a net gain from the use of Ni- 
 trate of Soda, of $27.35 per acre.
 
 Food for Egg- Plant. 
 
 Plants && 
 
 The plants were set in the usual manner, part of 
 the tract being treated with Nitrate of Soda at the rate 
 of 475 pounds per acre to observe the practical value 
 of the Nitrate for forcing. Before setting, the plants 
 were given a light application of Nitrate in solution. 
 June 1st, 150 pounds was the amount used, on the 10th 
 this was repeated, and on June 22nd, a third application 
 was made. The Nitrated plot produced marketable 
 fruit July 5th, the non-Nitrated plot did not reach the 
 market until July 26th. The Nitrated plot produced 
 per acre 33,894 fruits, all of good quality; the non- 
 Nitrated plot produced only 8,712 fruits per acre. 
 
 Kale. 
 
 An application of 50 pounds of Nitrate of Soda and 
 100 pounds of Dried Fish per acre, in May, increased 
 the growth 30 per cent. 
 
 Early Lettuce, 
 
 The plants were started in the hot-house, and 
 pricked into cold frames; April 26th they were set in 
 the field. The Nitrate applications on the experiment 
 plot were per acre as follows: April 29th, 100 pounds; 
 May 4th, 150 pounds; May 12th, 200 pounds; May 
 18th, 200 pounds; May 23rd, 100 pounds; a total of 
 750 pounds per acre. The Nitrated plot was first cut 
 May 26th, and at this time the non-Nitrated plot was 
 just beginning to curl a few leaves towards the heart for 
 heading. Approximately, the Nitrated plot produced 
 per acre 1,724 dozen heads, and were ready for market 
 so early that the average wholesale price was 25 cents 
 per dozen; per acre, $431.00. From this we must 
 deduct $20.00 for Nitrate and the expense of applying 
 same, leaving net, $411.00. On the non-Nitrated plot 
 only about 4 per cent, of the plants headed, and these 
 reached the market three weeks late. The financial 
 statement shows 48 dozen heads at 10 cents, or a net 
 return per acre of #4.80. That is, without the Nitrate 
 dressing, the crop was a failure.
 
 Onions. E? od , for 
 
 Plants 
 
 The soil was in bad condition, and was liberally 9 
 limed. Seeding was completed April 15th, and the 
 plants were rapidly breaking ground by the 28th. The 
 tract was divided into three plots; plot 1 received 675 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda in six applications at inter- 
 vals of a week or 10 days; plot 2, 375 pounds in four 
 applications; plot 3 was not treated with Nitrate. 
 The Nitrated plots seemed least affected by the ex- 
 ceptionally dry weather, but the crop on all the plots 
 was no doubt reduced by the unfavorable conditions. 
 The following table gives the results by plots, computed 
 to an acre basis: 
 
 Nitrate Nitrate No 
 
 675 Ibs. 375 Ibs. Nitrate. 
 
 Total yield 756 bu. 482 bu. 127 bu. 
 
 Per cent, scullions 1.5 1.7 19.0 
 
 Average price per bushel 75 cts. 65 cts. 35 cts. 
 
 Total receipts $567.00 $313.30 $44.50 
 
 Fertilizer cost 20.17 9.30 
 
 Total net receipts 546.83 304.00 44.50 
 
 The result shows very clearly that but for the 
 Nitrate applications, the crop must have been a failure 
 in every respect. 
 
 Early Peas. 
 
 This crop was planted under the same conditions 
 and in like manner to the snap beans; an application 
 of 300 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre was given, 
 to the experiment plots. Two varieties were planted, 
 early and late. The results were: 
 
 Early. Late. 
 
 Nitrate. Nothing. Nitrate. Nothing. 
 
 Date planted April 15 April 15 May 1 May 1 
 
 First picking June 8 June 17 June 29 July 4 
 
 Gain to Market 9 days 5 days 
 
 Period of bearing 11 days 8 days 10 days 6 days 
 
 Crop on first picking. . 55 p. ct. 40 p. ct. 57 p. ct. 38 p. ct. 
 
 Total yield 165 p. ct. 100 p. ct. 168 p. ct. 100 p. ct. 
 
 The season was very unfavorable for this crop, yet 
 the results show that the Nitrate made a powerful effort 
 to offset this disadvantage. The earliness to market
 
 Food for j n thi s case i s as pronounced as in the other garden 
 - crops, and is one of the most profitable factors in the 
 j s use of Nitrate of Soda. The lengthening of the bearing 
 period is an added advantage. 
 
 Early Potatoes. 
 
 Ploughing was finished the second week in April, 
 and limed at the rate of 35 bushels per acre. Furrows 
 were opened three feet apart, and 750 pounds per acre 
 of a high-grade fertilizer worked into the rows. May 
 1st the potatoes were breaking ground, and an appli- 
 cation of 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre on the 
 experiment plot was made, followed on the llth by 
 200 pounds of Nitrate, and on the 29th, 150 pounds 
 more were cultivated in with a horse-hoe. The total 
 Nitrate application per acre was 450 pounds. The 
 Nitrated plot was harvested July 6th, and retailed at 
 an average price of $1.60 per bushel; the- plot not 
 treated with Nitrate was dug July 17th, eleven days 
 later, and the highest price obtained was 80 cents per 
 bushel. The Nitrated plot produced per acre 19 
 bushels unmarketable tubers, the non-Nitrated plot. 
 46 bushels. The total crop marketable was 297 bushels 
 for Nitrate, and 92 bushels for non-Nitrated plot. 
 Deducting the cost of Nitrate of Soda and the expense 
 of applying same, the Nitrated crop was worth $463.30 
 per acre, while the non-Nitrated plot returned only 
 $69.00 per acre. For every dollar expended for Nitrate 
 of Soda, the crop increase gave $30.18 return. 
 
 Late Potatoes. 
 
 Conditions were the same as in the case of early 
 potatoes, except the Nitrate of Soda was used at the 
 rate of 500 pounds per acre, in five applications. The 
 crop of marketable tubers on the Nitrated plot amounted 
 to 374 bushels per acre; on the non-Nitrated plot the 
 yield amounted to 231 bushels marketable tubers. The 
 gain for Nitrate of Soda was 143 bushels, or nearly 62 
 per cent, increase.
 
 Early Tomatoes. 
 
 With this crop the object is to mature quickly 
 rather than to obtain a heavy acre yield; one basket of 
 early tomatoes at $1.25 is worth more than 15 baskets 
 later in the season, when the price is about 8 cents per 
 basket. The plants to be used on the Nitrated plot 
 were treated with a diluted solution of Nitrate four 
 separate times. Plants were field set May 17th, and 
 given six applications of Nitrate of Soda: 1st, 100 
 pounds per acre soon after setting out; 2nd, 3rd and 
 4th of 75 pounds each; and 5th and 6th of 50 pounds 
 each in all, about 425 pounds per acre. The results 
 were : 
 
 Nitrate. No Nitrate. 
 
 Plants set out in field May 17 May 17 
 
 First picking June 30 July 19 
 
 Days, setting to first picking 43 62 
 
 Crop at $1 . 00 and upward per basket. . 40 p. ct. 
 
 .75 . . 30 " 10 p. ct. 
 
 .50 ..20 " 15 
 
 .30 ..10 " 20 
 
 .25 .. 25 
 
 .15 .. 15 
 
 .08 .. 15 
 
 Estimated yield per acre, baskets 500 600 
 
 Gross receipts $377 . 50 $190 . 20 
 
 Cost of fertilizer and application 10 . 35 
 
 Net receipts 367.15 190.20 
 
 Gain per acre for Nitrate. . 176.95 
 
 The indicated gain amounts to a return of $17.09 
 for every dollar expended for Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 The experiments detailed in this pamphlet are all 
 on a working basis. In every case the object was to 
 force the crop to an early yield, and while the applica- 
 tions of Nitrate of Soda seem large and are large in 
 proportion to the actual needs of the crops grown, at 
 the same time the nature of market-gardening requires 
 free use of immediately available plant food, and the 
 results show that such use is very profitable. 
 
 Asparagus. 
 
 The soil should be sandy, or a light loam. As the 
 crop remains in position for many years, the land should
 
 Food for be selected with that fact in mind. The soil must be 
 ants kept very clean and mellow. Stable manure is very 
 '5* objectionable on account of its weed seeds. It is only 
 by a quick, even growth that large, crisp stalks can be 
 produced, and there must be no check through a scanty 
 supply of plant food. In the spring, as soon as the 
 ground can be worked, clear off the rows and loosen up 
 the soil, and apply broadcast along the rows a top- 
 dressing of Nitrate of Soda, from 200 to 300 pounds. 
 With this crop, the full application of Nitrate can be 
 made at one time. 
 
 Enormous profits may be derived from the proper 
 use of fertilizers on asparagus. 
 
 If the rent, labor, etc., for a crop of asparagus is 
 $200 per acre, and the crop is three tons of green shoots 
 at $100 per ton, on the farm, the profit is $100 per acre. 
 If we get six tons at $100 per ton, the profit, less the 
 extra cost of labor and fertilizer, is $400 per acre. 
 
 In such crops as asparagus, however, doubling the 
 yield by the use of Nitrate of Soda does not tell half 
 the story. 
 
 Asparagus is sold by the bunch, weighing about 2j/ 
 pounds. The prices range, according to earliness and 
 quality, from 10 cents to 25 cents per bunch at wholesale, 
 or from $80 to $200 per ton. 
 
 By leaving out all these considerations and assum- 
 ing that the non-Nitrated asparagus yields three tons 
 per acre and sells for $100 per ton, and that the Nitrated 
 asparagus yields six tons per acre and sells for $200 per 
 ton, the profits of the two crops, less the extra cost for 
 labor and fertilizer, are as follows: 
 
 Without Nitrate of Soda $ 100 per acre. 
 
 With Nitrate of Soda 1,000 per acre. 
 
 Beets, Carrots, Parsnips, Etc. 
 
 Mark et For garden crops such as beets > 
 
 Garden Crops. carrots, parsnips, onions, spinach, let- 
 tuce, etc., sow the mixture as recommended for pota- 
 toes, broadcast before the seed is sown, at the rate of 
 from 500 to 1,000 pounds per acre, according to the rich- 
 ness of the land. When the land has been heavily
 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 cc 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 manured for a number of years, it may not be necessary 
 to use so much phosphate and potash. Nitrate of 
 Soda alone on such land often has a wonderful effect. 
 The best fertilizer is a mixture of 200 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda and 350 pounds phosphate. A small
 
 Food for quantity of sulphate of potash should be added when 
 
 Plants 
 
 the land is sandy. 
 
 154 
 
 Cabbage and Cauliflower. 
 
 For growing cabbages and cauliflower sow broad- 
 cast the same mixture as recommended for potatoes, 
 using a small handful to each square yard of ground, and 
 rake or harrow it in before sowing the seed. 
 
 Cabbage requires a deep, mellow soil, and rich in 
 plant food. Early maturing cabbage, perhaps the most 
 profitable method of growing this vegetable, produces 
 30,000 pounds of vegetable substance to the acre, using 
 about 140 pounds of ammonia, 129 pounds of potash, 
 and 33 pounds of phosphoric acid, all as actually assimi- 
 lated plant food. The crop must be fertilized heavily. 
 As the soil is thoroughly fined in the spring, there should 
 be incorporated with it by rows, corresponding to the 
 rows of plants, about 1,500 pounds of fertilizer per 
 acre. For early cabbage set close together: it will pay 
 to sow the fertilizers broadcast over the whole ground 
 and work them in before setting out the plants. If the 
 land has been heavily manured for a number of years 
 Nitrate of Soda alone may do as much good as the 
 mixture. In this case, the Nitrate may be used after 
 the plants are set out a teaspoonful to a plant. 
 
 For late cabbage, set 2^ to 3 feet apart each way. 
 It is a good plan to apply the fertilizers after the plants 
 are set out. 
 
 After the plants have set and have rooted, say a 
 week from setting, apply along the rows a top-dressing 
 of 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre and work into 
 the soil with a fine toothed horse hoe; the soil must be 
 kept loose to a depth of at least two inches, and conse- 
 quently there will be no extra labor in working this 
 fertilizer into the soil. Some three weeks later incorpo- 
 rate in the same manner into the soil 300 to 400 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda. Soil Nitration cannot be depended 
 on under any circumstances for supplying enough 
 natural Nitrate for cabbage. Nitrate of Soda is the 
 only immediately predigested Nitrated ammoniate in 
 the market and is an absolute necessity for early cab-
 
 bage, and should be used liberally, This crop should 
 not follow itself more than twice, as by so doing there 
 is no little danger of serious disease to the crop. 
 
 Sugar Mangels. 
 
 300 Ibs. Acid Phosphate. 300 Ibs. Acid Phosphate. 
 100 Ibs. Sulphate of Potash. 100 Ibs. Sulphate of JPotash. 
 150 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda. Yield, 24,120 Ibs. sugar man- 
 Yield, 38,240 Ibs. sugar man- gels per acre, 
 gels per acre. 
 
 Cantaloupes. 
 
 A continuous and rapid growth in cantaloupes is 
 essential to earliness and a good crop, and Nitrate of 
 Soda under the proper conditions, and with proper care, 
 yields just such results. A dressing of Nitrate of Soda 
 alongside the rows in cultivating, in addition to the 
 general fertilizer used, has been most successful. 
 
 Celery. 
 
 Phosphate should be worked into the land intended 
 for growing celery plants, either the fall before or in the 
 spring, before the seed is sown, at the rate of 500 pounds 
 per acre. As soon as the plants come up, sow broadcast 
 500 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre, or a small hand- 
 ful to each square yard. If heavy rains occur, it is well
 
 Food for to give the plants another application of Nitrate. This 
 ! need not be as heavy as the first application. 
 
 156 
 
 Flowers. 
 
 Every gardener (of vegetables or flowers) should 
 have at hand, all through the season, a bag or box of 
 Nitrate of Soda, to be used as a top-dressing on any 
 
 Fertilizer Experiments with Fuchsias. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid and Potash 
 without Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid and Potash 
 with 2 j oz. Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 and every crop that grows in the garden. The need 
 for nitrogen is indicated by the pale green color of 
 foliage and slow growth. It is quite easy to be too 
 liberal in using Nitrate. From 50 to 100 pounds per 
 acre is the range in the quantity to be applied at any 
 one time to one acre. One pound of it would give 
 about 30 heaping teaspoonfuls. So 1 to l*/2 sucn 
 spoonfuls to a square yard, or 3 feet .along a row that
 
 is 3 feet wide, would be about 100 pounds per acre, 
 The quantity, however, may be larger where the plants 
 such as cabbage are half grown and in good con- 
 dition to grow. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda is an ideal fertilizer for all kinds 
 of flowering plants, especially roses. It is, as you 
 
 Fertilizer Experiments with Chrysanthemums. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid and Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid and Potash with 
 1| oz. Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 know, neat and cleanly and harmless (not acid, nor 
 caustic), and every woman who cultivates vegetables 
 and flowers should keep it on hand, to be used as occa- 
 sion shall demand, as a top-dressing, say, at the rate 
 of one-half to one teaspoonful to the square yard, or 
 one rose bush.
 
 Food for __, _ 
 
 Plants Greenhouse Plant Food. 
 
 The use of rotted stable manure as a source of 
 greenhouse plant food has been the custom for so many 
 years that more effective forms of plant food make head- 
 way slowly; yet this rotted stable manure has many 
 disadvantages. It always contains more or less weed 
 seed as well as disease germs, and it supplies its plant 
 food in available form very irregularly. Also, by fer- 
 mentation it materially influences the temperature of 
 the seed bed, a temperature we have no means of 
 regulating. The Nitrogen it contains is not Nitrated, 
 hence for forcing it cannot be safely relied upon. For 
 greenhouse work, the fertilizer chemicals should be 
 used, such as Nitrate of Soda, acid phosphate and sul- 
 phate of potash. They should always be used in such 
 proportions that 100 pounds of ammoniate Nitrogen are 
 always accompanied by 30 pounds of phosphoric acid 
 and 70 pounds of actual potash. The quantity to be 
 applied should correspond to about three-fourths of an 
 ounce of Nitrate Nitrogen per square yard of surface; 
 that is, to each square yard of bench, use about 5 ounces 
 of Nitrate of Soda, 3 ounces of acid phosphate and 2 
 ounces of sulphate of potash. A mixture of these pro- 
 portions may be dissolved in water and applied in small 
 portions every few days, taking care, however, to cease 
 applications with those plants it is desired to fully 
 mature, as soon as the desired growth is made. 
 
 Lawns and Golf Links. 
 
 Good lawns are simply a matter of care and rational 
 treatment. If the soil is very light, top-dress liberally 
 with clay and work into the sand. In all cases the soil 
 must be thoroughly fined and made smooth, as the 
 seed, being very small, requires a fine seed bed. In the 
 South, seed to Bermuda grass or Kentucky blue grass; 
 in the North, the latter is also a good lawn grass, but 
 perhaps a little less desirable than Rhode Island bent 
 grass (Agrostis canina). Avoid mixtures, as they give 
 an irregularly colored lawn under stress of drouth, or 
 early frosts, or maturity. For Rhode Island bent grass
 
 use 50 pounds of seed per acre, Kentucky blue grass 40 
 to 45 pounds, and for Bermuda grass 15 pounds. If 
 for any reason the soil cannot be properly prepared, 
 pulverize the fertilizer very fine indeed. The grass 
 should be mowed regularly and the clippings removed 
 until nearly midsummer when they are best left on the 
 soil as a mulch. For a good lawn, broadcast per acre in 
 the spring enough of a fertilizer to supply 100 pounds of 
 actual potash and 50 pounds of available phosphoric 
 acid; also, use at the same time and in the same manner, 
 a top-dressing of 300 pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda. 
 By the end of June repeat the Nitrate top-dressing, 
 using only 100 pounds of the material. At any time 
 through the growing season, yellow spots or lands should 
 be given a light top-dressing of Nitrate, and thoroughly 
 wet down if possible. Lawns are very different from 
 field crops as they are not called upon to mature growth 
 in the line of seed productions, and they may safely be 
 given applications of Nitrate whenever the sickly green 
 color of the grass appears, which shows that digestible 
 or Nitrated ammonia is the plant food needed. These 
 applications of plant food must be continued each year 
 without fail, and all bare or partly bare spots well 
 raked down and reseeded. If absolutely bare, these 
 spots should be deeply spaded. On very heavy clay 
 soils, and in low situations, a drainage system must be 
 established. 
 
 Lettuce. 
 
 CULTURE. Sow in hotbeds in March, and in the 
 open ground as soon as it can be worked, and transplant 
 to rows 8 inches apart. Sow in two weeks' time same 
 varieties again, as also Cos, for a succession. In August 
 sow any of the varieties. In October some of these may 
 be planted in frames, to head in winter and early spring. 
 Always sow thin, and thin out well, or the plants will 
 not be strong. The last spring sowing had better be 
 grown where sown, being thinned out to 6 or 8 inches 
 apart. To have Cos in good order they must be sown 
 in a hotbed early in the year, and transplanted to a 
 coldframe, so as to have good plants to set out at the 
 opening of the ground. They require tying for a few 
 
 ^m
 
 Food for days, when grown to blanch. Lettuce requires good 
 lants ground, enriched with thoroughly rotted manure and 
 1 60 well pulverized. The after-culture should be close and 
 careful, to secure the best results. 
 
 Mangolds. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda pays well for roots if applied at the 
 rate of 200 pounds per acre. Use in two applications 
 about ten days apart, the first not earlier than July. 
 The Essex Agricultural Society found by experiment 
 that 12 tons of farmyard manure and 300 pounds 
 superphosphate gave a crop of nearly 
 
 Directions*" ^ en anc ^ one ~ nan? tons per acre, but 
 
 when 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda 
 were added, the yield was increased to over 15 tons. 
 The season was very unfavorable. 
 
 Melons, Cucumbers and Squash. 
 
 The remarks following upon the profitable fertiliz- 
 ing of melons, applies also to cucumbers, cantaloupes, 
 squash and similar crops. All these crops do best on a 
 rather light loam, or if heavier soils are used the 
 drainage should be of the best. The method of growing 
 these crops is too well known to require mention here. 
 They should generally follow a clean culture crop, such 
 as corn, as most of these plants cover the ground 
 between rows so quickly that cultivation is limited to 
 the first few weeks of growth. This is also an argument 
 for a thorough preparation of the soil, deep plowing and 
 deep working in preparing the hills. 
 
 As soon as the plants are well started, work into 
 the soil about the hills a few ounces of a Nitrated ammo- 
 mate (Nitrate of Soda), a quantity per hill correspond- 
 ing to 250 to 350 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 
 The best way is to scatter the fertilizer for two feet 
 around the hills and rake it into the soil with a steel 
 garden rake. This not only mixes the fertilizer with 
 the soil, but it loosens the ground and kills all small 
 weeds that are coming up.
 
 If at any time the hills should show a sickly yellow, F od for 
 apply Nitrate at once, however late in the season. 
 
 Cucumbers, squash and cantaloupes should be 161 
 planted in hills 5 feet apart each way, watermelons in 
 hills 10 feet apart each way. Level culture rather than 
 ridges is found to be more generally successful on very 
 light soils. 
 
 Profitable Onion Cultivation. 
 
 There is no crop that can be grown Adaptability of 
 so successfully on a large scale, in such t ^ 1 e s p?* on to 
 a variety of soil and climate, and that 3 s * 
 
 will respond more profitably to intelligent cultivation 
 and fertilizing, than the onion. The American farmer 
 has usually been willing to leave the growing of this 
 savory vegetable almost entirely to the enterprising 
 immigrant, who often makes more net profit at the 
 end of the season from his five acres of onions than the 
 general farmer makes on one hundred acres. The 
 weeder and the improved wheel-hoe have made it com- 
 paratively easy to care for the crop; there is no reason 
 why the progressive farmer who is looking about for a 
 new money crop should not raise onions with ease and 
 profit. 
 
 We shall consider here the growing of onions only 
 as a field crop for the fall and winter market. The onion 
 can be successfully grown anywhere in the United States 
 where other vegetables thrive. 
 
 The reason that onions have not been more gener- 
 ally grown by farmers is owing to the mistaken idea that 
 it is impossible to grow them without the application of 
 vast quantities of stable manure, but onion-growing 
 with the aid of chemical fertilizers is not only much 
 cheaper, but the average crop is much larger. The ex- 
 cessive quantity of stable manure required to grow a 
 maximum crop tends to make the land too open, when 
 the great secret of onion culture is to get the land solidi- 
 fied. The ploughing under of so much bulky manure 
 also tends to cut off the moisture supply from below, 
 which is so important in the quick growth of crops of
 
 Food for this nature and which can only be obtained by having 
 *" s the soil very compact and in fine tilth so as to promote 
 162 the capillary movement of the soil moisture to the sur- 
 face, where it may be retained for the use of the crop by 
 means of frequent and shallow cultivation. 
 
 The advantage of using Nitrate of Soda instead of 
 stable manure as the source of Nitrogen for this crop is 
 plainly evident, as the Nitrate supplies the most 
 beneficial ingredient contained in the stable manure 
 (Nitrogen), and in a form in which it is not dependent 
 upon soil bacteria and weather conditions to make it 
 available for the young plants when they need it most. 
 If it be necessary to add humus to the soil in the form of 
 
 Onions. 
 
 675 Ibs. of Nitrate of Soda 
 to the acre, in 6 applica- 
 tions. 
 
 375 Ibs. of Nitrate of 
 Soda to the acre, in 
 4 applications. 
 
 No Nitrate. 
 
 stable manure it should, if possible, be applied a year in 
 advance. 
 
 The presence of Nitrate at the outset enables the 
 plant to start off with a good healthy root growth, 
 whereby it is better able to take up later the other and 
 more complex food elements. 
 
 If it cost $45.00 per acre for rent, ploughing, har- 
 rowing, seeding, weeding and cultivating to produce a 
 crop of onions ready to harvest, then 
 
 A crop of 225 bushels per acre costs 20 cts. per bushel. 
 A crop of 450 bushels per acre costs 10 cts. per bushel. 
 A crop of 900 bushels per acre costs 5 cts. per bushel.
 
 The latter yield is not at all unusual when the crop od for 
 
 is properly fed with Nitrate of Soda and supplementary 
 
 chemical fertilizers. l6 3 
 
 In the first place, the onion, contrary to the general 
 belief, does not require any special kind of soil, such as 
 muck, black sand, etc., but will do well on any good corn 
 or potato soil, provided it is not too sour or so stony as 
 to interfere with the early and frequent cultivation of 
 the crop. 
 
 Even though a field is somewhat stony, it will pay to 
 rake the stones into the dead furrows which should be 
 about twenty feet apart, as the stones would make it 
 impossible to do good work with the 
 weeder and wheel hoe. 
 
 In selecting your field for onions it Necessity of 
 is, of course, advisable to choose one Moisture in 
 that is likely to be affected as little as 
 possible in the event of a severe drought, and it is for 
 this reason that onions, cabbage and those crops that 
 especially require large quantities of moisture during 
 their growth are usually grown upon bottom lands. 
 
 Ploughing for the onion crop Cultivation, 
 should preferably be done in the fall to 
 a depth of eight inches or more, leaving the soil in the 
 furrow to be acted upon by the frost during the winter. 
 It at the same time becomes more compact the onion 
 likes a solid seed bed. When for any reason the plough- 
 ing has to be done in the spring it should be done very 
 early and worked down solid. The lands should be 
 narrow, so that the numerous dead furrows will drain 
 off excessive surface moisture early in the spring, as it is 
 desirable to get the seed sown very early. 
 
 As soon as the condition of the soil Free use of the 
 in the spring will permit, it should be Harrow and 
 worked over with the harrow or pul- Pulverizer, 
 verizer as deeply as the ground will 
 allow and rolled with a heavy roller, which should be 
 followed at once with a light harrow, which will loosen 
 the surface soil and form a light mulch to help conserve 
 the moisture. This operation should be repeated each 
 week until it is time to sow the seed, which in this 
 latitude is when the apple trees begin to bloom.
 
 Food for The seed should be sown with a hand seed drill 
 
 5 about three-quarters of an inch deep and in rows about 
 164 fifteen inches apart, using about six pounds of seed per 
 acre. 
 
 In about five days after the seed is sown the field 
 should be gone over with the weeder to destroy any 
 weeds that have started to germinate near the surface, 
 and again in three or four days, or before the onions 
 come up. Always run the weeder across the rows. 
 
 After the onions are up so that you can see the 
 rows, cultivate them carefully with the wheel hoe, using 
 the sharp blades that are made for that purpose and 
 going not more than one-half inch deep. 
 
 As soon as any more weeds appear to be germinat- 
 ing, go over the rows again with the weeder. The weeder 
 may appear to be doing some damage, but if handled 
 carefully there is no danger, as we have sown an extra 
 pound of seed to allow for some being pulled out. 
 
 When the onions are about four inches high it will 
 probably be necessary to weed them once by hand. This 
 will not prove to be a tedious job if the weeder and wheel 
 hoe have been used with good judgment. 
 
 Nitrate should be applied as follows : One hundred 
 Fertilizing pounds scattered broadcast over the 
 
 field within a week after the seed is sown 
 and before the plants break through the ground, and 
 two more applications broadcast consisting of 100 
 pounds each at intervals of two or three weeks, depend- 
 ing somewhat upon the appearance of the plants as to 
 growth and color. 
 
 Generally speaking, the Nitrate 
 
 should a11 be a .PP lied durin S Ma ^ an . d 
 June, though if a drought occurs in 
 
 July, and the onions show signs of turning yellow at 
 the tips, an extra dressing of 50 pounds per acre may be 
 applied to advantage. In a wet season avoid putting it 
 on late, as it might aggravate the tendency to produce 
 a considerable number of scullions. It should only be 
 applied when the plants are dry. 
 
 The onion is an alkali-loving plant, 
 Use of Com- j vi 
 
 mon Salt a ^ e as P ara gus, seems to nave a 
 
 peculiar fondness for salt. The results
 
 of experiments on widely different soils show that it 
 nearly always responds profitably to an application of 
 about 200 pounds of salt per acre. This guides us to l6 s 
 the choice of kainit for this crop, as that product con- 
 tains about 35 per cent, of chloride of soda, or common 
 salt, which also aids in conserving the moisture in the 
 soil. Good judgment must be used, however, as the 
 kainit might have a harmful effect in a wet season on a 
 low and naturally damp soil. 
 
 About 400 pounds of kainit per acre should be used, 
 as a rule. It should be drilled into the entire surface 
 of the ground early in the spring to a depth of at least 
 three inches, for the kainit becomes fixed in the soil 
 very quickly and should be rather deep, so as not to 
 attract the feeding roots too near the surface. In case 
 wood ashes or muriate of potash are used, the time of 
 making the application should be the same. Most 
 vegetables will give greatly increased returns from the 
 use of chemicals if lime is employed in conjunction with 
 them. 
 
 An application of 75 bushels per acre of ground 
 quicklime has also proved preventive of onion smut. 
 
 If the soil is a medium heavy clay upland and not 
 acid it is best to use the acid phosphate which contains, 
 besides the phosphoric acid, about 50 per cent, of cal- 
 cium sulphate (gypsum). This unlocks the natural 
 potash in the soil. 
 
 The quantity of either to apply on ordinary soils is 
 1,000 pounds per acre very early in the spring, so that 
 in preparing the ground it will become very thoroughly 
 incorporated with the soil before the onion seed is 
 sown. 
 
 The following table gives the actual field results 
 of six years' experiments with fertilizers and seven years 
 with manures at the rate of 30 tons per acre: 
 
 Manure. Chemicals. 
 
 Tons per acre, average 8 . 90 14 . 02 
 
 Market value per ton, average. . $18 . 16 $20 . 52 
 
 The crop grown with chemical fertilizers was 5.12 
 tons greater per acre, or a gain over the stable manure 
 of nearly 58 per cent.; while the Nitrate crop averaged
 
 Food for $2.36 greater market value per ton, an advance over 
 
 Plants 7T f 10 
 
 the manure-grown crop ot 13 per cent. 
 
 1 66 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 As is well known this crop must have a deep mel- 
 low soil, inclining more to sand than clay. The soil 
 must be fined to a considerable depth, and kept free 
 of weeds throughout the growing season. The most 
 successful growers use only commercial fertilizers, and 
 the amounts applied per acre range from 200 pounds to 
 1,000 and even 2,000. The fertilizer used should be 
 high in potash, and this potash should be of such form 
 as to be free or nearly free of chlorine, such as sulphate 
 of potash. Early potatoes have a short season of 
 growth, and the Nitrating action in the soil is insufficient 
 to keep up a high pressure of growth during the earlier 
 weeks. For this crop Nitrate of Soda is indispensable, 
 top-dressing along the rows as soon as the plants are 
 well above the ground and at the rate of 200 pounds 
 per acre. For fall potatoes, an application of 50 to 100 
 pounds of Nitrate will be sufficient. 
 
 Heavy yields of potatoes can be secured only with 
 good seed. Many of the most successful growers cold- 
 storage their seed potatoes, that the vitality of the seed 
 may not be reduced by freezing and thawing during 
 winter. Seed should be cut to two or three "eyes," 
 and only tubers of the best quality used. The rows 
 should be about three feet apart, and the seed dropped 
 
 fifteen inches apart in the rows. 
 
 Applying The land is first marked and a fur- 
 
 Fertilizers for rower run along the rows, making a 
 es ' furrow about four inches deep. In this 
 
 furrow the fertilizer is applied, either by hand, or with 
 a distributor, and well mixed with the soil. This is 
 best done by running a cultivator along the row; or 
 when a distributor is used, an attachment in the form 
 of a small cultivator can be made to do the work at one 
 operation. The potatoes are then dropped in the 
 furrow and covered. If it is thought best to cultivate 
 both ways, the land can be marked across the furrows 
 after the fertilizer is applied.
 
 Several experiments have been tried on the use of 
 Nitrate of Soda as a top-dressing for early potatoes. 
 This was applied at the rate of 100 pounds per acre, l6 7 
 after the potatoes were up and started to growing. One 
 year this treatment increased the yield of merchantable 
 potatoes 100 bushels per acre, and ^he average of sev- 
 eral years was 20 per cent, increase. 
 
 A private experimenter obtained results as below: 
 
 1. 400 pounds superphosphate and 300 
 
 pounds sulphate of potash 245 bushels per acre. 
 
 2. Same as plot 1 with the addition of 200 
 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda 348 bushels per acre. 
 
 It is evident from the fact that the addition of 200 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda produced 103 bushels more 
 than the superphosphate and potash alone, that pota- 
 toes must have Nitrogen, and that in greater quantities 
 than is supplied by the ordinary so-called "Complete 
 Potato Manure." 
 
 Although the United States is a vastly larger 
 country than Germany, we raised a potato crop in 
 1905 of only 260,741,294 bushels, as compared with the 
 potato crop of 1,775,579,073 bushels which Germany 
 raised. These bushels were 60 pounds each. The 
 explanation of so immense a production of potatoes 
 by Germany is found in the fact that the free distilla- 
 tion of alcohol for use in the arts has been a powerful 
 stimulus to farm industry. Farming in some districts 
 of the empire has been made possible only because of 
 the ability of the people to produce cheap alcohol, and 
 many farms owe their very existence to their distilleries. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes. 
 
 This crop prefers a soil lighter than Irish potatoes, 
 but the preparation of the soil is much the same. It 
 is an underground crop, and must not have to mine 
 room for its roots. It should follow a clean cultivation 
 crop, and be kept very clean itself. Too much am- 
 moniate fertilizer interferes with the maturity of the 
 crop, producing not only a large crop of useless vines,
 
 Food for biit also few marketable roots, and those of very poor 
 
 _ keeping quality. 
 
 168 On this account the ammoniate plant food applied 
 
 should not be of the ordinary kind which becomes 
 slowly available, and continues to supply active Ni- 
 trated ammonia late in the season, thus delaying 
 maturity to such extent that the crop is injured by cold 
 weather. 
 
 The New Jersey Experiment Station made some 
 experiments in Gloucester County, and the following 
 table shows the results: 
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers on Sweet Potatoes. 
 
 Kind of fertilizer and Cost of Bushels per acre, 
 
 quantity per acre. fertilizer. Large. Small. Total. 
 
 1. No manure 157 51 208 
 
 2. 320 Ibs. bone-black, 160 Ibs. 
 
 muriate of potash $7.70 205 36 241 
 
 3. 200 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, 320 
 
 Ibs. bone-black, 160 Ibs. 
 
 muriate of potash 12.34 270 58 328 
 
 4. 20 tons stable manure 30 . 00 263 61 324 
 
 It will be seen that the addition of Nitrate of Soda 
 to the bone-black and potash gave an increase of 65 
 bushels per acre, and that the Nitrate, bone-black and 
 potash, together costing $12.34, produced a little larger 
 yield than 20 tons of manure, costing $30.00. 
 
 "Another point of considerable importance, since it has 
 reference to the salability of the potatoes, was noticed at the 
 time of digging, viz.: That those grown with chemical manures 
 alone were bright and smooth of skin, while at least one-third of 
 those grown with barn-yard manure were rough and partially 
 covered with scurf." 
 
 Tomatoes. 
 
 Tomatoes are successfully grown on all soils, 
 excepting very light sand or a very heavy clay; with 
 irrigation, they may be grown profitably on light sandy 
 soils. The soil must be plowed deeply, and thoroughly
 
 worked. It is generally best to buy plants from a p odfor 
 
 reputable grower, unless the crop is planted on a large 
 
 scale for canning, in which case plants are grown under l6 9 
 special instructions of the cannery. The main feature 
 in profitable tomato growing is to maintain a rapid, 
 steady growth. The soil should be kept pulverized 
 at the surface as a mulch, for the crop uses enormous 
 quantities of water. The plants continue bearing until 
 frost, hence the earlier fruiting commences the heavier 
 the crop through simply having a longer period in bear- 
 ing. Ten tons per acre is by no means an unusual 
 yield, but plant food must be used with a free hand. 
 
 The New Jersey Experiment Station made an 
 experiment with different forms of ammoniates on this 
 crop, and the Nitrated ammoniate (Nitrate of Soda) 
 not only produced the largest crops, but also the largest 
 quantity of "early" tomatoes, and the lowest per cent, 
 of culls. The yield was twelve per cent, greater than 
 that from sulphate of ammonia, and sixty-eight per 
 cent, greater than that from dried blood. 
 
 As soon as the plants are well rooted, top -dress 
 with 200 to 300 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre, 
 worked into the soil about the plants. Farm-yard 
 manure may be used on this crop when grown for 
 canning, but the results are always doubtful, as a con- 
 tinued stretch of dry weather may injure the crop 
 through drying out the soil by the large quantity of 
 vegetable matter mixed with it. However rich the 
 soil may be, or however freely chemical fertilizers may 
 have been used, the top-dressing of Nitrate will be 
 found to have increased the fruiting power of the plants, 
 and to have also added to the flavor and color of the 
 fruit. 
 
 It has been found by experiments made at the New 
 Jersey Experiment Station for a period of three years, 
 that Nitrate of Soda, applied when the plants were set 
 out, greatly increased their growth early in the season 
 and produced a much larger crop of early ripe fruit 
 than either barn-yard manure, "phosphates," or no 
 manure at all.
 
 Food for Experiments with Fertilizers on Tomatoes. 
 
 Plants 
 
 Yield per 
 
 Kind of fertilizer used and Cost of acre in Value of 
 
 quantity per acre. fertilizer. bushels. crop. 
 
 1. No manure 613 $208 . 61 
 
 2. 160 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda $4.00 838 300.64 
 
 3. 160 Ibs. muriate of potash, 
 
 320 Ibs. bone-black 7 . 20 649 252 . 92 
 
 4. 160 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda, 160 
 
 Ibs. muriate of potash, 300 
 
 Ibs. bone-black 11 . 20 867 301 . 25 
 
 5. 20 tons barn-yard manure. .. 30.00 612 218.27 
 
 It will be noticed that 160 pounds of Nitrate of 
 Soda, costing $4.00, made an increase in the value of 
 the crop of $92.03 per acre over the unfertilized land, 
 and $82.37 over the land where 20 tons of barn-yard 
 manure, costing $30.00, was used. It will also be 
 noticed that the addition of phosphate (bone-black) 
 and potash had little or no effect. This does not indi- 
 cate that tomatoes do not require phosphoric acid and 
 potash, but that enough of these elements of plant food 
 was already in the soil. 
 
 The yield of early tomatoes was very decidedly increased by 
 the use of Nitrate of Soda, both alone and together with phos- 
 phoric acid and potash. 
 
 NEW JERSEY EXPERIMENT STATION. 
 
 Bulletin No. 91. 
 
 Some of the early work of this Station was with 
 fertilizers for tomatoes. The results in detail are given 
 in the Bulletin, but it showed that Nitrate of Soda was 
 particularly active with this crop and produced a larger 
 increase than any other single ingredient. An applica- 
 tion of 160 pounds per acre caused an increase of as 
 much as five tons of tomatoes. 
 
 There has been much valuable work conducted 
 upon the use of Nitrogenous Fertilizers with various 
 crops, and particularly vegetables. This work has
 
 proven that this plant food is a potent factor in increas- 
 ing the yields and improving the quality. 
 
 Turnips and Swedes. 
 
 Nitrate is applied for this crop quite in the same 
 manner as for mangolds. Dr. Macadam reported to the 
 Arbroath Farmers' Club a gain of 37 per cent, in yield 
 from the use of 336 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. 
 
 An experiment conducted by Dr. Munroe, of Down- 
 town Agricultural College, Salisbury, 
 gave a return of nearly twenty and one- ncre 
 half tons per acre, from an application of 600 pounds of 
 Nitrate per acre, supplemented by phosphoric acid and 
 potash. The Nitrate was used in three applications. 
 An application of 300 pounds of Nitrate resulted in a 
 yield of thirteen and one-third tons per acre. 
 
 FERTILIZERS FOR FRUITS. 
 
 Bulletin 66, Hatch Massachusetts Experiment Station. 
 
 Lack of Nitrogen in the soil is detrimental to the 
 size and quality of the fruit. The cheapest and most 
 available ammoniate is Nitrate of Soda. A few cents' 
 worth applied to each tree will give the largest possible 
 yield of choicest fruit, returning many times its cost. 
 
 Fertilizers for the apple : The results show the most 
 improvement where Nitrate of Soda was applied. For 
 apple trees in grass the following fertilizer is recom- 
 mended: Nitrate of Soda 1 to 5 pounds, sulphate 
 of potash 1 to 5 pounds, S. C. phos- 
 phate rock, 4 to 10 pounds; the quan- Nitrate of Soda 
 tity used to be varied according to the on Apples, 
 size of the tree. 
 
 Fertilizers for the peach: The fertilizer recom- 
 mended, depending upon the size of the 
 
 u -ii *u Peaches, 
 
 trees, is substantially the same as lor 
 
 apples, except that the phosphate rock is reduced one-half 
 for the earlier stages of growth, remaining the same as for 
 
 171
 
 Food for apples in the later stages. Nitrate of Soda should not 
 
 ! be applied until just as the trees are beginning to grow. 
 *72 Fertilizers for other fruits: For all 
 
 Nitrate of Soda perennial fruits, as well as shrubs and 
 General! 8 plants, the fertilizer used should be 
 
 largely available in the early part of 
 the season, as a preventive to winter injuries. Nitrate 
 of Soda is the most desirable form of ammoniate. 
 
 The Rational Use of Chilean Nitrate 
 in California 
 
 Some time since horticulturists in convention in 
 Los Angeles discussed the question of the accumulation 
 of Black Alkali in the soil. 
 
 One speaker made the statement that the use of 
 Chilean Nitrate would result in such alkali accumu- 
 lation stating that in England this had become the 
 case, and that English farmers were avoiding the use 
 of Nitrate. 
 
 The incorrectness of this latter statement is shown 
 by the fact that the use of Chilean Nitrate increases 
 year by year in England, and it is coming to be more 
 and more appreciated there, as well as on the continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 In fact, everywhere in the world where there is 
 progressive and enlightened experiment work, the 
 unique qualities of Chilean Nitrate are putting it ahead 
 of every other Nitrogenous plant food. No reputable 
 authority in the world has ever advocated such large 
 quantities of Chilean Nitrate per acre as would result 
 in any abnormal accumulation of alkali. Moreover, 
 the use of acid phosphates, associated as they fre- 
 quently are with sulphate of lime, converts any alkali 
 residue into harmless forms of soda. Besides, the vast 
 majority of soils in the United States, probably 95 per 
 cent., have a tendency to grow acid rather than to 
 grow alkali; and Chilean Nitrate is, therefore, highly 
 beneficial in such cases. Chilean Nitrate is really 
 needed to help neutralize these acid residues. 
 
 The use of potash salts tends to leave acid resid- 
 uals, and when phosphates and potashes are used
 
 rationally, and in quantities suitable for normal plant Food for 
 feeding, the question of Chilean Nitrate leaving ab- ans 
 normal amounts of alkali residues becomes a purely X 73 
 fanciful one, and is not worth the serious attention of 
 a practical business horticulturist or farmer. 
 
 In all our literature, we recommend the rational 
 and not the irrational use of fertilizers; i. e., normal 
 amounts of the three elements of fertility. We never 
 recommend the use of Chilean Nitrate alone, except 
 at the rate of 100 or 200 pounds per acre, which is a 
 trifling tonnage application; and we always advise, 
 when larger amounts are used, that the horticulturist 
 or farmer use as much or more in quantity of the 
 phosphates and potashes. 
 
 On the other hand, as previously stated, in the 
 case of 95 per cent, of our soils, the use of acid phos- 
 phate tends to leave acid residuals, as sometimes the 
 potash salts likewise do. The actual need of Chilean 
 Nitrate is, therefore, quite obvious. 
 
 The vast majority of farm lands of our country, 
 where so-called "Complete" Fertilizers have been 
 used, have the tendency to become sour and acid; and 
 Chilean Nitrate could not only be used indefinitely 
 with an extremely beneficial effect for this particular 
 purpose, but there is an immediate general need for it. 
 An acre of ground one foot deep is the active 
 service part of the soil, and, to a large extent, its 
 chemical composition determines its usefulness. This 
 service soil weighs on an average 2,000 tons per acre. 
 There is enough sulphate of lime or gypsum 
 present, as well as acid, in the average acid phosphate, 
 to materially help the black alkali of many alkaline 
 soils, but gypsum alone may be used also for correcting 
 alkali. 
 
 Since we never recommend the use of Chilean 
 Nitrate alone, except at the rate of from one hundred to 
 two hundred pounds per acre, this trifling amount 
 could have no material influence whatever in increas- 
 ing the alkali content of soils. For two hundred 
 pounds of Chilean Nitrate per acre is a mere trifle 
 for producing alkali, hence even the continued use of 
 Nitrate under rational methods of fertilizing, would
 
 Food for no t a dd to, b u t rather diminish the quantity of alkali 
 ans in the soil, for the associated gypsum and acid phos- 
 f 74 phate loosen heavy clay soils which need improvement 
 in texture. 
 
 In this connection, it is important to observe that 
 care must be exercised, in soils containing black alkali, 
 to avoid materially increasing the content of carbonate 
 or bi-carbonate of lime, since this would help promote 
 the destruction of humus. It is, therefore, suggested 
 for these particular soils, that the large and constant 
 use of lime be avoided. When lime is needed, have 
 your soil examined by an expert, and do not put on any 
 more lime in any form than advised for your particular 
 case. In other words, take good care to preserve your 
 humus. Do not destroy it by excessive liming on any 
 account. Neither wetness nor stickiness will result 
 from the rational use of Chilean Nitrate. The pro- 
 ductivity of all soils may be increased by the right use 
 of it. 
 
 All arid soils lack nitrogen on account of having 
 but little natural humus in them, so the application 
 of Chilean Nitrate gives good crop increases. 
 
 What Burbank Says: 
 
 "After testing a great variety of fertilizers on my 
 orchard and experimental grounds, I find that the 
 Nitrate of Soda and Thomas slag phosphate have 
 given the best results at the least expense, and I shall 
 not look further at present, as my trees, bulbs, plants, 
 flowers and fruits have been, by the use of about 150 
 pounds each per acre, nearly doubled in size and beauty 
 in almost every instance. The above-named fertilizers 
 have more than doubled the product of my soil at a very 
 small outlay per acre. 
 
 Where the Nitrate of Soda is used, I find a greatly 
 increased ability in trees to resist drought, and lack of 
 cultivation." 
 
 " Luther Burbank is the greatest originator of new 
 and valuable forms of plant life of this or any other 
 age," says David Starr Jordan, President of Leland 
 Stanford Junior University, California.
 
 Food for 
 
 Winter Spraying With Solutions of Nitrate Plants 
 
 of Soda 175 
 
 By W. S. BALLARD, Pathologist, Fruit-Disease Investigations, 
 Bureau of Plant Industry, and W. H. VOLCK, County Horticul- 
 tural Commissioner of Santa Cruz County, California. 
 
 These investigations were conducted in co-operation between the Office of Fruit- 
 Disease Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Office of the 
 County Horticultural Commissioner of Santa Cruz County, located at Watson ville, 
 Cal. The writers' names Appear above in alphabetical order. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Recently several investigators have reported re- 
 sults in shortening the rest period of a number of woody 
 plants by immersing the dormant shoots in weak 
 nutrient solutions or by injecting solutions of alcohol, 
 ether, and various acids into the twigs. These experi- 
 ments have been conducted in the laboratory with 
 short cuttings of the plants. The effect of such treat- 
 ment has been to force the dormant buds out several 
 days ahead of the normal opening period. 
 
 During the last two years the writers have obtained 
 similar and additional results on a much larger scale 
 by spraying dormant fruit trees with strong solutions of 
 certain commercial fertilizers, especially Nitrate of 
 Soda. Since these experiments have been conducted 
 on the entire trees in the orchard, it has been possible 
 to observe the effects throughout the whole season. 
 The investigations have not yet been carried far enough 
 to permit drawing any conclusions regarding the 
 physiologic action of such spraying, but because of its 
 practical value these preliminary results seem deserving 
 of attention at this time. 
 
 Experiments in 1912 
 
 In the course of the investigations of the writers 
 on the control of apple powdery mildew in the Pajaro 
 Valley, Cal., it became evident that the general vigor 
 of the tree and the thriftiness of the foliage growth 
 had much to do with the success of the summer spray- 
 ing treatment for the control of the mildew, and after
 
 Food for a number of experiments in applying plant-food ma- 
 ! terials to the foliage in the form of summer sprays, and 
 176 after seeing that certain crude-oil emulsions used as 
 dormant sprays had a marked effect in stimulating an 
 increased vigor of the trees the following spring, it was 
 decided to try the effect of a strong solution of Nitrate 
 of Soda as a winter or dormant spray. Caustic potash 
 (potash lye) was also added for the purpose of giving 
 the spray an insecticide value. The mixture was pre- 
 pared according to the following formula: 
 
 Nitrate of soda 50 pounds 
 
 Caustic potash 7 pounds 
 
 Water 50 gallons 
 
 The experiment was conducted in a Yellow Bell- 
 flower apple orchard owned by Mr. O. D. Stoesser, of 
 Watsonville, Cal. This orchard is situated about 5 
 miles from the ocean shore and is in a district that is 
 more subject to ocean fogs and trade winds than is 
 the main portion of the Pajaro Valley. It is a common 
 characteristic of the numerous orchards of Yellow Bell- 
 flower apples of this particular district that they bloom 
 abundantly, but set only a partial crop. The trees 
 are on a deep sedimentary soil and grow well. 
 
 Seven 12-year-old trees were sprayed on February 
 2, 1912. The application was very thoroughly made, 
 so that all of the small twigs were drenched. About 
 7 gallons of spray solution were applied to each tree. 
 Adjoining this row on one side was a check row of seven 
 trees which received no winter spraying, and on the 
 other side were several rows of seven trees each which 
 received various applications of crude-oil emulsions 
 and soaps. For the purpose of gaining some idea of 
 the effect of Nitrate of Soda used as a fertilizer, 50 
 pounds were applied as a surface dressing to one vig- 
 orous tree selected from the row adjoining the Nitrate- 
 sprayed row. This fertilizer was later plowed in and 
 washed down by the rains. 
 
 Effects on Blossoming and on the Foliage 
 
 Notes taken at the time the trees were coming 
 out in the spring show the folio wing, results:
 
 April 7, 1912. Trees in the row sprayed with Nitrate of Soda 
 and lye are well in bloom, while those in the check row adjoining 
 and in the remainder of the unsprayed orchard are showing only 177 
 an occasional flower fully opened. 
 
 April 14, 1912. The relative advancement of the row sprayed 
 with a solution of Nitrate of Soda and lye and the check plat 
 is the same as noted on April 7. The Nitrate-sprayed trees are 
 nearly in full bloom, whereas comparatively few blossoms have 
 opened on the check plat. 
 
 When the check row had reached full bloom, the row sprayed 
 with a solution of Nitrate of Soda and lye was practically out of 
 bloom. 
 
 Thus, the Nitrate spraying advanced the blossom- 
 ing time about two weeks ahead of the normal period. 
 It is characteristic of the Yellow Bellflower variety of 
 apples in the Pajaro Valley that the foliage buds come 
 out early, so that by the time the full-bloom period is 
 reached the trees are showing a considerable amount 
 of young foliage. The Nitrate spraying produced a 
 change in this respect. While the flower buds were 
 greatly stimulated in coming out, the foliage buds were 
 not so much affected, and the result was that when 
 the trees sprayed with a solution of Nitrate of Soda 
 and lye were in full bloom and two weeks in advance 
 of the check trees in that regard, their foliage condition 
 was relatively nearer that of the check. Plate L shows 
 the comparative stages of the Nitrate-sprayed and the 
 check trees at that time. A decided contrast will be 
 seen in the relative advancement of the bloom on the 
 tree sprayed with Nitrate of Soda (PL L, fig. 1)* as com- 
 pared with the check tree (PI. L, fig. 2).* This contrast 
 is shown more in detail in Plate LI, in which figure 1 
 shows a branch from a Nitrate-sprayed tree, while 
 figure 2 shows one from a check tree. Both branches 
 were collected on the same day. An examination of 
 the figures in Plate L will show that the advancement 
 of the foliage Jon the Nitrate-sprayed tree is compara- 
 tively less marked than that of the bloom. This same 
 condition is shown in detail in Plate LI, in which it 
 will be seen that there is relatively little difference in 
 the advancement of the foliage of the sprayed and 
 unsprayed branches. Later in the spring, however, the 
 
 * For plates, see original article.
 
 Food for effect on foliage growth became more pronounced, and 
 - the sprayed trees assumed a more vigorous, green appear- 
 J 7 8 ance than the check trees. The single tree that re- 
 ceived the 50 pounds of Nitrate of Soda applied to the 
 soil showed no greater vigor than the check trees. 
 
 Both the row sprayed with Nitrate of Soda and 
 the check row received summer sprayings directed 
 toward the control of apple powdery mildew and of 
 codling moth and various other insect pests. While the 
 treatment of the two rows was not the same, there was 
 no essential difference in the results that is, the crop 
 loss from codling moth and other insect pests did not 
 exceed 1 per cent, on either plat and there was no dam- 
 age to the fruit from summer spraying. It is therefore, 
 evident that the difference which showed up in the crop 
 production of the two rows must be attributed to the 
 winter Nitrate spraying. 
 
 Crop Results 
 
 The check row of seven trees, which received no 
 winter spraying but which was properly protected by 
 summer sprayings, produced 8 loose boxes of fruit at 
 picking time. On the other hand, the adjoining row, 
 sprayed in February with the solution of Nitrate of Soda 
 plus lye, produced a total of a little over 40 boxes. 
 Thus, the winter Nitrate spraying increased the crop 
 production to fully five times that of the unsprayed 
 row. Similar adjacent plats, which were winter- 
 sprayed with various crude-oil emulsions and soap 
 sprays, produced crops varying from 5 to 9 boxes 
 per plat. The single tree which received the 50 pounds 
 of Nitrate of Soda applied as a fertilizer gave no in- 
 creased production, whereas none of the trees in the 
 Nitrate-sprayed row failed to respond. 
 
 Regarding the single, heavily fertilized tree, it 
 might be stated that in addition to its showing no in- 
 crease in production, the tree bloomed no earlier than 
 normal, there was no improvement in the growth and 
 no change in its general appearance throughout the 
 growing season of 1912, and in the spring of 1913 it 
 came out normally and not differently from the other 
 trees in the same row, being one of the trees in a check
 
 plat. The tree is still in normal condition and shows Food for 
 
 no noticeable effect from the heavy fertilizing. The ans . 
 
 orchard is not irrigated, and the rainfall has been J 79 
 much less than normal during the last two years. 
 
 Attention might again be called to the conditions 
 under which these results were obtained namely, 
 thrifty-growing trees in a deep residual soil and having 
 the characteristic of blooming abundantly each year 
 but setting only a shy crop. Even the 40 boxes pro- 
 duced by the Nitrate spraying does not represent the 
 full crop that such trees should bear, but the fourfold 
 increase much more than paid for the cost of spraying, 
 and the possibility remains of still further increasing 
 that production by similar treatment in following years. 
 
 Experiments in 1913 
 
 The one small experiment on seven trees in 1912 
 did not furnish sufficient grounds for drawing any gen- 
 eral conclusions as to the applicability of winter Nitrate 
 spraying, but the striking results obtained opened a 
 wide field of inquiry. For instance, potash lye was 
 added to the solution of Nitrate of Soda in the experi- 
 ment of 1912, so the questions arise as to whether the 
 lye was necessary and whether an acid medium would 
 increase or decrease the effect of the Nitrate of Soda; 
 also, would a weaker Nitrate solution prove as effective 
 and would other nitrogen-bearing fertilizer materials, 
 such as lime Nitrate, lime cyanamid, and sulphate of 
 ammonia, give similar results? Following along this 
 line it would be interesting to know what effect, if any, 
 the other fertilizer elements, potash and phosphoric 
 acid, might have when applied as sprays, and finally, 
 what results might be obtained from a similar applica- 
 tion of other substances not ordinarily considered as 
 having any particular fertilizer value. 
 
 Experiments intended to answer these and a num- 
 ber of other more or less important questions were 
 started in February, 1913, in the same orchard in which 
 the previous year's work was done. Eleven 13-year- 
 old trees were used in each plat. A frost occurred at 
 the time the fruit was setting which ruined the crop 
 and made it impossible to obtain results in crop pro-
 
 Food for duction. Data were obtained, however, on the effect 
 of the various sprays on the blossoming of the trees 
 
 180 in the spring, and the notes taken may be summarized 
 as follows: 
 
 The plats sprayed with Nitrate of Soda at the rate 
 of 1 pound to the gallon came into bloom earlier than 
 the check trees, just as they had done in 1912. This 
 effect was more marked in the cases in which lye was 
 added to the Nitrate solution than when the plain 
 water solution was used that is, the addition of lye 
 in the proportion of 16 pounds of caustic soda in 100 
 gallons of spray solution increased the action of the 
 Nitrate of Soda in bringing the trees out earlier. 
 Caustic soda appeared to be just as effective as caustic 
 potash. Nitrate of Soda used at the rate of half a 
 pound to the gallon, either with or without the addi- 
 tion of lye, was not nearly so effective as a solution of 
 1 pound to the gallon. A solution of one-fourth of a 
 pound to the gallon, with lye added, had practically no 
 effect. Nitrate of Soda, at the rate of 1 pound to the 
 gallon, to which oxalic acid was added in the proportion 
 of 50 pounds to 125 gallons of solution, produced re- 
 sults similar to Nitrate of Soda plus lye, so far as the 
 effect of hastening the blooming period is concerned. 
 Lime Nitrate, 130 pounds in 100 gallons of water, and 
 lime cyanamid, 92 pounds in 100 gallons of water, 
 stimulated an earlier blooming of the trees, and subse- 
 quent experiments will probably put these substances 
 in a class with Nitrate of Soda. Normal Yellow Bell- 
 flower apple blossoms have considerable pink color, 
 and it was interesting to note that when the trees sprayed 
 with the lime cyanamid came into bloom the flowers 
 were nearly white. The effects from sulphate of am- 
 monia were not nearly so marked as those from Nitrate 
 of Soda. These various nitrogen-bearing fertilizer 
 substances were used in such strengths as to carry 
 relatively the same quantities of nitrogen per gallon. 
 Sulphate of potash had some effect in stimulating an 
 early blooming, but double superphosphate did not. 
 Of a number of other substances tried, common salt 
 used at the rate of 68 pounds to 100 gallons of water 
 produced a distinct effect.
 
 It will be borne in mind that the above remarks Food for 
 apply simply to the effects of the various sprays in _* 
 causing an earlier blooming of the trees, but since this Igl 
 early blooming was a striking characteristic of the 
 Nitrate-sprayed trees of 1912, which showed a fourfold 
 increase in production, it seems permissible to con- 
 clude that this effect on the fruit buds is some criterion 
 of what might have been expected in the way of crop 
 increase had not the fruit been lost by frost. 
 
 The row of seven trees used in the Nitrate experi- 
 ment of 1912 was left unsprayed this last season for 
 the purpose of determining whether the Nitrate effect 
 would continue to the second year. It was noticed 
 that the fruit buds on these trees were particularly 
 large and plump, and somewhat unexpectedly at blos- 
 soming time these trees came into bloom several days 
 ahead of the check rows. The bloom came out very 
 uniformly all over the trees, whereas ordinarily it is 
 considerably delayed on the windward side. Also, the 
 individual blossoms were conspicuously larger than 
 those of any other plat, and, so far as could be judged 
 at the time the frost occurred, a good crop was setting 
 all over the trees. Thus, it appears that this effect 
 of the Nitrate of Soda had continued over to the second 
 year. 
 
 At present, all things considered, the best results 
 have been obtained by using a mixture made up as 
 follows : 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 200 pounds 
 
 Caustic Soda 25 pounds 
 
 Water 200 gallons 
 
 In preparing this solution the required quantity 
 of water was placed in the spray tank and the agitator 
 started. When the water was in motion, the required 
 weight of Nitrate of Soda was added gradually. Any 
 large lumps were first broken up into pieces about the 
 size of hen's eggs. The caustic soda was then added, 
 and in about 15 minutes from the time the preparation 
 was begun the mixture was ready for applying. 
 
 The trees were very thoroughly sprayed on all 
 sides, so that all of the small twigs were drenched. The
 
 Food for best results so far obtained have come from the spray - 
 
 . ing applied about the 1st of February. Of course, 
 
 182 weather conditions must be taken into consideration. 
 
 A rain immediately following the application will wash 
 
 much of the material off of the trees, and it is probable 
 
 that at least a week of clear weather should follow the 
 
 spraying, in order to insure good results. 
 
 In all of this work on spraying a solution of Ni- 
 trate of Soda on the trees a considerable quantity fell 
 to the ground, and the question will be raised as to 
 whether the various effects observed have not been 
 simply the result of the fertilizer action of the Nitrate 
 on the soil. About 7 gallons of the solution were used 
 in spraying each tree, and if the whole of this had gone 
 on the ground it would have amounted to about 7 
 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per tree. The single tree in 
 1912 that had the 50 pounds of Nitrate applied to the 
 soil, therefore, received over seven times the total 
 quantity applied to any single sprayed tree. As has 
 been previously stated, this single, excessively fertilized 
 tree bloomed no earlier than normal, produced no in- 
 creased crop, and showed no improvement in general 
 vigor and appearance; whereas, none of the trees in 
 the sprayed plat failed to respond in all of these par- 
 ticulars. Of course, this single tree test in the appli- 
 cation of Nitrate to the soil is too small an experiment 
 to permit concluding positively that the effects that 
 we have reported from the spraying experiments are 
 of an entirely different nature and belong in a different 
 category from those produced by the ordinary soil 
 application of Nitrate. A careful consideration of the 
 results of ordinary orchard practice in fertilizing seems to 
 make it plain that there is no similarity between them 
 and the results from spraying. For instance, in the 
 usual practice of applying Nitrate of Soda as a fertilizer 
 to apple orchards in the region of Watsonville, Cal., a 
 winter or early spring application does not force the 
 bloom out 10 days or 2 weeks ahead of the normal open- 
 ing period and has had no measurable effect in increas- 
 ing the set of fruit that same year. The fact that the 
 addition of caustic soda or oxalic acid to the Nitrate 
 spray augments these various effects further em-
 
 phasizes the difference between the results from spray- 
 ing and the ordinary results from the application of 
 fertilizer. Caustic-soda solution alone applied as a I8 3 
 spray has no effect on the time of blooming or the crop 
 production. 
 
 Experiments of Growers in 1913 
 Yellow Bellflower Apples 
 
 During the past season a number of growers made 
 more or less extensive tests of the spraying with Nitrate 
 of Soda. An aggregate of several hundred acres of 
 Yellow Bellflower apples was sprayed with Nitrate of 
 of Soda plus caustic soda, but practically all of this 
 acreage was in the same district in which the writer's 
 experiments were conducted, so the crop was lost by 
 frost. It was noticeable during the past summer, 
 however, that the foliage in such orchards as received 
 very thorough winter Nitrate sprayings had a better 
 appearance than in years past, due apparently to the 
 effect of the Nitrate. One orchard, that of MacDonald 
 & Sons, is located in a district that practically escaped 
 frost damage, and the results obtained indicated a 
 marked crop increase in consequence of the spraying. 
 The entire orchard, with the exception of a few trees, 
 was sprayed with various combinations of Nitrate of 
 Soda and lye, and, while no exact data on the produc- 
 tion of the unsprayed trees as compared with the rest 
 of the orchard was obtained, the amount of fruit on the 
 trees indicated that the spraying had produced a 
 marked increase. This conclusion was more reliably 
 substantiated by comparing the total orchard produc- 
 tion this year with that of previous years. 
 
 Sweet Cherries 
 
 Mr. A. W. Taite, of Watsonville, sprayed portions 
 of two blocks of Napoleon (Royal Ann) cherries with 
 Nitrate of Soda, 1 pound to the gallon, to which caustic 
 soda was added at the rate of 25 pounds to 200 gallons. 
 Unsprayed rows adjoining the sprayed ones were left 
 in each block. In one case the sprayed trees were dis- 
 tinctly advanced over the check trees in coming into
 
 Pkn? r bloom. In both cases there was an increase in the 
 . foliage growth and a consequent improvement in the 
 
 l8 4 appearance of the trees. No effect on crop production 
 could be noticed, though it is possible that treatment 
 in successive years may bring such results. 
 
 Pears 
 
 For our observations on pears the writers are in- 
 debted chiefly to Mr. George Reed, of San Jose, who 
 carried out extensive tests in the orchards of the J. Z. 
 & G. H. Anderson Fruit Co. The spraying was done 
 about the 1st of February and the following notes are 
 taken largely from Mr. Reed's observations: 
 
 CLAIRGEAU. Four rows of about 40 trees each were sprayed 
 with commercial lime-sulphur (33 % Baum6) diluted 1 to 9. Ad- 
 joining these were four rows sprayed with lime-sulphur solution 
 diluted 1 to 9 and to which was added Nitrate of Soda at the rate 
 of 1 pound to the gallon of the diluted spray. The rows sprayed 
 with the combined solution of Nitrate of Soda and lime-sulphu 
 came into bloom about a week ahead of those that received the 
 lime-sulphur solution alone. The development of the fruit on 
 these Nitrate-lime-sulphur solution rows continued to show an 
 advancement of about a week throughout half the growing season, 
 and at picking time the fruit was greener and hung on better than 
 that of the plain lime-sulphur-solution rows. Both plats bore a 
 full crop, so there was no opportunity for observing any effect on 
 production. The Clairgeau variety blooms early, and the further 
 advancement due to Nitrate spraying might result in frost injury 
 in some localities. The fruit ordinarily has a habit of dropping 
 off during the latter part of the growing season. This difficulty, 
 however, was largely eliminated on the Nitrate-sprayed rows. 
 
 COMICE. The major portion of the block was sprayed with a 
 plain water solution of Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 1 pound to the 
 gallon. A small portion was sprayed with commercial lime-sulphur 
 solution, diluted 1 to 9, with Nitrate of Soda added at the rate of 
 1 pound to the gallon of diluted spray. Through a misunderstand- 
 ing the men doing the spraying left no check rows in this block, 
 so that crop data could not be obtained. However, Mr. Reed's 
 exact knowledge of the previous production of this block as a 
 whole indicates that the marked increased production this last 
 season was more than probably due to the Nitrate spraying. The 
 Cornice is a relatively shy bearer, and a valuable pear commer- 
 cially, so that any increased production that could be obtained by 
 Nitrate spraying would be much appreciated by the grower. One 
 portion of the block that regularly produces less than the remainder 
 gave a good crop this year, and it appeared that the addition of the 
 lime-sulphur solution augmented the effect of the Nitrate of
 
 Soda just as the addition of lye has done in the experiments of the food for 
 writers. Plants 
 
 GLOUT MORCEAU. A block of Glout Morceau pears was l8 S 
 sprayed with the combination of lime-sulphur solution, diluted 
 1 to 9, plus Nitrate of Soda 1 pound to the gallon of diluted spray. 
 This block had never produced a full crop, and while no unsprayed 
 checks were left, the increased production would appear to be due 
 to the Nitrate spraying. 
 
 WINTER NELIS. A block of Winter Nelis pears was sprayed 
 with a solution of Nitrate of Soda 1 pound to the gallon of water. 
 No lime-sulphur solution was added in this case. No check rows 
 were left, and a frost destroyed a large percentage of the fruit after 
 it had set. However, at that time the trees were carrying the 
 largest crop they had ever produced, and again it would appear 
 that the Nitrate spraying had had a beneficial effect. The trees 
 came into bloom about 10 days ahead of normal opening period. 
 
 Discussion on Results and Summary 
 
 It is not the writers' intention to convey the im- 
 pression that dormant spraying with Nitrate solutions 
 will solve the problem of shy bearing of fruit trees nor 
 offer a more advisable method of applying nitrogen 
 fertilizer. The purpose of this paper is simply to 
 present the results as they now stand. 
 
 It is evident that, at least under certain conditions, 
 some varieties of apples and pears that are more or less 
 self-sterile may have their crop production materially 
 increased by dormant spraying with solutions of Nitrate 
 of Soda plus lye. The combination of a solution of 
 Nitrate of Soda and lime-sulphur is apparently capable 
 of bringing similar results. 
 
 Actual quantitative data on increased production 
 from spraying with a solution of Nitrate of Soda are 
 available from only one source, that of the first experi- 
 ment on Yellow Bellflower apples in 1912. No pro- 
 duction records were obtainable from the various tests 
 made by growers during the season of 1913 but the 
 one test on Yellow Bellflower apples and several others 
 on pears indicate that such an increase had undoubtedly 
 been brought about. It is considered that the growers' 
 knowledge of the crops of the previous years as com- 
 p'ared with that of this year furnishes a basis for con- 
 clusions that are at least corroborative.
 
 Food for That Nitrate spraying of dormant trees will bring 
 
 about an earlier blooming of certain varieties of fruit 
 
 186 is a satisfactorily established fact, which has been dem- 
 onstrated on Yellow Bellflower apples at Watsonville, 
 Cal., and on various varieties of pears at San Jose, San 
 Juan, and Suisun, Cal., during the past season. How 
 generally this statement will apply to other varieties 
 of apples and pears and in other localities remains to 
 be determined. Results on stone fruits have not been 
 as striking as those on pears and apples, but it is pos- 
 sible that stronger solutions, earlier spraying, or a 
 repetition of the spraying in successive years may bring 
 about such results. 
 
 The greater danger of injury from frost that 
 might result from forcing trees into bloom earlier than 
 normal would have to be taken into consideration in 
 making practical use of Nitrate spraying in winter. 
 
 Aside from the effect on crop production, there 
 has also been a very noticeable improvement in the 
 color, abundance, and vigor of the foliage, and it seems 
 possible that Nitrate spraying of dormant trees may 
 be a valuable supplement to the ordinary fertilizer 
 practices in obtaining quick results in orchards suffer- 
 ing from lack of nitrogen. 
 
 The writers will make no attempt at present to 
 explain the peculiar effect of Nitrate of Soda in increas- 
 ing the production of more or less self-sterile varieties of 
 fruits, or in improving foliage growth. The similarity 
 between the writers' results in forcing dormant buds 
 by winter Nitrate spraying and the results obtained by 
 other investigators by treating cuttings with various 
 weak solutions has been mentioned. In experiments 
 of the writers, however, a more or less lasting effect on 
 the vigor of the foliage and also some valuable results 
 in increasing crop production have been obtained. It 
 furthermore appears that the effects obtained by 
 spraying with a solution of Nitrate of Soda may con- 
 tinue over to the second year, as shown by the original 
 plat of 1912, which was left unsprayed in the winter of 
 1913. 
 
 The effects of the Nitrate spraying seem to be pro- 
 portional to the strength of the solution employed and
 
 the thoroughness with which it is applied. The addi- p od for 
 tion of caustic soda materially increases this action. 
 
 187 
 
 Small Fruits. 
 
 Under this head we treat of blackberries, currants, 
 gooseberries and raspberries. Strawberries are treated 
 separately. All these small fruits are commonly grown 
 in the garden, generally under such conditions that 
 systematic tillage is not practicable. For this reason 
 such plant food essentials as may exist naturally in the 
 soil become available to the uses of the plants very slow- 
 ly. This is true of the decomposition of animal or 
 vegetable ammoniates as of phosphates and potashes. 
 Consequently, small fruits in the garden suffer from 
 lack of sufficient plant food. All these plants when 
 planted in gardens are usually set in rows four feet 
 apart, the plants about three feet apart in the rows; 
 about 4,200 plants to an acre. In field culture, black- 
 berries are usually set four feet apart each way. 
 
 So far as possible, small fruits should be cultivated 
 in the early spring, and all dead canes removed. Work 
 into the soil along the rows from 300 to 600 pounds of 
 phosphate and potash; when the plants are in full leaf, 
 broadcast along the rows from 200 to 400 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda, and work in with a rake. If at any 
 time before August the vines show a tendency to drop 
 leaves, or stop growing, apply more Nitrate. Small 
 fruits must have a steady, even growth; in most cases 
 unsatisfactory results can be directly traced to irregular 
 feeding of the plants. In field culture, the crop must 
 be tilled quite the same as for corn; in the garden in 
 very dry weather irrigation should be used if possible. 
 The yield per acre is very heavy, and, of course, the 
 plants must be given plant food in proportion. 
 
 Raspberries, Currants, Gooseberries. 
 
 Sow broadcast, in the fall, a mixture of, say, 350 
 pounds of superphosphate and 100 pounds muriate of 
 potash per acre. This can be done, if the rows are 
 six feet apart, by sowing a large handful at every two
 
 Food for steps on each side of the row. Raspberries and goose- 
 . berries should have a small handful, and currants a 
 188 large handful to each bush. This should be cultivated 
 in, if possible, early in the spring. Sow Nitrate of 
 Soda in the same way. It will pay to put on as much 
 Nitrate as you did superphosphate and potash, but if 
 you do not want to put on so much, use smaller hand- 
 fuls. If the superphosphate and potash have not been 
 applied in the fall, sow the mixture in the spring at 
 the "same time the Nitrate is sown and cultivate it 
 in, early. 
 
 Strawberries. 
 
 This plant requires a moist soil, but not one water- 
 logged at any time of the year. A light clay loam, or a 
 sandy loam is preferable. There are several methods of 
 cultivation, but the matted row is generally found more 
 profitable than the plan of growing only in hills. While 
 some growers claim that one year's crop is all that should 
 be harvested before ploughing down for potatoes, as a 
 matter of fact the common practice is to keep the bed 
 for at least two harvests. In selecting plants, care should 
 be exercised to see that pistillate plants are not kept 
 too much by themselves, or the blossoms will prove 
 barren. The crop is a heavy consumer of plant food, 
 and the soil cannot be made too rich. Farmyard manure 
 should never be used after the plants are set out, as the 
 weed seeds contained therein will give much trouble, 
 especially as the horse hoe is of little use in the beds. 
 Use from 400 to 800 pounds of phosphate, applied 
 broadcast immediately after harvest; in the spring, as 
 soon as the strawberry leaves show the bright, fresh 
 green of new growth, apply broadcast 200 pounds of 
 . ^ Nitrate of Soda to the acre. In setting 
 
 es * out a new bed, scatter the fertilizer 
 along the rows and cultivate in, before the plants are 
 set out. 
 
 It is well to scatter the fertilizers for a foot on each 
 side of the rows so that the runners will have something 
 to feed upon. In the spring, sow Nitrate of Soda on the 
 bed broadcast at the rate of about 200 pounds per acre. 
 On old beds, sow the mixture broadcast in the fall and
 
 an additional 200 pounds of Nitrate per acre in the Food for 
 
 Plants 
 
 spring. 
 
 Prof. W. F. Massey writes: "I top-dressed an old l8 9 
 strawberry bed in its fifth year of bearing with 300 
 pounds Nitrate of Soda per acre. I had intended 
 ploughing it up the previous summer as it was in an 
 exhausted condition and foul with white clover and 
 sorrel. 
 
 "The effect was amazing, for this bed of an acre and 
 a quarter, from w T hich I expected almost nothing, gave 
 seven thousand quarts of berries. 
 
 Figs. 
 
 After investigating the requirements of the fig, 
 Professor George E. Colby, of the University of Cali- 
 fornia Experiment Station, says: 
 
 "The fig leads among our fruits in its demand upon the soil 
 for Nitrogen. Thus we find for the southern localities especially, 
 the same necessity of early replacement of Nitrogen in figs and 
 stone fruit as for Orange orchards, and partly for the same reason, 
 viz., that California soils are usually not rich in their natural supply 
 of this substance." 
 
 Nitrate of Soda will furnish the necessary Nitrogen 
 in its most available form, and at less cost than any 
 other material. It will probably be best to use in addi- 
 tion to the Nitrate an equal quantity of bone meal 
 phosphate, say two pounds of each per tree. 
 
 Grapes. 
 
 Grape plantations should be located and planted 
 by an expert, and one, too, who has had experience with 
 the locality selected as the site of the vineyard. The 
 treatment of the young plants is a matter of soil and 
 climate, and for which there are no general rules. When 
 the vines have reached bearing age, however, their 
 fertilization becomes a very important matter. The 
 new wood must be thoroughly matured to bear next 
 year's fruit, and an excess of ammoniate late in the 
 season not only defeats this object, but also lessens the 
 number of fruit buds. Potash and phosphoric acid 
 must be used freely, about 50 pounds of potash and 60
 
 Fo dfo . r pounds of available phosphoric acid to the acre. This 
 
 _ is not a crop for ordinary commercial fertilizers. The 
 
 190 fertilizer suggested above should be applied in the spring 
 
 and at the same time broadcast along the rows Nitrate 
 
 of Soda at the rate of 200 pounds per acre. If the plants 
 
 lose color in spots late in the season, work into the soil 
 
 about the vine an ounce or so of Nitrate, but this must 
 
 not be done later than midsummer. 
 
 Profitable Fertilization of Grapes. 
 
 Summary of Experiments by the Director of Darmstadt Agricultural 
 Experiment Station, Darmstadt, Germany. 
 
 Systematic, fertilizer experiments with grapes have 
 been conducted in this country so rarely that we must 
 seek information in this line from foreign experimenters. 
 The experiment detailed below was conducted by the 
 Darmstadt Agricultural Experiment Station, Darm- 
 stadt, Germany. The vines were grown singly in pots. 
 The fertilizer application in the two pots illustrated 
 herewith were at the rate of 3.3 ounces of Nitrate of 
 Soda, .6 of an ounce muriate of potash and 2 ounces 
 acid phosphate per vine. At the rate of 907 vines per 
 acre (vines 6 by 8 feet) this application is the equivalent 
 of 189 pounds Nitrate of Soda, 113 pounds acid phos- 
 phate and 34 pounds muriate of potash per acre. The 
 illustrations (pages 192-193) show the growth of vine and 
 also the production of fruit from the two pots, and the 
 excellent effect of Nitrate of Soda were unmistakably 
 shown. The actual yields of fruit were : 
 
 Per Acre. 
 
 Potash and acid phosphate without Nitrate of Soda.. . 1,024 Ibs. 
 Potash and acid phosphate with Nitrate of Soda 4,929 " 
 
 A remarkable point in this experiment was data to 
 show the growth of leaf and wood for each 100 pounds 
 of grapes, as follows: 
 
 With Nitrate, for 100 Ibs. grapes 47 Ibs. 13 Ibs. 
 
 Without Nitrate, for 100 Ibs. grapes 119 34 
 
 The evidence tends to confirm the belief that in- 
 sufficient or improperly balanced fertilizers produce 
 wood and leaf growth often at the expense of the fruit;
 
 that is, the merchantable portion of the crop. In fer- 
 tilizing grapes the phosphate and potash should be 
 applied early in the spring, before the vines begin to I 9 I 
 grow; Nitrate of Soda should be applied just at the 
 time the vines commence growth in the spring. A 
 better plan perhaps is to apply the Nitrate in two doses, 
 one when the vines start growth in the spring, the 
 second some time three weeks later. 
 
 Nursery Stock. 
 
 The soil should be moderately light loam, some- 
 what deep and thoroughly worked. It is an advantage 
 if the soil has previously been in corn, or some other 
 clean cultivation crop. Nursery stock should not be 
 planted on turned-under clover stubble. A soil rich 
 in ammoniates produces an overgrowth of wood, which 
 fails to mature. This is caused by continued supplies 
 of natural Nitrate up to the time of frost, and as a 
 consequence new sap wood is continually being formed 
 only to be killed back in winter. The ammonia in all 
 low grade fertilizers is slowly Nitrated by the action 
 of certain soil organisms, which continue at work so 
 long as there are any ammoniates to work upon, or the 
 soil not frozen. All through the season of growth, 
 more or less Nitrated ammonia is being supplied, which 
 acts to prevent the complete ripening of the summer's 
 growth. 
 
 This is a marked evil in growing nursery stock. 
 The work is not matured and is badly killed back by 
 frost, causing serious disfigurement; also the young trees 
 become too slender and suffer more in transplanting. 
 Apply along the rows a fertilizer consisting of 200 
 pounds of acid phosphate and 200 pounds of sulphate 
 of potash, at the rate of 400 pounds per acre, and work 
 well into the soil. When the young trees are in full 
 leaf, apply in the same manner 300 to 400 pounds of 
 Nitrate of Soda to the acre; and, four weeks later, repeat 
 the Nitrate application, using 150 to 200 pounds. This 
 will ensure a rapid growth early in the season with 
 ample time for thorough maturing before cold weather.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 192 
 
 Fertilizer per Vine,^Omitting Nitrate Nitrogen. 
 
 0.6 oz. Muriate or Sulphate of Potash per vine, or 34 Ibs. per acre. 
 2 oz. Acid Phosphate per vine, or 113 Ibs. per acre.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Fertilizer per Vine, With Nitrate Nitrogen. 
 
 0.6 oz. Muriate or Sulphate of Potash per vine, or 34 Ibs. per acre. 
 2 oz. Acid Phosphate per vine, or 113 Ibs. per acre. 
 3.3 oz. Nitrate of Soda per vine, or 189 Ibs. per acre.
 
 Food for The Nitrate of Soda supplies only Nitrated ammonia, 
 
 ! which is immediately available for the uses of the plant. 
 
 *94 Nursery stock must be constantly watched for evidences 
 
 of disease, and prompt action taken when such are 
 
 discovered. 
 
 Orange Groves. 
 
 An orange that weighs a pound would sell in New 
 York for a dime. When it takes six to weigh a pound 
 they are worthless. 
 
 Satisfactory results have been obtained in Florida 
 by fertilizing during the cold season. About two 
 months before the period of growth begins, apply for 
 each full-grown tree a mixture of 7 pounds of high- 
 grade superphosphate and 7 pounds of sulphate of 
 potash, by working it into the soil; after which one 
 pound of Nitrate of Soda may be sown on the surface. 
 In order to accomplish this application economically 
 it is well to mix the Nitrate with two or three times 
 the quantity of fine, dry soil before applying. The 
 working of the soil must not be so deep or thorough 
 as to start the growth of the tree. An excess of Nitrate 
 is to be avoided, but the amount mentioned is not too 
 much. All other ammoniates on the market must be 
 converted into Nitrate by weathering and the action 
 of the soil bacteria before they can possibly be available 
 for plant food. Nitrate of Soda is a pre-digested 
 ammoniate. With sulphate of ammonia there is danger 
 of loss, as it must be converted into Nitrate before it 
 is available as food, and during this comparatively long 
 process it may all be lost by rains and leaching. 
 
 Dried blood, cotton-seed meal and all other am- 
 moniates, if used in such quantities as to afford an 
 adequate supply of Nitrate, may cause die-back. No 
 disease results from the proper use of Nitrate of Soda. 
 Besides the possible losses indicated, when other am- 
 moniates are used, there is an actual loss of Nitrogen 
 during the process of Nitration, and all ammoniates 
 must undergo Nitration must be Nitrated before 
 living trees or plants will feed on them. 
 
 From six weeks to two months after the above 
 applications Nitrate may be used again as above indi-
 
 cated. If desirable, two or three months later a further od for 
 application of one and a half pounds of Nitrate of Soda _ 
 and potash may be made. In the case of your par- J 95 
 ticular soil, it may well be that it is sufficiently rich 
 in potash, and therefore, may not require a large appli- 
 cation of it. In any event, the grower must be 
 governed by the condition of his grove and the general 
 character of soil and climate in his particular locality. 
 
 The early decay of orchards as well as failure to 
 set fruit buds, is largely a matter of lack of plant food. 
 Orchards should have Nitrate, applied early in the 
 season, as late supplies of Nitrogen are liable to cause a 
 heavy setting of leaf buds at the expense of next year's 
 fruit. The ordinary ammoniates are not satisfactory 
 for orchard work, as they continue to supply available 
 ammonia all through the season ; not enough in the early 
 part of the year to properly set the fruit, hence severe 
 dropping; too much late in the year when none is 
 needed and which causes the formation of leaf rather 
 than fruit buds. The soil between the trees should 
 be regularly tilled, much as in corn growing. That it 
 is not generally done is no argument against the value 
 of such cultivation methods.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Of General Interest. 
 
 196 
 
 Average Annual Rainfall in the United States. 
 
 Place. Inches. 
 
 Neah Bay, Wash 123 
 
 Sitka, Alaska 83 
 
 Ft. Haskins, Oregon 66 
 
 Mt. Vernon, Alabama 66 
 
 Baton Rouge, Louisiana .... 60 
 Meadow Valley, California. . 57 
 
 Ft. Towson, Oklahoma 57 
 
 Ft. Meyers, Florida 56 
 
 Washington, Arkansas 54 
 
 Huntsville, Alabama 54 
 
 Natchez, Mississippi . . 53 
 
 New Orleans, Louisiana 51 
 
 Savannah, Georgia 48 
 
 Springdale, Kentucky 48 
 
 Fortress Monroe, Virginia. . 47 
 
 Memphis, Tennessee 45 
 
 Newark, New Jersey 44 
 
 Boston, Massachusetts 44 
 
 Brunswick, Maine 44 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio 44 
 
 New Haven, Connecticut ... 44 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. . 44 
 New York City, N.Y...... 43 
 
 Charleston, South Carolina. . 43 
 
 Gaston, North Carolina 43 
 
 Richmond, Indiana 43 
 
 Marietta, Ohio 43 
 
 St. Louis, Missouri 43 
 
 Muscatine, Iowa 42 
 
 Baltimore, Maryland 41 
 
 New Bedford, Massachusetts 41 
 Providence, Rhode Island.. . 41 
 Ft. Smith, Arkansas 40 
 
 Place. Inches. 
 
 Hanover, New Hampshire . . 40 
 
 Ft. Vancouver 38 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio 37 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... 37 
 
 Washington, D. C 37 
 
 White Sulphur Springs, Va. 37 
 
 Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma 36 
 
 Key West, Florida 36 
 
 Peoria, Illinois 35 
 
 Burlington Vermont 34 
 
 Buffalo, New York 33 
 
 Ft. Brown, Texas 33 
 
 Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. . . 31 
 
 Detroit, Michigan 30 
 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 30 
 
 Penn Yann, New York 28 
 
 Ft. Kearney 25 
 
 Ft. Snelling, Minnesota 25 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 23 
 
 Mackinac, Michigan 23 
 
 San Francisco, California ... 21 
 
 Dallas, Oregon 21 
 
 Sacramento, California 21 
 
 Ft. Massachusetts, Colorado 17 
 
 Ft. Marcy, New Mexico 16 
 
 Ft. Randall, Dakota 16 
 
 Ft. Defiance, Arizona 14 
 
 Ft. Craig, New Mexico 11 
 
 San Diego, California 9 
 
 Ft. Colville, Washington. ... 9 
 
 Ft. Bliss, Texas 9 
 
 Ft. Bridger, Utah 6 
 
 Ft. Garland, Colorado 6 
 
 Number of Years Seeds Retain Their Vitality. 
 
 Vegetables. Years. Vegetables. Years. 
 
 Cucumber 8 to 10 
 
 Melon 8 to 10 
 
 Pumpkin 8 to 10 
 
 Squash 8 to 10 
 
 Broccoli 5 to 6 
 
 Cauliflower 5to 6 
 
 Artichoke. . . . 5 to 6 
 
 Endive 5 to 6 
 
 Pea 5 to 6 
 
 Radish 4 to 5 
 
 Beets 3 to 4 
 
 Cress 3 to 4 
 
 Lettuce 3 to 4 
 
 Mustard. . . 3 to 4
 
 Okra .................. 3 to 4 
 
 Rhubarb .............. , 3 to 4 
 
 Spinach ............... 3 to 4 
 
 Turnip ................ 3 to 6 
 
 Asparagus ............. 2 to 3 
 
 Beans ................. 2 to 3 
 
 Carrots ................ 2 to 3 
 
 Celery ................. 2 to 3 
 
 Corn (on cob) .......... 2 to 3 
 
 Leek .................. 2 to 3 
 
 Onion ................. 2 to 3 
 
 Parsley ................ 2 to 3 
 
 Parsnip ................ 2 to 3 
 
 Pepper ................ 2 to 3 
 
 Tomato ................ 2 to 3 
 
 Egg-Plant .............. 1 to 2 
 
 Herbs. 
 Anise .................. 3 to 4 
 
 Caraway ............... 2 
 
 Summer Savory ........ 1 to 2 
 
 Sage .................. 2 to 3 
 
 2 
 
 100 feet in length 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ib. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 2 lines 
 101% Ibs. 
 25% Ibs. 
 72 
 
 2,560 
 460 
 
 2 
 200 
 
 12% 
 
 Ibs. 
 Ibs. 
 Ibs. 
 Ibs. 
 Ibs. 
 Ibs. 
 
 How Grain will Shrink. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 How Deep in the Ground to Plant Corn. 
 
 The following is the result of an experiment with Indian Corn. 
 That which was planted at a depth of 
 
 1 inch came up in ....................... 8 J^ days. 
 
 \Yz inch, came up in ...................... 9^ days. 
 
 inches, came up in ..................... 10 days. 
 
 inches, came up in ..................... HJ^ days. 
 
 inches, came up in ..................... 12 days. 
 
 inches, came up in ..................... 13 days. 
 
 inches, came up in ..................... 13^ days. 
 
 The more shallow the seed was covered with earth, the more 
 rapidly the sprout made its appearance, and the stronger after- 
 wards was the stalk. The deeper the seed lay, the longer it re- 
 mained before it came to the surface. Four inches was too deep 
 for the maize, and must, therefore, be too deep for smaller kernels. 
 
 Amount of Barbed Wire Required for Fences. 
 
 Estimated number of pounds of Barbed Wire required to 
 fence space for distances mentioned, with one, two or three lines 
 of wire, based upon each pound of wire, measuring one rod 
 feet). 
 
 1 line 
 1 square acre ............ 50% Ibs. 
 
 1 side of a square acre. . . . 12% 
 
 1 square half-acre ........ 36 
 
 1 square mile ............ 1,280 
 
 1 side of a square mile. ... 230 
 
 1 rod in length .......... 1 
 
 100 rods in length ........ 100 
 
 3 lines 
 152 Ibs. 
 38 Ibs. 
 108 Ibs. 
 3,840 Ibs. 
 690 Ibs. 
 3 Ibs. 
 300 Ibs. 
 18% Ibs. 
 
 Farmers rarely gain by holding on to their grain after it is fit 
 for market, when the shrinkage is taken into account. Wheat, 
 from the time it is threshed, will shrink two quarts to the bushel
 
 198 
 
 Food for or six per cent, in six months, in the most favorable circumstances. 
 Plants JJ ence) it follows that ninety-four cents a bushel for wheat when 
 first threshed in August, is as good, taking into account the shrink- 
 age alone, as one dollar in the following February. 
 
 Corn shrinks much more from the time it is first husked. 
 One hundred bushels of ears, as they come from the field in Novem- 
 ber, will be reduced to not far from eighty. So that forty cents a 
 bushel for corn in the ear, as it comes from the field, is as good as 
 fifty in March, shrinkage only being taken into account. 
 
 In the case of potatoes taking those that rot and are other- 
 wise lost together with the shrinkage, there is but little doubt 
 that between October and June, the loss to the owner who holds 
 them is not less than thirty-three per cent. 
 
 This estimate is taken on the basis of interest at 7 per cent., 
 and takes no account of loss by vermin. 
 
 One hundred pounds of Indian meal is equal to 76 pounds of 
 wheat, 83 of oats, 90 of rye, 111 of barley, 333 of corn stalks. 
 
 Length of Navigation of the Mississippi River. 
 
 The length of navigation of the Mississippi River itself for 
 ordinary large steamboats is about 2,161 miles, but small steamers 
 can ascend about 650 miles further. The following are its prin- 
 cipal navigable tributaries, with the miles open to navigation: 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Minnesota 295 
 
 Chippewa 90 
 
 Iowa 80 
 
 Missouri 2,900 
 
 Big Horn 50 
 
 Allegheny 325 
 
 Muskingum 94 
 
 Kentucky 105 
 
 Wabash 365 
 
 Tennessee 270 
 
 Osage 302 
 
 White 779 
 
 Little White ". 48 
 
 Big Hatchie 75 
 
 Sunflower 271 
 
 Tallahatchie 175 
 
 Red 986 
 
 Cypress 44 
 
 Black 61 
 
 Bartholomew 100 
 
 Macon 60 
 
 Atchafalaya 218 
 
 Lafourche.. 168 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Wisconsin 160 
 
 Rock 64 
 
 Illinois 350 
 
 Yellowstone 474 
 
 Ohio 950 
 
 Monongahela 110 
 
 Kanawha 94 
 
 Green 200 
 
 Cumberland 600 
 
 Clinch 50 
 
 St. Francis 180 
 
 Black 147 
 
 Arkansas 884 
 
 Issaquena 161 
 
 Yazoo 228 
 
 Big Black 35 
 
 Cane 54 
 
 Ouachita 384 
 
 Bceuf 55 
 
 Tensas 112 
 
 Teche 91 
 
 D'Arbonne.. 50 
 
 The other ten navigable tributaries have less than fifty miles 
 each of navigation. The total miles of navigation of these fifty-
 
 five streams is about 16,500 miles, or about two-thirds the dis- Food for 
 
 tance around the world. The Mississippi and its tributaries may ^ ants 
 be estimated to possess 15,550 miles navigable to steamboats, and ~ 
 20,221 miles navigable to barges. 
 
 Carrying Capacity of a Freight Car. 
 
 This Table is for Ten Ton Cars. 
 
 Whiskey 60 barrels Lumber 6,000 feet 
 
 Salt 70 barrels Barley 300 bushels 
 
 Lime 70 barrels Wheat 340 bushels 
 
 Flour 90 barrels Flax Seed 360 bushels 
 
 Eggs 130 to 160 barrels Apples 370 bushels 
 
 Flour 200 sacks Corn 400 bushels 
 
 Wood 6 cords Potatoes 430 bushels 
 
 Cattle 18 to 20 head Oats 680 bushels 
 
 Hogs 50 to 60 head Bran 1,000 bushels 
 
 Sheep 80 to 100 head Butter 20,000 pounds 
 
 How to Measure Corn in Crib, Hay in Mow, etc. 
 
 This rule will apply to a crib of any size or kind. Two cubic 
 feet of good, sound, dry corn in the ear will make a bushel of 
 shelled corn. To get, then, the quantity of shelled corn in a crib 
 of corn in the ear, measure the length, breadth and height of the 
 crib, inside of the rail; multiply the length by the breadth and 
 the product by the height; then divide the product by two, and 
 you have the number of bushels of shelled corn in the crib. 
 
 To find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes, etc., in a 
 bin, multiply the length, breadth and thickness together, and this 
 product by 8, and point off one figure in the product for decimals. 
 
 To find the amount of hay in a mow, allow 512 cubic feet for 
 a ton, and it will come out very generally correct. 
 
 Business Rules for Farmers. 
 
 The way to get credit is to be punctual in paying your bills. 
 The way to preserve it is not to use it much. Settle often; have 
 short accounts. 
 
 Trust no man's appearances they are deceptive perhaps 
 assumed, for the purpose of obtaining credit. Beware of gaudy 
 exterior. Rogues usually dress well. The rich are plain men. 
 Trust him, if any, who carries but little on his back. Never trust 
 him who flies into a passion on being dunned; make him pay 
 quickly, if there be any virtue in the law. 
 
 Be well satisfied before you give a credit that those to whom 
 you give it are men to be trusted. 
 
 Sell your goods at a small advance, and never misrepresent 
 them, for those whom you once deceive will beware of you the 
 second time.
 
 Food for Deal uprightly with all men, and they will repose confidence 
 ^ ants in you, and soon become your permanent customers. 
 200 Beware of him who is an office seeker. Men do not usually 
 
 want an office when they have anything to do. A man's affairs 
 are rather low when he seeks office for support. 
 
 Trust no stranger. Your goods are better than doubtful 
 charges. What is character worth, if you make it cheap by credit- 
 ing everybody? 
 
 Agree beforehand with every man about to do a job, and, if 
 large, put in into writing. If any decline this, quit, or be cheated. 
 Though you want a job ever so much, make all sure at the outset, 
 and in case at all doubtful, make sure of a guarantee. Be not 
 afraid to ask it; the best test of responsibility; for, if offence be 
 taken, you have escaped a loss. 
 
 Business Laws in Brief. 
 
 Ignorance of law excuses none. 
 
 It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. 
 
 The law compels no one to do impossibilities. 
 
 An agreement without consideration is void. 
 
 Signatures made with lead-pencil are good in law. 
 
 A receipt for money paid is not legally conclusive. 
 
 The acts of one partner bind all the others. 
 
 Contracts made on Sunday cannot be enforced. 
 
 A contract made with a minor is invalid. 
 
 A contract made with a lunatic is void. 
 
 Contracts for advertising in Sunday newspapers are invalid. 
 
 Each individual in a partnership is responsible for the whole 
 amount of the debts of a firm. 
 
 Principals are responsible for the acts of their agents. 
 
 Agents are responsible to their principals for errors. 
 
 A note given by a minor is void. 
 
 It is not legally necessary to say on a note "for value received." 
 
 A note drawn on Sunday is void. 
 
 A note obtained by fraud, or from a person in a state of in- 
 toxication, cannot be collected. 
 
 If a note be lost or stolen, it does not release the maker; he 
 must pay. 
 
 The indorser of a note is exempt from liability if not served 
 with notice of its dishonor within twenty-four hours of its non- 
 payment. 
 
 How to Treat Sunstroke. 
 
 Take the patient at once to a cool and shady place, but don't 
 carry him far to a house or hospital. Loosen the clothes thor- 
 oughly about his neck and waist Lay him down with the head 
 a little raised. Apply wet cloths to the head, and mustard or 
 turpentine to the calves of the legs and the soles of the feet. 
 Give a little weak whiskey and water if he can swallow. Mean-
 
 while, let some one go for the doctor. You cannot do more Food for 
 without his advice. 
 
 Sunstroke is a sudden prostration due to long exposure to 20I 
 great heat, especially when much fatigued or exhausted. It com- 
 monly happens from undue exposure to the sun's rays in summer. 
 
 It begins with pain in the head, or dizziness, quickly followed by 
 loss of consciousness and complete prostration. 
 
 Time Required for Digesting Food. 
 
 Food. How Cooked. H. M. 
 
 Apples, sour, hard Raw 2 . 50 
 
 Apples, sweet, mellow Raw 1.30 
 
 Bass, striped Broiled 3 . 00 
 
 Beans, pod Boiled 2 . 30 
 
 Beans and green corn Boiled 3.45 
 
 Beef Fried 4.00 
 
 Beefsteak Broiled 3 . 00 
 
 Beef, fresh, lean, dry Roasted 3 . 30 
 
 Beef, fresh, lean, rare Roasted 3 . 00 
 
 Beets Boiled 3 . 45 
 
 Bread, corn Baked 3 . 15 
 
 Bread, wheat, fresh Baked 1 . 30 
 
 Cabbage Raw. . 2 . 30 
 
 Cabbage, with vinegar Raw 2 . 00 
 
 Cabbage Boiled 4 . 30 
 
 Carrot Boiled 3.13 
 
 Catfish Fried 3.30 
 
 Cheese, old, strong Raw 3 . 30 
 
 Chicken, full grown Fricasseed 2 . 45 
 
 Codfish, cured dry Boiled 2 . 00 
 
 Custard Baked 2.45 
 
 Duck, tame Roasted 4 . 00 
 
 Duck, wild Roasted 4 . 30 
 
 Eggs, fresh Raw 2 . 00 
 
 Eggs, fresh Scrambled 1 . 30 
 
 Eggs, fresh Roasted 2.15 
 
 Eggs, fresh Soft boiled 3.00 
 
 Eggs, fresh Hard boiled 3 . 30 
 
 Eggs, fresh Fried 3.30 
 
 Fowls, domestic Roasted 4 . 00 
 
 Hashed meat and vegetables . . . Warmed 2.30 
 
 Lamb, fresh Broiled 2.30 
 
 Milk Boiled 2.00 
 
 Milk Raw 2.15 
 
 Mutton, fresh Broiled 3.00 
 
 Oysters, fresh Raw 2 . 55 
 
 Oysters, fresh Roasted 3 . 15 
 
 Oysters, fresh Stewed 3 . 30 
 
 Parsnips Boiled 2.30
 
 Food for Pork, steak Broiled 3 . 15 
 
 Plants Pork, fat and lean Roasted 5 . 15 
 
 202 Pork, recently salted Stewed 3 . 00 
 
 Pork, recently salted Fried 4.15 
 
 Potatoes, Irish Baked 2.30 
 
 Potatoes, Irish Boiled 3.30 
 
 Salmon, salted Boiled 4 . 00 
 
 Sausages, fresh Broiled 3 . 20 
 
 Soup, bean Boiled 3 . 00 
 
 Soup, chicken Boiled 3 . 00 
 
 Soup, mutton Boiled 3 . 30 
 
 Soup, beef, vegetable Boiled 4 . 00 
 
 Trout, salmon, fresh Boiled 1 . 30 
 
 Turkey, domesticated Roasted 2 . 30 
 
 Veal, fresh Boiled 4.00 
 
 Veal, fresh Fried 4.30 
 
 How to Rent a Farm. 
 
 In the rental of property, the greater risk is always on the 
 landlord's side. He is putting his property into the possession 
 and care of another, and that other is not infrequently a person of 
 doubtful utility. These rules and cautions may well be observed : 
 
 1. Trust to no verbal lease. Let it be in writing, signed and 
 sealed. Its stipulations then become commands and can be en- 
 forced. Let it be signed in duplicate, so that each party may have 
 an original. 
 
 2. Insert such covenants as to repairs, manner of use and in 
 restraint of waste, as the circumstances call for. As to particular 
 stipulations, examine leases drawn by those who have had long 
 experience in renting farms, and adopt such as meet your case. 
 
 3. There should be covenants against assigning and under- 
 letting. 
 
 4. If the tenant is of doubtful responsibility, make the rent 
 payable in installments. A covenant that the crops shall remain 
 the lessor's till the lessee's contracts with him have been fulfilled, 
 is valid against the lessee's creditors. In the ordinary case of rent- 
 ing farms on shares, the courts will treat the crops as the joint 
 property of landlord and tenant, and thus protect the former's 
 rights. 
 
 5 Every lease shou'd contain stipulations for forfeiture and 
 re-entry in case of non-payment or breach of any covenants. 
 
 6 To prevent a tenant's committing waste, the ^courts will 
 grant an injunction. 
 
 7. Above all, be careful in selecting your tenant. There is 
 more in the man than there is in the bond. 
 
 Facts for the Weatherwise. 
 
 If the full moon rises clear, expect fine weather. 
 
 A large ring around the moon and low clouds indicate rain
 
 in twenty -four hours; a small ring and high clouds, rain in several Food for 
 days. Plants 
 
 The larger the halo about the moon the nearer the rain clouds, 20 . 
 and the sooner the rain may be expected. 
 
 When the moon is darkest near the horizon, expect rain. 
 
 If the full moon rises pale, expect rain. 
 
 A red moon indicates wind. 
 
 If the moon is seen between the scud and broken cloud 
 during a gale, it is expected to send away the bad weather. 
 
 In the old of the moon a cloudy morning bodes a fair after- 
 noon. 
 
 If there be a general mist before sunrise near the full of the 
 moon, the weather will be fine for some days. 
 
 Farmers' Barometers. 
 
 If chickweed and scarlet pimpernel expand their tiny petals, 
 rain need not be expected for a few hours, says a writer. 
 
 Bees work with redoubled energy before a rain. 
 
 If flies are- unusually persistent either in the house or around 
 the stock, there is rain in the air. 
 
 The cricket sings at the approach of cold weather. 
 
 Squirrels store a large supply of nuts, the husks of corn are 
 usually thick, and the buds of deciduous trees have a firmer pro- 
 tecting coat if a severe winter is at hand. 
 
 Corn fodder is extremely sensitive to hygrometr'c changes. 
 When dry and crisp, it indicates fair weather; when damp and 
 limp, look out for rain. 
 
 A bee was never caught in a shower; therefore when his bees 
 leave their hive in search of honey, the farmer knows that the 
 weather is going to be good. 
 
 How to See the Wind. 
 
 Few persons know that it is possible actually to see the wind, 
 but it can be done as follows: 
 
 Take a polished metal surface of two feet or more, with a 
 straight edge; a large hand-saw will answer the purpose. Choose 
 a windy day for the experiment, whether hot or cold, clear or 
 cloudy; only let it not be in murky, rainy weather. 
 
 Hold your metallic surface at right angles to the direction 
 of the wind i. e., if the wind is north hold your surface east and 
 west, but instead of holding it vertical incline it about forty-two 
 degrees to the horizon, so that the wind, striking, glances and 
 flows over the edge as the water flows over a dam. Now sight 
 carefully along the edge some minutes at a sharply defined object, 
 and you will see the wind pouring over the edge in graceful curves. 
 Make your observations carefully and you will hardly ever fail 
 in the experiment. The results are better if the sun is obscured.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Philosophical Facts. 
 
 204 
 
 The greatest height at which visible clouds ever exist does not 
 exceed ten miles. 
 
 Air is about eight hundred and fifteen times lighter than 
 water. 
 
 The pressure of the atmosphere upon every square foot of 
 the earth amounts to two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds. 
 An ordinary sized man, supposing his surface to be fourteen square 
 feet, sustains the enormous pressure of thirty thousand, two 
 hundred and forty pounds. 
 
 The barometer falls one-tenth of an inch for every seventy- 
 eight feet of elevation. 
 
 The violence of the expansion of water when freezing is suf 
 ficient to cleave a globe of copper of such thickness as to require 
 a force of 27,000 pounds to produce the same effect. 
 
 During the conversion of ice into water one hundred and 
 forty degrees of heat are absorbed. 
 
 Water, when converted into steam, increases in bulk eighteen 
 hundred times. 
 
 In one second of time in one beat of the pendulum of a 
 clock light travels two hundred thousand miles. Were a cannon 
 ball shot toward the sun, and were it to maintain full speed, it 
 would be twenty years in reaching it and yet light travels through 
 this space in seven or eight minutes. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, a ball of a ton weight and another 
 of the same material of an ounce weight, falling from any height 
 will reach the ground at the same time. 
 
 The heat does not increase as we rise above the earth nearer 
 to the sun but decreases rapidly until, beyond the regions of the 
 atmosphere, in void, it is estimated that the cold is about seventy 
 degrees below zero. The line of perpetual frost at the equator 
 is 15,000 feet altitude; 13,000 feet between the tropics; and 9,000 
 to 4,000 between the latitudes of forty and forty-nine degrees. 
 
 At a depth of forty-five feet under ground, the temperature 
 of the earth is uniform throughout the year. 
 
 In summer time, the season of ripening moves northward at 
 the rate of about ten miles a day. 
 
 The human ear is so extremely sensitive that it can hear a 
 sound that lasts only the twenty-four thousandth part of a second. 
 Deaf persons have sometimes conversed together through rods of 
 wood held between their teeth, or held to their throat or breast. 
 
 The ordinary pressure of the atmosphere on the surface of 
 the earth is two thousand one hundred and sixty pounds to each 
 square foot, or fifteen pounds to each square inch; equal to thirty 
 perpendicular niches of mercury, or thirty-four and a half feet of 
 water. 
 
 Sound travels at the rate of one thousand one hundred and 
 forty-two feet per second about thirteen miles in a minute. So
 
 that if we hear a clap of thunder half a minute after the flash, Food for 
 we may calculate that the discharge of electricity is six and a ^ ants 
 half miles off. 2o7~ 
 
 Lightning can be seen by reflection at the distance of two 
 hundred miles. 
 
 The explosive force of closely confined gunpowder is six and 
 a half tons to the square inch. 
 
 How to Preserve Eggs. 
 
 To each pailful of water, add two pints of fresh slacked lime 
 and one pint of common salt; mix well. Fill your barrel half full 
 with this fluid, put your eggs down in it any time after June, and 
 they will keep two years, if desired. A solution of silicate of soda, 
 commonly known as water glass, is also used for the same purpose. 
 
 Estimating Measures. 
 
 A pint of water weighs nearly 1 pound, and is equal to about 
 27 cubic inches, or a square box 3 inches long, 3 inches wide and 
 3 inches deep. 
 
 A quart of water weighs nearly 2 pounds, and is equal to a 
 square box of about 4 by 4 inches and 3}/ inches deep. 
 
 A gallon of water weighs from 8 to 10 pounds, according to 
 the size of the gallon, and is equal to a box 6 by 6 inches square 
 and 6, 7 or 7^ inches deep. 
 
 A peck is equal to a box 8 by 8 inches square and 8 inches 
 deep. 
 
 A bushel almost fills a box 12 by 12 inches square and 15 
 inches deep. In exact figures, a bushel contains 2150.42 cubic inches. 
 
 A cubic foot of water weighs nearly 64 pounds (more correctly 
 62^ pounds), and contains from 7 to 8 gallons, according to the 
 kind of gallons used. 
 
 A barrel of water almost fills a box 2 by 2 feet square and \% 
 feet deep, or 6 cubic feet. 
 
 Petroleum barrels contain 40 gallons, or nearly 5 cubic feet. 
 
 Square Measure. 
 
 144 sq. in. 1 sq. foot 160 sq. rods 1 acre 
 
 9 sq. feet 1 sq. yard 43,560 sq. ft. 1 acre 
 
 sq. yards 1 sq. rod 640 acres 1 sq. mile 
 
 2.47 acre 1 Hectare.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 206 
 
 Number of Brick Required to Construct any Building. 
 (RECKONING 7 BRICK TO EACH SUPERFICIAL FOOT.) 
 
 Superficial Feet 
 of Wall. 
 
 Number of Bricks to Thickness of 
 
 4 inch. 
 
 8 inch. 
 
 12 inch. 
 
 16 inch. 
 
 20 inch. 
 
 24 inch. 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 15 
 23 
 30 
 38 
 45 
 53 
 60 
 68 
 75 
 150 
 '225 
 300 
 375 
 450 
 525 
 600 
 675 
 750 
 1,500 
 2,250 
 3,000 
 3,750 
 4,500 
 5,250 
 6,000 
 6,750 
 7,500 
 
 15 
 30 
 45 
 60 
 75 
 90 
 105 
 120 
 135 
 150 
 300 
 450 
 600 
 750 
 900 
 1,050 
 1,200 
 1,350 
 1,500 
 3,000 
 4,500 
 6,000 
 7,500 
 9,000 
 10,500 
 12,000 
 13,500 
 15,000 
 
 23 
 45 
 68 
 90 
 113 
 135 
 158 
 180 
 203 
 225 
 450 
 675 
 900 
 1,125 
 1,350 
 1,575 
 1,800 
 2,025 
 2,250 
 4,500 
 6,750 
 9,000 
 11,250 
 13,500 
 15,750 
 18,000 
 20,250 
 22,500 
 
 30 
 60 
 90 
 120 
 150 
 180 
 210 
 240 
 270 
 300 
 600 
 900 
 1,200 
 1,500 
 1,800 
 2,100 
 2,400 
 2,700 
 3,000 
 6,000 
 9,000 
 12,000 
 15,000 
 18,000 
 21,000 
 24,000 
 27,000 
 30,000 
 
 38 
 75 
 113 
 150 
 188 
 225 
 263 
 300 
 338 
 375 
 750 
 1,125 
 1,500 
 1,875 
 2,250 
 2,625 
 3,000 
 3,375 
 3,750 
 7,500 
 11,250 
 15,000 
 18,750 
 22,500 
 26,250 
 30,000 
 33,750 
 37,500 
 
 45 
 90 
 135 
 180 
 225 
 270 
 315 
 360 
 405 
 450 
 900 
 1,350 
 1,800 
 2,250 
 2,700 
 3,150 
 3,600 
 4,050 
 4,500 
 9,000 
 13,500 
 18,000 
 22,500 
 27,000 
 31,500 
 36,000 
 40,500 
 45,000 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 70 
 
 80 
 
 90 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 300 ... 
 
 400 
 
 500 
 
 600 
 
 700 
 
 800 . 
 
 900 
 
 1000 
 
 
 Facts for Builders. 
 
 One thousand shingles, laid 4 inches to the weather, will 
 cover 100 square feet of surface, and 5 pounds of shingle nails will 
 fasten them on. 
 
 One-fifth more siding and flooring is needed than the number 
 of square feet of surface to be covered, because of the lap in the 
 siding and matching. 
 
 One thousand laths will cover 70 yards of surface, and 11 
 pounds of lath nails will nail them on. Eight bushels of good 
 lime, 16 bushels of sand, and one bushel of hair, will make enough 
 good mortar to plaster 100 square yards.
 
 A cord of stone, 3 bushels of lime and a cubic yard of sand, Food for 
 
 will lay 100 cubic feet of wall. 
 
 Five courses of brick will lay one foot in height on a chimney; 
 16 bricks in a course will make a flue 4 inches wide and 12 inches 
 long, and 8 bricks in a course will make a flue 8 inches wide and 
 16 inches long. 
 
 Cement 1 bushel and sand 2 bushels will cover 8^2 square 
 yards 1 inch thick, 4*/ square yards % inch thick, and 6% square 
 yards ^ inch thick. One bushel cement and 1 of sand will cover 
 2 1/2 square yards 1 inch thick, 3 square yards % inch thick, and 
 
 square yards }/ inch thick. 
 
 Weight of a Cubic Foot of Earth, Stone, Metal, Etc. 
 
 Plants 
 
 207 
 
 Article. Pounds. 
 
 Alcohol 49 
 
 Ash wood 53 
 
 Bay wood 51 
 
 Brass, gun metal 543 
 
 Blood 66 
 
 Brick, common 102 
 
 Cork 15 
 
 Cedar 35 
 
 Copper, cast 547 
 
 Clay 120 
 
 Coal, Lehigh 56 
 
 Coal, Lackawanna 50 
 
 Cider 64 
 
 Chestnut 38 
 
 Earth, loose 94 
 
 Glass, window 165 
 
 Gold 1,203% 
 
 Hickory, shell bark 43 
 
 Hay, bale 9 
 
 Hay, pressed 25 
 
 Honey 90 
 
 Iron, cast 450 
 
 Iron, plates 481 
 
 Iron, wrought bars 486 
 
 Ice 
 
 Lignum Vitae wood 83 
 
 Logwood 57 
 
 Lead, cast 709 
 
 Article. Pounds. 
 
 Milk 64 
 
 Maple 47 
 
 Mortar 110 
 
 Mud 102 
 
 Marble, Vermont 165 
 
 Mahogany 66 
 
 Oak, Canadian 54 
 
 Oak, live, seasoned 67 
 
 Oak, white, dry 54 
 
 Oil, linseed 59 
 
 Pine, yellow 34 
 
 Pine, white 34 
 
 Pine, red 37 
 
 Pine, well seasoned 30 
 
 Silver 625% 
 
 Steel, plates 487% 
 
 Steel, soft 489 
 
 Stone, common, about.. 158 
 
 Sand, wet, about 128 
 
 Spruce 31 
 
 Tin 455 
 
 Tar 63 
 
 Vinegar 67 
 
 Water, salt 64 
 
 Water, ram 62 
 
 Willow 36 
 
 Zinc, cast 428 
 
 What a Deed to a Farm in Many States Includes 
 
 Every one knows it conveys all the fences standing on the 
 farm, but all might not think it also included the fencing-stuff, 
 posts, rails, etc., which had once been used in the fence, but had 
 been taken down and piled up for future use again in the same
 
 Food for place. But new fencing material, just bought, and never attached 
 
 P^ ants to the soil, would not pass. So piles of hop poles stored away, if 
 
 2og once used on the land and intended to be again so used, have 
 
 been considered a part of it, but loose boards or scaffold poles 
 
 merely laid across the beams of the barn, and never fastened to 
 
 it, would not be, and the seller of the farm might take them away. 
 
 Standing trees, of course, also pass as part of the land; so do trees 
 
 blown down or cut down, and still left in the woods where they 
 
 fell, but not if cut, and corded up for sale; the wood has then 
 
 become personal property. 
 
 If there be any manure in the barnyard, or in the compost 
 heap on the field, ready for immediate use, the buyer ordinarily, 
 in the absence of any contrary agreement, takes that also as be- 
 longing to the farm, though it might not be so, if the owner had 
 previously sold it to some other party and had collected it together 
 in a heap by itself, for such an act might be a technical severance 
 from the soil, and so convert real into personal estate; and even 
 a lessee of a farm could not take away the manure made on the 
 place while he was in occupation. Growing crops also pass by 
 the deed of a farm, unless they are expressly reserved; and when 
 it is not intended to convey those, it should be so stated in the 
 deed itself; a mere oral agreement to that effect would not be, in 
 most States, valid in law. Another mode is to stipulate that 
 possession is not to be given until some future day, in which case 
 the crops or manures may be removed before that time. 
 
 As to the buildings on the farm, though generally mentioned 
 in the deed, it is not absolutely necessary they should be. A deed 
 of land ordinarily carries all the buildings on it, belonging to the 
 grantor, whether mentioned or not; and this rule includes the 
 lumber and timber of any old building which has been taken down, 
 or blown down, and packed away for future use on farm. 
 
 Relative Value of Different Foods for Stock. 
 
 One hundred pounds of good hay for stock are equal to: 
 
 Articles. Pounds. Articles. Pounds. 
 
 Beets, white silesia 669 Lucern 89 
 
 Turnips 469 Clover, red, dry 88 
 
 Rye-Straw 429 Buckwheat 
 
 Clover, Red, Green 373 Corn 
 
 Carrots 371 Oats 59 
 
 Mangolds 368^ Barley 58 
 
 Potatoes, kept in pit. . . . 350 Rye 
 
 Oat-Straw 347 Wheat 44^ 
 
 Potatoes 360 Oil-Cake, linseed. 43 
 
 Carrot leaves (tops) 135 Peas, dry 
 
 Hay, English 100 Beans 28
 
 Food for 
 
 Hints for Farmers. Plants 
 
 Vincent's Remedies for farm animals have been used with 2 9 
 considerable success for several years, and they are recommended 
 here as being worthy of trial. 
 
 First for Horses. When horses have chills, or have taken 
 cold, or have colic, 15-20 drops of Aconite in a teacup of warm 
 water will start perspiration, and if the horses are kept heavily 
 blanketed, if the ailments are not more than ordinary, they will 
 come out of them in good condition. 
 
 For Cattle. When cows get chilled, and if for any reason 
 after dropping calves, the cows appear to shake, 15 drops of 
 Aconite in a teacup of warm water will start perspiration, and if 
 the cows are kept well blanketed, they will come out of the trouble 
 without further treatment, unless the ailments are more than 
 usual. 
 
 For Calves. A disease which has killed many fine young 
 animals, even under the best conditions, is known as "scours." 
 Vincent's cure in this case is a teaspoonful of Essence of Pepper- 
 mint in half a teacup of warm water. This is to be administered 
 after feeding night and morning, and is almost a certain cure, 
 having saved the lives of many valuable calves. 
 
 For Sheep. A disease known as "stretches," caused by 
 some stoppage in the bowels, can be frequently remedied by rais- 
 ing the sheep by its hind legs and holding it in that position for 
 some minutes. In nine cases out of ten, a permanent cure is 
 effected. This is worth remembering on account of many sheep 
 having died from this cause. 
 
 Weights and Measures for Cooks, Etc. 
 
 1 pound of wheat flour is equal to 1 quart 
 
 1 pound and 2 ounces of indian meal make 1 quart 
 
 1 pound of soft butter is equal to 1 quart 
 
 1 pound and 2 ounces of best brown sugar make. 1 quart 
 
 1 pound and 1 ounce of powdered white sugar make 1 quart 
 
 1 pound of broken loaf sugar is equal to 1 quart 
 
 4 large tablespoonfuls' make % gill 
 
 1 common-sized tumbler holds Yi pint 
 
 1 common-sized wine-glass is equal to ^/i gill 
 
 1 tea-cup holds 1 gill 
 
 1 large wine-glass holds 2 ounces 
 
 1 tablespoonful is equal to Yi ounce 
 
 Capacity of Cisterns for Each 10 Inches in Depth. 
 
 25 feet in diameter holds 3059 gallons 
 
 20 feet in diameter holds 1958 gallons 
 
 15 feet in diameter holds 1101 gallons
 
 Food for 14 feet in diameter holds 959 gallons 
 
 Plants 13 feet in diameter holds 827 gallons 
 
 2 10 12 feet in diameter holds 705 gallons 
 
 11 feet in diameter holds : 592 gallons 
 
 10 feet in diameter holds 489 gallons 
 
 9 feet in diameter holds 396 gallons 
 
 8 feet in diameter holds 313 gallons 
 
 7 feet in diameter holds 239 gallons 
 
 6 }/ feet in diameter holds 206 gallons 
 
 6 feet in diameter holds 176 gallons 
 
 5 feet in diameter holds 122 gallons 
 
 4}/ feet in diameter holds 99 gallons 
 
 4 feet in diameter holds 78 gallons 
 
 3 feet in diameter holds 44 gallons 
 
 feet in diameter holds 30 gallons 
 
 feet in diameter holds 19 gallons 
 
 Surveyor's Measure. 
 
 7.92 inches 1 link, 25 links 1 rod, 4 rods 1 chain, 10 square 
 chains or 160 square rods 1 acre, 640 acres 1 square mile. 
 
 Strength of Ice of Different Thickness. 
 
 Two inches thick will support a man. 
 
 Four inches thick will support a man on horseback. 
 
 Five inches thick will support an eighty -pound cannon. 
 
 Eight inches thick will support a battery of artillery, with 
 carriages and horses. 
 
 Ten inches thick will support an army; an innumerable 
 multitude. 
 
 Amount of Oil in Seeds. 
 
 Kinds of Seed. Per Cent. Oil. Kinds of Seed. Per Cent. Oil 
 
 Rapeseed 55 Oats 
 
 Sweet almond 47 Clover hay 5 
 
 Tumipseed 45 Wheat bran 4 
 
 White mustard 37 Oat straw 4 
 
 Bitter almond 37 Meadow hay 
 
 Hempseed 19 Wheat straw 3 
 
 Linseed 17 Wheat flour 3 
 
 Indian corn 7 Barley
 
 Food foi 
 Plants 
 
 To Revive Ferns. 
 
 211 
 
 Nitrate of Soda dissolved in water should be given to ferns 
 that are small or weak, one-quarter of an ounce of Nitrate to a 
 gallon of water. One-half an ounce of Nitrate to a gallon of water 
 should be used on plants that are large and vigorous. Soot and 
 salt are also good to use occasionally. 
 
 How to Kill Poison Ivy. 
 
 Spraying with arsenate of soda (one pound to twenty gallons 
 of water) will kill all vegetation. One application, if the plants 
 are young and tender, will do this. In the middle of summer, 
 however, they should be cut down first, and more than one appli- 
 cation given. 
 
 To Find the Number of Plants to the Acre. 
 
 Divide the number of square feet in an acre, which is 43,560 
 by the multiplied distance the plants are set each way. For in- 
 stance: Suppose the plants are set two feet apart and the rows 
 are four feet apart. Four times two are eight; dividing 43,560 
 by eight we have 5,445, the number of plants to the acre when set 
 2 feet by 4 feet. If set 5 by 1, there are 8,712 plants to the acre, 
 etc. 
 
 Results of Saving Small Amounts of Money. 
 
 The following shows how easy it is to accumulate a fortune, 
 provided proper steps are taken. The table shows what would 
 be the result at the end of fifty years by saving a certain amount 
 each day and putting it at interest at the rate of six per cent. : 
 
 Daily Savings. The Result. Daily Savings. The Result. 
 
 One cent $ 950 Sixty cents $57,024 
 
 Ten cents 9,504 Seventy cents 66,528 
 
 Twenty cents 19,006 Eighty cents 76,032 
 
 Thirty cents 28,512 Ninety cents 85,537 
 
 Forty cents 38,015 One dollar 95,041 
 
 Fifty cents 47,520 Five dollars 465,208 
 
 Nearly every person wastes enough in twenty or thirty years, 
 which, if saved and carefully invested, would make a family quite 
 independent; but the principle of small savings has been lost sight 
 of in the general desire to become wealthy.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 212 
 
 Savings Bank Compound Interest Table. 
 
 Showing the amount of $1.00, from one year to fifteen years, 
 with compound interest added semi-annually, at different rates: 
 
 
 Three 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Four 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Five 
 Per Cent. 
 
 One year 
 
 $1.03 
 
 $1.04 
 
 $1 05 
 
 Two years 
 
 1 06 
 
 1 08 
 
 1 10 
 
 Three years 
 
 1.09 
 
 1 12 
 
 1 15 
 
 Four years 
 
 1 12 
 
 1 17 
 
 1 21 
 
 Five years 
 
 1.16 
 
 1 21 
 
 1 28 
 
 Six years 
 
 1.19 
 
 1.26 
 
 1.34 
 
 Seven years 
 
 1.23 
 
 1 31 
 
 1 41 
 
 Eight years 
 
 1.26 
 
 1.37 
 
 1.48 
 
 Nine years . . 
 
 1 30 
 
 1 42 
 
 1 55 
 
 Ten years 
 
 1.34 
 
 1.48 
 
 1.63 
 
 Eleven years 
 
 1.38 
 
 1.54 
 
 1.72 
 
 Twelve years 
 
 1.42 
 
 1.60 
 
 1.80 
 
 Thirteen years . 
 
 1.47 
 
 1.67 
 
 1.90 
 
 Fourteen years 
 
 1.51 
 
 1 73 
 
 1 99 
 
 Fifteen years 
 
 1.56 
 
 1.80 
 
 2.09 
 
 
 
 
 
 Time at which Money Doubles at Interest. 
 
 Rate. Simple Interest. 
 
 Two per cent 50 years 
 
 Compound Interest. 
 
 . . 35 years, 1 day 
 
 Two and one-half per cent . 40 years 28 years, 26 days 
 
 Three per cent 33 years, 4 months . . 23 years, 164 days 
 
 Three and one-half per cent28 years, 208 days 20 years, 54 days 
 
 Four per cent 25 years 17 years, 246 days 
 
 Four and one-half per cent . 22 years, 81 days ... 15 years, 273 days 
 
 Five per cent 20 years 15 years, 75 days 
 
 Six per cent 16 years, 8 months . . 11 years, 327 days 
 
 One dollar loaned one hundred years at compound interest 
 at three per cent, would amount to $19.25, at six per cent, to 
 $340.00.
 
 Food for 
 
 The Cost of Nitrate of Soda. ^- 
 
 21-7 
 
 Its Use more Profitable than ever. 
 
 The steady upward movement in prices of Nitrate 
 of Soda has been attracting widespread attention, and 
 the uninterrupted gradual rise in prices is warranted, 
 based on solid facts which govern the industry. Labor 
 troubles and the extra cost of production, together with 
 the steady increase in the consumption, have been and 
 are factors in the situation. The increase in the con- 
 sumption in this country for several years has been 
 striking. Labor troubles in the Nitrate regions follow- 
 ing the great earthquake, as the laborers wended their 
 way to Valparaiso and other sections of the country 
 where better wages were paid them, caused considerable 
 irregularity of shipments, and vessels experienced long 
 delays, owing to the scarcity of labor to move the goods. 
 
 The tremendous demand for agricultural purposes, 
 however, has really caused the rise in price. The con- 
 sumption all over the world for agricultural purposes 
 has expanded at a very great rate lately, and perhaps 
 more particularly in this country in the cotton belt 
 than anywhere else. This great demand has grown very 
 rapidly, hence the effect on prices. Production is likely 
 to expand so as to fully meet the fresh demand as rapidly 
 as the supply of labor can be provided for on the West 
 coast of Chile. The earthquake was followed by a wave 
 of rebuilding activity which made labor very scarce 
 and high. 
 
 Looking at the prices current, taking the price for 
 all Nitrogenous fertilizers, it will be noted that they have 
 likewise risen. Many observers of the (Nitrogen) am- 
 moniate market in recent years have asserted that there 
 are not enough ammoniates annually produced to meet 
 the consumption requirements, and the tendency on 
 the part of fertilizer manufacturers is to make lower 
 grade goods; a policy which seems to have invariably a 
 disastrous effect on those who follow it. 
 
 It is proper to observe also that all the Nitrogen in 
 Nitrate of Soda is available. In the other ammoniates
 
 Food for generally quoted the Nitrogen is, of course, not com- 
 
 _ pletely available from an agricultural standpoint even 
 
 2I 4 though some may be soluble in water. Nitrate does not 
 
 leave an acid residue in the soil, but, on the contrary, 
 
 it leaves a sweet alkali residue, of great benefit to most 
 
 soils. 
 
 A further point of interest is the very satisfactory 
 increase in the prices of agricultural commodities 
 whereby farmers are getting a very handsome return on 
 their produce. It would seem, therefore, that on the 
 whole Nitrate of Soda is still the cheapest ammoniate 
 on the market, and it is to be expected that its intelli- 
 gent use will yield more profit than ever. 
 
 Nitrate always pays handsomely on hay, and one 
 hundred pounds per acre alone is a very effective appli- 
 cation. Even at the present prices for Nitrate, one 
 hundred pounds without the use of any other fertilizer, 
 will produce an increased yield of more than half a ton 
 of barn-cured hay. The use of Nitrate on this crop 
 promises to be very remunerative. 
 
 POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION AS TO 
 
 PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS 
 
 AND NITRATE PRICES. 
 
 From the farmer's point of view, a reduction in 
 cotton and produce prices is to be deplored, but the 
 point to be considered is whether abstention from the 
 use of Nitrate is a wise way of meeting the situation. 
 The utility of a fertilizer obviously depends upon its 
 productivity, and as its productivity is not affected by 
 its price, an increase in the latter justifies abandonment 
 of the fertilizer only when its productivity ceases to be 
 profitable. The profit to be reasonably expected from 
 the use of fertilizer, although somewhat less than when 
 it was cheaper, is not so materially interfered with by 
 any rise in price of Nitrate as to economically justify 
 any substantial reduction in its consumption.
 
 SUMMARY OF INCREASED YIELDS. Food for 
 
 Plants 
 
 From an Application of 100 Pounds per Acre of Nitrate of Soda. ~ 
 
 It should be pointed out that in the recorded experi- 
 ments with Nitrate of Soda on money crops heretofore 
 published in Experiment Station re- 
 ports and bulletins, farm products 
 were much lower in price, I he prices 
 of agricultural products have risen to a high water 
 mark, and in certain cases the advance has been to 
 extreme figures, and all farm commodities are now 
 higher than they have been for some years. Our state- 
 ments heretofore published, showing the profit resulting 
 from the crop increases due to the use of 
 Nitrate of Soda, if rearranged on a basis 
 of present values for crops, would show 
 more profit than before. It should also be remarked that 
 
 the prices of other ammoniates have r,o.. Aw 
 
 i i ii XT- i coi i Utner Ammo- 
 
 risen higher than JN itrate ot boda, and n i a tes Higher 
 
 it is, as heretofore, the cheapest of all than Nitrate, 
 ammoniates in the market. Probable 
 
 Economists of authority tell us that Stability of 
 the cost of living is to remain for a 
 considerable time on the high basis now established, so 
 that it is to be expected that the prices of agricultural 
 products will remain at a high level. 
 
 In this connection your attention is called to many 
 experiments with fertilizers in which 
 Nitrate of Soda is said to have been Good Results 
 used in order to produce results to be Due to Nitrate, 
 exploited as due to materials other than 
 this standard money crop producer. 
 
 Further, one may add, that when Slight Added 
 Nitrate is used at the rate of 100 pounds and per Ton* 
 per acre, the actual cash increase in O f Fertilizer. 
 Fertilizer cost per acre is very small. 
 
 The highest agricultural authori- 
 ties have established by careful experi- ^ a t ^ itrate 
 mentation that 100 pounds of Nitrate of crops 
 Soda applied to the crops quoted ju se m p^ce of 
 has produced increased yields as tabu- Farm Products, 
 lated :
 
 Food for Increased Yield per Acre of Crops receiving Nitrate 
 
 at the rate of 100 pounds to the Acre 
 2I 6 over those receiving none. 
 
 Wheat 300 pounds of grain. 
 
 Oats 400 pounds of grain. 
 
 Corn 280 pounds of grain. 
 
 Barley 400 pounds of grain. 
 
 Potatoes 3,600 pounds of tubers. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes 3,900 pounds of tubers. 
 
 Hay 1,000 pounds, barn-cured. 
 
 Cotton 500 pounds cotton-seed. 
 
 Sugar-Beets .4,000 pounds of tubers. 
 
 Cabbages 6,100 pounds. 
 
 Carrots 7,800 pounds. 
 
 Onions 1,800 pounds. 
 
 Turnips 37 per cent. 
 
 Strawberries 200 quarts. 
 
 Asparagus 100 bunches. 
 
 Tomatoes 100 baskets. 
 
 Celery 30 per cent. 
 
 Rye 300 pounds of grain. 
 
 Beets 4,000 pounds of tubers. 
 
 It should be remembered that plants take up most 
 of their Nitrogen during the early period of their growth. 
 
 It is now known that there is not as much danger 
 of it being leached out of the soil by the rains during 
 the growing season as has been generally believed, 
 since the rains seldom reach lower than the bottom of 
 the furrow, and the movement of the soil moisture is 
 up instead of down. Besides, soil moisture is strongly 
 held by good soils by capillary attraction. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda looks somewhat like common dairy 
 salt, and horses, cows and sheep, if they can get to it, 
 may eat it to an injurious extent. 
 
 The emptied bags, especially in damp weather, 
 have more or less Nitrate adhering to them. After 
 emptying, it is a good plan to soak in water, which will 
 make an excellent liquid manure, say one empty bag 
 to a barrel of water. 
 
 If lumpy, the Nitrate should be broken up fine, 
 which is easily done by pounding it on the barn floor
 
 with the back of a spade or shovel, or by a hand grind- od for 
 ing machine made especially for home mixing, which ans 
 is now in common use in Europe and is beginning to be 2I 7 
 used in America. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, unlike other ammoniates and 
 "complete fertilizers," can be mixed with lime or ashes 
 without loss of Nitrogen. 
 
 The fallow in modern agriculture, S. RHODIN (K. 
 Landtbr. Akad. Handl. och Tidskr., 45 (1906), No. 1, 
 57-72, fig. 1). -The evidence and views in regard to the 
 value of bare fallow, especially in Swedish agriculture, 
 are briefly discussed. While bare fallow of loose sandy 
 soils is not to be recommended, because the losses of 
 Nitrogenous substances occurring, generally speaking, 
 exceed the gains through Nitration, this is not the case 
 with other types of soils. Here an accumulation of 
 Nitrates takes place through the fallow, which greatly 
 benefits the following grain crop. 
 
 Field experiments with cabbages in 1903 and with 
 potatoes in 1904 and 1905 were conducted for the pur- 
 pose of determining whether inoculation of sandy soils 
 with fallow soil would prove beneficial on account of 
 the large bacterial content of the latter. The systems of 
 fertilization followed are shown below, the different plats 
 receiving as a basal fertilizer 37 per cent, potash salt and 
 Thomas phosphate, at the rate of 225 to 400 Ibs. per 
 acre, respectively. The Nitrate of Soda was applied at 
 the rate of 300 Ibs. per hectare (121 Ibs. per acre) and the 
 inoculated soil at the rate of 6 cubic yards per hectare. 
 
 Yields per Acre and Percentage Increase of Crops on Inoculated 
 and Uninoculated Gravelly Soil. 
 
 
 Cabbages, 1903. 
 
 Potatoes, 1904. 
 
 Potatoes, 1905. 
 
 No fertilizer 
 
 Pounds 
 8,906.88 
 24,582.99 
 
 24,939.27 
 
 33,222.67 
 60,834.00 
 
 Per cent. 
 86 
 100 
 
 101 
 
 135 
 250 
 
 Pounds 
 6,791.49 
 17,368.42 
 
 20,819.84 
 
 23,046.56 
 30,172.06 
 
 Per cent. 
 39 
 100 
 
 120 
 
 132 
 173 
 
 Pounds 
 9,908.90 
 15,809.72 
 
 20,485.83 
 
 18,370.44 
 23,046.56 
 
 Per cent. 
 62 
 100 
 
 130 
 
 116 
 145 
 
 Potassium phosphate 
 Potassium phosphate 
 + soil from bean 
 field 
 
 Potassium phosphate 
 + soil from fallow 
 field 
 
 Potassium phosphate 
 
 + Nitrate of Soda.
 
 Food for FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 107. 
 
 Plants 
 
 218 Prepared in the Office of Experiment Stations, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 "Under existing conditions farmers are advised to 
 purchase fertilizer materials and to make their own mix- 
 tures rather than to purchase mixed or complete special 
 fertilizers. This course is believed to be advisable for 
 two reasons: First, because the 'specials' are not 
 properly compounded, and second, because the needed 
 plant food can be thus procured at lower cost."* 
 
 The continuous use of muriate of potash may so far 
 deplete the soil of lime that an occasional application 
 of this material may be required in the case of such use. 
 The sulphate of potash is a safer material to use 
 where a growth of clover is desired than the muriate, 
 and therefore it may often be wise to use the sulphate. 
 The high-grade sulphate should be selected. 
 
 These materials should as a rule be mixed just 
 before use, and applied broadcast (after plowing) and 
 harrowed in just before planting the seed. Where Ni- 
 trate of Soda is to be used in quantities in excess of 150 
 pounds per acre, one-half the amount of this salt may be 
 withheld until the crop is 3 or 4 inches high, when it may 
 be evenly scattered near the plants. It is unnecessary 
 to cover this, though it may prove more promptly 
 effective in absence of rain if cultivated in. 
 
 The quantities recommended are in most cases 
 moderate. On soils of good physical character it will 
 often prove profitable to use about one and one-half 
 times the amounts given. 
 
 Terms Used in Discussing Fertilizers. 
 
 NITROGEN may exist in three distinct forms, viz.' 
 as Nitrates, as Nitrogenous organic matter, as am- 
 monia salts. 
 
 NITRATES furnish the most readily available forms 
 of Nitrogen. The most common is Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 NITRATION, or Nitrification, is the process by which 
 
 *U. S. Department Agriculture Farmers' Bulletins, 65 and 84 (Experiment 
 Station Work, II, page 27; VII, page 5).
 
 soluble Nitrate is formed from the less available and ? 0< * for 
 
 Tj 1 o n TO 
 
 less soluble Nitrogen of sulphate of ammonia, dried 
 
 blood, cotton-seed meal, tankage, etc. It is due to 2I 9 
 the action of microscopic organisms, and all nitrogenous 
 fertilizers must undergo this process of Nitration before 
 plants can use them. 
 
 PHOSPHORIC ACID, one of the essential fertilizing 
 ingredients, is derived from materials called phosphates. 
 It does not exist alone, but in combination, most com- 
 monly as phosphate of lime in the form of bones and 
 Rock phosphate. Phosphoric acid occurs in fertilizers 
 in two forms available and insoluble phosphoric acid. 
 
 SUPERPHOSPHATE. In natural phosphates the 
 phosphoric acid is insoluble in water and not available 
 to plants, except in the form of a very fine powder. 
 Superphosphate is prepared from these by grinding and 
 treating with sulphuric acid, which makes the phos- 
 phoric acid more available. Superphosphates are some- 
 times called acid-phosphates. 
 
 POTASH, as a constituent of fertilizers, exists in a 
 number of forms, but chiefly as sulphate and muriate. 
 The chief sources of potash are the potash salts, muriate 
 of potash, sulphate of potash. Canada wood ashes and 
 cotton-hull ashes are also sources of potash, as is also 
 Nitrate of Potash. 
 
 Ammoniates. Nitrogenous Fertilizers. 
 
 Per Cent. Lbs. Nitrogen 
 
 Nitrogen. Per Ton. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 15 . 00 300 
 
 Cyanamid 17.00 340 
 
 Dried blood 13.00 260 
 
 Tankages 4.00 to 12.00 80 to 240 
 
 Dry fish scrap 9.00 180 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 6 . 80 136 
 
 Barnyard manure / . . . 05 1 
 
 Castor pomace 5 .00 100 
 
 Bone meal 3.00 60 
 
 Phosphates. 
 
 Per Cent. Lbs. Phosphoric 
 
 Phosphoric Acid. Acid Per Ton. 
 
 Superphosphate 14 280 
 
 Ground bone 22 440 
 
 Bone tankage 12 240 
 
 Barnyard manure . 32 6 . 40
 
 Food for Potashes. 
 
 Plants 
 Per Cent. Actual Lbs. Potash. 
 
 220 Potash. Per Ton. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 1 to 3 20 to 60 
 
 Sulphate of potash 48 960 
 
 Muriate of potash 50 1,000 
 
 Waste from gunpowder works 18 360 
 
 Maryland marls 1 . 25 25 
 
 Castor pomace 1.5 30 
 
 Tobacco stems 7.5 150 
 
 Barnyard manure . 43 8.6 
 
 Sodas. 
 
 Per Cent. Actual Lbs. Soda 
 
 Soda. Per Ton. 
 
 Carbonate of Soda 50 1,000 
 
 Sulphate of Soda 43 860 
 
 Nitrate of Soda.. 35 700 
 
 Some Practical Hints Regarding 
 
 Nitrate. 
 
 It is the quickest acting plant food known. 
 
 It is immediately available for the use of plants as 
 soon as it goes into solution. 
 
 It does most of its work in one season. More must 
 not be expected of it, as it gives quick returns and large 
 profits when properly applied. It tends to sweeten sour 
 land. 
 
 When applied broadcast it should be evenly distrib- 
 uted. In applying 100 pounds to an acre, one pound 
 has to be evenly spread over 48 square yards, and this 
 requires care and skill. 
 
 It is well to mix it with sand, marl, ashes, land 
 plaster or some other finely divided material of about 
 the same weight in order to secure a more even distribu- 
 tion. 
 
 Where plants are grown in hills or rows it should 
 be applied near the growing plants and thoroughly 
 mixed with the soil. 
 
 It does not matter whether it is sown in dry or wet 
 weather except that when applied broadcast to crop s
 
 like cabbage, which have a large leaf surface, it should Food for 
 be done when the leaves are not wet from rain or dew. ants 
 
 It does not blow away, and dews are sufficient to 221 
 dissolve it. It is not necessary to wait for rain. 
 
 It should be sown early in the spring for cereals, 
 just as they are starting to make their first growth; for 
 roots, after they are transplanted or set out. 
 
 Autumn sowing is generally not advisable except as 
 an extra top-dressing for Danish or winter cabbage just 
 as they are starting to head, which is practised very 
 profitably by large cabbage growers. 
 
 It enables the plant to make use of the necessary 
 mineral elements in the soil to the best advantage. 
 
 There are no unknown conditions that enter it, in 
 reference to the solubility, and hence the availability 
 of Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 The points to be observed in the use 
 of Nitrate of Soda are : Avoid an excess, Gener *,J 
 do not sprinkle wet foliage with dry 
 JNitrate, and in general Nitrate must 
 not be allowed to come in contact with the stems or 
 leaves of plants. Nitrate of Soda is a nitrated nitrogen 
 and is immediately available as plant food. Applica- 
 tions of Nitrate of Soda may be made at the rate of 100 
 pounds to the acre. There is no nitrogenous fertilizer 
 in the market at the present time, which sells as low 
 for the nitrogen contained in it. In looking at quo- 
 tations nitrogen in dried blood, tankages and mixed 
 fertilizers costs anywhere from sixteen to twenty cents 
 per pound. Nitrate is, therefore, the cheapest fertilizer 
 in the market. It should be borne in mind that prices 
 for all agricultural crops have risen proportionately 
 much higher than nitrogenous fertilizers. 
 
 Manures. 
 
 Dr. Voelcker, F.R.S., made analyses of fresh and 
 rotted farmyard manures. These analyses show a 
 larger percentage of soluble organic matter in rotted 
 than in fresh manure. The fresh manure contains 
 more carbon and more water, while in the rotted 
 manure the Nitrogen is in more available form for root- 
 absorption.
 
 Food for If the process of fermentation has been well man- 
 Plants aged, both fresh and rotted manures contain the same 
 222 amounts of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 
 
 T . There should be a sufficient amount 
 
 of litter to absorb and retain the urine 
 and also the ammonia formed in the decomposition of 
 the manure. Leaves, straw, sawdust, moss, etc., to 
 which is added some peat, muck, or fine, dry, loamy 
 earth, mixed with gypsum (land plaster), may be used 
 for litter. The relative value of the manure is dim- 
 inished by the use of too much litter, but on the con- 
 trary, if insufficient absorbent material is used, too much 
 moisture prevents fermentation and the consequent 
 chemical changes in the nitrogenous constituents of 
 the manure. 
 
 The best method for the manage- 
 
 Management of t f f armyard man ure is to make 
 
 Farm- Yard -, , . , 
 
 Manure. an( * keep it under cover, in sheds, or 
 
 better still, in covered pits from which 
 there can be no loss by drainage. It should also be 
 kept sufficiently moist, and by the addition of charcoal, 
 peat, or vegetable refuse and gypsum the volatilization 
 of ammonia may be reduced to a minimum. Manure 
 so made is worth 50 per cent, more than that thrown 
 into a heap in the barnyard to be leached by the storms 
 of months before being spread upon the land. 
 
 Where pits cannot be provided the manure pile 
 should rest upon a hard, clay bottom, or on a thick 
 layer of peat or vegetable refuse, which acts as an 
 absorbent and prevents the loss of much liquid manure. 
 The time-honored custom of hauling manure upon 
 the land and of dumping it in small heaps from two 
 to three feet in height, is a wasteful and clumsy practice 
 that should be abandoned by every farmer. 
 
 A simple and effectual way of dis- 
 posing of the night-soil on a farm is to 
 so construct the closet that the urine 
 will at once drain to a lower level, and there be mixed 
 with an equal quantity of quicklime. The solid ex- 
 crement should be covered daily with a small quantity 
 of quicklime mixed with a little fine charcoal or peat. 
 Such a receptacle can be made by any farmer at com-
 
 paratively little cost, and will more than compensate Food for 
 for the care it entails by doing away with ill-smelling ans 
 odors and the disagreeable and often dangerous task of 22 3 
 cleaning vaults, besides furnishing a very rich manurial 
 product for admixture with farmyard manure or com- 
 post. Such receptacle should be kept in the form of a 
 shallow drawer or box with an inclined bottom, and 
 should rest upon stout runners like a stone boat or 
 drag, so that, at frequent intervals, it can be drawn by 
 a horse to the manure pile or compost heap. 
 
 On the bottom of the drawer should be kept a thin 
 layer of quicklime mixed with peat, wood-pile dirt, or 
 loam. 
 
 As an alkali, soda has no advantage over potash, 
 since the decomposing action of the soda is rarely due 
 to its alkalinity. If wood-ashes are used for potash the 
 lime carbonate will neutralize the acid properties of 
 the peat, and the growth of the Nitrate ferment will 
 thus be greatly promoted. 
 
 Soda, is in rare instances, needful as a plant food; 
 if needed it would be better economy to use soda ash. 
 In these composts the writer invariably substitutes kainit, 
 or other products of the German mines, for common 
 salt. 
 
 Sawdust, leaves, cornstalks, tan 
 bark, and all kinds of coarse vegetable Humus ^ 
 materials are more rapidly decomposed 
 by the aid of caustic alkalies than by any other means. 
 Coarse materials, like cornstalks, trimmings from fruit 
 trees, hedges, grape vines, etc., are rich in plant food, 
 and instead of being burned should be composted with 
 potash and lime in separate heaps. More time must 
 be allowed for the decomposition of coarse materials, 
 and they should always be composted in large heaps 
 and kept moist. 
 
 The process of nitration in the niter- 
 bed, the compost-heap, or in the soil is NitSication 
 precisely the same. The formation of 
 Nitrates is due to the continuous life and development 
 of a micro-organism known as the nitric ferment or nitric 
 bacteria, which lives upon the nitrogenous organic mat- 
 ters, ammonium compounds, and other things present
 
 F piants m ^ e so ^' ^ e n ^ r ^ c f ermen t is a microscopic plant 
 - somewhat like the yeast used for leavening bread, and 
 22 4 for fermenting malt liquors; and under favorable con- 
 ditions of temperature and moisture, and in the pres- 
 ence of oxygen is propagated with marvelous rapidity 
 in the soil. One of the results of the life of this minute 
 plant is the formation of Nitrates. 
 
 Nitration is extremely feeble in winter and at tem- 
 peratures below 40 F. almost entirely ceases. It is 
 most active at about 98 F. to 99 F., and is more rapid 
 in the dark than in bright sunlight. At temperatures 
 over 100 F. the formation of Nitrates rapidly decreases 
 and at 131 F. entirely ceases. As we have just stated, 
 it has been noticed that the nitric ferment thrives best 
 in the dark, hence, this is one good reason for making 
 compost beds under sheds or in sheltered situations. 
 When so made the conditions for nitrification are more 
 favorable and the beds are protected from the leaching 
 action of storms. 
 
 To ensure rapid nitrification all the food elements 
 required by the nitric ferment must be present. The 
 ash ingredients of plants, phosphates, ammonia, car- 
 bonaceous matter, and an excess of oxygen must be 
 present. 
 
 Peat containing much copperas, coal-tar, gas-lime 
 containing sulphites and sulphides, kill the ferment. 
 The Nitrate ferment is developed during the slow de- 
 cay of organic matter in all soils. 
 
 Materials Used in Making Commercial 
 or Chemical Fertilizers. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda or Chile Saltpetre 
 occurs in vast deposits in the rainless 
 
 districts of the West coast of South 
 Saltpetre. . . . n . .-^ t .-i 
 
 America, chiefly in Chile, trom whence 
 
 it is imported to this country for use in chemical manu- 
 facture and in agriculture. As imported into the United 
 States, Nitrate of Soda usually contains about fifteen 
 per cent, of Nitrogen. Nitrate of Soda resembles com- 
 mon salt, with which and sodium sulphate it is often
 
 adulterated. This salt is at once available as a direct Food for 
 fertilizer. Whenever practicable it should be applied Plapts _ 
 as a top-dressing to growing crops, and if possible the 225 
 dressings should be given in two or three successive 
 rations. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda is usually applied at the rate of 
 from 100 to 200 pounds per acre on land previously 
 dressed with farm-yard manure. To secure an even 
 distribution, the Nitrate should be well mixed with 
 from three to five parts of fine loam or sand. 
 
 Much has been said and written about Nitrate of 
 Soda exhausting the soil. This is all a mistake and is the 
 outcome of incorrect reasoning. Nitrate of Soda does 
 not exhaust soils. It does promote the development of 
 the leafy parts of plants, and its effects are at once 
 noticeable in the deep, rich green, and vigorous growth 
 of crops. The growth of plants is greatly energized 
 by its use, for the Nitrate in supplying an abundance 
 of nitrogenous food to plants, imparts to them a thrift 
 and vigor which enables their roots to gather in the 
 shortest time the largest amount of other needed foods 
 from a greater surface of surrounding soil. The thirty- 
 seven to forty per cent, of Soda which Nitrate contains 
 is practically of no use to agricultural plants. In the 
 increased crop obtained by its use there must necessarily 
 be more potash and phosphoric acid than would have 
 been contained in a smaller crop on which the Nitrate 
 of Soda had not been used. The increased consumption 
 of phosphoric acid and potash is due to the increase in 
 the weight of the crop. The office of the Nitrate is to 
 convert the raw materials of the soil into a crop; for we 
 obtain by its use, as Dr. Griffiths has tersely said, "the 
 fullest crop with the greatest amount of profit, with the 
 least damage to the land." 
 
 On cereals Nitrate of Soda should 
 be used alone or mixed with dry super- 
 phosphate and applied as a top-dressing. 
 
 On grass lands it may be applied as a top-dressing 
 at the rate of 150 to 200 pounds per acre. 
 
 Some of. our most successful onion growers use 
 Nitrate of Soda at the rate of from 500 to 700 pounds 
 per acre, applying the Nitrate in three successive top-
 
 F Ptan? r dressings, the last ration being given when the crop is 
 
 about half grown. 
 
 226 From what is known of the fertilization action of 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, the following conclusions may be safely 
 drawn, viz.: 
 
 First. Nitrate of Soda is, in most cases, a reliable 
 fertilizer for cereals, roots and grasses, increasing the 
 yield over other nitrogenous fertilizers. 
 
 Second. Many crops grown with Nitrate of Soda 
 mature from one to two weeks earlier than when grown 
 with other nitrogenized fertilizers. 
 
 Third. The best results are obtained by applying 
 the Nitrate to crops in fractional top-dressings during 
 the active stages of growth. 
 
 Fourth. Crops grown with Nitrate of Soda gener- 
 ally have a higher feeding value than those grown with 
 other forms of Nitrogen. 
 
 Fifth. Crops grown with Nitrate of Soda seem to 
 resist the attacks of parasitic organisms better than 
 those grown without its aid. 
 
 Sixth. Nitrate of Soda does not exhaust the land. 
 
 Economy in the Purchase of Fertilizers. 
 Home Mixtures 
 
 Economy in the purchase of fertilizing materials 
 or of agricultural chemicals depends not only on the 
 price paid per pound or per ton, but also on the relation 
 existing between the price paid and the amounts and 
 forms of the Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash 
 furnished. To illustrate, we will assume that two 
 fertilizers, both made from the best class of materials, 
 are offered by a manufacturer at thirty dollars and at 
 thirty-five dollars per ton. The first is guaranteed to 
 contain three per cent, of Nitrogen, seven per cent, of 
 available phosphoric acid, and three per cent, of potash. 
 The second is guaranteed to contain five per cent, of 
 Nitrogen, ten per cent, of available phosphoric acid, 
 and seven per cent, of potash. 
 
 We have but to calculate the commercial values of 
 these fertilizers to ascertain their true relation to the 
 prices asked by the manufacturer. By simply multiply-
 
 ing the actual content of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and Food for 
 potash by the trade value for these constituents in mixed lants 
 fertilizers, we find that there is an actual difference of 227 
 nearly $14 in their commercial values, whereas the diff- 
 erence in price made by the manufacturer is only $5. 
 
 The fertilizer materials in the higher priced fertiliz- 
 ers are about thirty -three per cent, cheaper than those 
 in the lower priced article. 
 
 As a general rule the more concentrated the form 
 of fertilizing materials in commercial fertilizers, or the 
 higher the grade of unmixed raw materials purchased 
 by the farmer for home mixing, the greater will be the 
 saving in actual cost. 
 
 The higher the grade of materials the less will be 
 the expense for freight, mixing, and spreading upon the 
 land. 
 
 There are these decided advantages about the mix- 
 ing of materials at home, viz., each raw material can 
 be separately examined, and if there is any cause for 
 suspecting inferior forms of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 
 or potash, samples may be sent to the State Experiment 
 Station for analysis. The detection of error or fraud 
 is more certain and much easier in unmixed raw 
 materials than in mixed fertilizers. Another important 
 advantage of home-mixing is the opportunity afforded 
 the intelligent farmer to adapt the composition of a 
 fertilizer to the special soil requirements of his land and 
 to the wants of the crop to be grown. And, lastly, home 
 mixtures have, as a rule, proved to be much cheaper 
 than ready-made fertilizers. However, the economy of 
 home-mixing should in every instance be determined by 
 actual calculation. 
 
 Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, as we have 
 already seen, are necessary for the complete develop- 
 ment of farm crops, and are the constituents most likely 
 to be deficient in cultivated soils; different crops have 
 different capacities for consuming these plant foods, so 
 that when no increase in crop production follows a 
 rational application of one, two, or all three of these 
 constituents the soil evidently contains them in suffi- 
 cient stores to develop crops to limitations fixed by 
 season and existing climatic conditions. By a careful
 
 F< Pkn? r study f the capacities of different crops for using 
 
 Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, we may, within 
 
 228 reasonable limits, approximate the quantities, which, 
 under average conditions of crop, soil, and season, 
 should be restored to the land to balance the consump- 
 tion of growing crops. 
 
 In using fertilizers, or in special crop feeding, it 
 should be borne in mind that lands in a high state of 
 cultivation generally respond to heavy fertilization 
 with much greater immediate profit than those of 
 ordinary fertility. 
 
 It is estimated that the total fertilizer business of 
 our country is not far from six million tons. It may be 
 somewhat more, but, accepting six million tons as the 
 figure, it would take four hundred thousand cars to 
 handle this business. Assuming the average fertilizer 
 consumed to be worth only twenty dollars a ton, it 
 would seem certain that forty per cent, of this tonnage 
 is absolutely inefficient and useless, from every stand- 
 point, since such average fertilizer which runs only 
 twenty dollars per ton contains fully forty per cent, of 
 filler. From this standpoint, one hundred sixty 
 thousand cars are engaged once every year for the season 
 in carrying filler material from our fertilizer factories 
 to our farmers, on which our farmers pay the freight. 
 This is really perfectly valueless to the farmer and 
 planter, and of no ultimate value to the transportation 
 company in producing outbound tonnage; neither does 
 it contribute in any way to diminishing the high cost of 
 living, in fact, it prevents increasing our food supplies, 
 since it compels a large body of men engaged in produc- 
 tion, as well as in transportation, from producing 
 anything of value to anybody. It is sheer waste. 
 
 The elimination of filler from our fertilizers, and 
 putting in its place an active form of nitrogen to bring 
 up the productive capacity of our fertilizers to the 
 European standard, since our average contains but two 
 per cent, nitrogen, eight per cent, phosphoric acid 
 and four per cent, potash, whilst the European average 
 contains four and a half per cent, nitrogen, eight per 
 cent, phosphoric acid and four per cent, potash. is a 
 crying necessity. The money which is now expended
 
 by our farmers for fertilizers and their transportation od for 
 
 should be expended on material worthy of transporta- ans 
 
 tion, for it would immediately create different condi- 22 9 
 tions, and would make the fertilizer communities now 
 served by the railroad immensely more prosperous. 
 Not only would the railroads have more outbound 
 tonnage, but they would have more inbound tonnage, 
 as a result of the increased purchasing capacity of our 
 farmers and planters. 
 
 Since we have pretty close to three hundred million 
 acres of lands on which fertilizer could be used, the 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Cotton 4 Bales. 
 
 The average yield of Five 
 Egyptian acres of cotton where 
 Nitrate of Soda is used at the 
 rate of 100 Ibs. or more to the 
 acre. 
 
 Cotton 2 Bales. 
 
 The average yield of Five 
 United States acres of cotton 
 of average production and aver- 
 age fertilization. 
 
 possibilities of increasing the food supplies of all our 
 crops are obvious, since Nitrate has now been recognized 
 by accepted Scientific Authorities as a crop producer 
 of first-rate importance. 
 
 The average crop production for six staple crops of 
 different countries is stated hereunder, as is also the
 
 Food for average composition of fertilizers used by farmers in 
 
 Plants 
 
 230 
 
 the several countries : 
 
 Crop 
 
 United States 
 
 Egypt 
 
 Germany 
 
 England 
 
 Cotton 
 
 185 Ibs. 
 80 bu. 
 97.15bu. 
 12 tons 
 785. 49 Ibs. 
 14 bu. 
 f 2% Nitrogen* 
 8% Phos. Acid 
 [ 4% Potash 
 
 400 Ibs. 
 
 
 
 Oats 
 
 48 bu. 
 199.84 bu. 
 16 tons 
 1614. 70 Ibs. 
 28 bu. 
 4% Nitrogen 
 8% Phos. Acid 
 4% Potash 
 
 45 bu. 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 
 Sugar Beets 
 
 
 
 Tobacco ... 
 
 
 Wheat 
 
 
 33 bu. 
 4|% N.trogen 
 8% Phos. Acid 
 4% Potash 
 
 Average Fertilizer 
 
 4>5% Nitrogen 
 8% Phos. Acid 
 4% Potash 
 
 * The nitrogen in ready mixed fertilizers in the United States is frequently all 
 inactive, and sometimes never available. 
 
 It will be seen that the average crop production of 
 staple crops is very much greater in Europe and Egypt 
 than in this country. In those countries enormous 
 quantities of Chilean Nitrate are used as a fertilizer, and 
 their average fertilizer contains two and a half per cent, 
 more of active Nitrogen, (Nitrate) than ours. This 
 corresponds to about three hundred pounds of Nitrate 
 of Soda in each ton, and this formula eliminates most of 
 the useless filler. 
 
 The Home Mixing of Fertilizers 
 
 A hundred years ago the farmers of America and 
 Europe had at their disposal but few materials for in- 
 creasing the fertility of the land. Barnyard manure 
 was then the great fertilizer, but only capable, as we 
 realize now, of restoring but incompletely the plant- 
 food carried away by the crops. Yet barnyard manure 
 was justly esteemed for its fertilizing value, and on 
 many a farm cattle were kept, not because they were 
 in themselves profitable, but because of the manure 
 that they produced. However, for all of the cattle kept 
 on the farms of Europe, the productive power of its
 
 soils was declining. At this time the use of bones be- Food for 
 came prevalent and this marked the beginning of more ants 
 rational methods of soil treatment. 2 3i 
 
 The Rise of the Fertilizer Mixing Industry. 
 
 It was not until the second quarter of the nine- 
 teenth century, however, that new and important fer- 
 tilizer materials came into the market. The increasing 
 number of soil and crop analyses had demonstrated the 
 invariable presence of the essential constituents in both 
 soils and plants; while the numerous vegetation experi- 
 ments showed that Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
 potash were often present in the soil in amounts too 
 small for profitable yields. 
 
 There then came into being a great fertilizer mix- 
 ing industry. Peruvian guano held for a time a promi- 
 nent place in the agriculture of contemporary Europe. 
 It was not long, however, before the supply of the best 
 grades of guano became depleted, though this did not 
 occur until the chemist pointed the way to new treas- 
 ures of plant-food. Nitrate of Soda, the most valuable 
 source of commercial Nitrogen at present, came to play 
 an increasingly important role after the middle of the 
 nineteenth century. The potash salts of the German 
 mines became a marketable commodity when the last 
 battles of our civil war were being fought; and when 
 the great conflict was over, the phosphate deposits of 
 South Carolina, and subsequently of Florida and Ten- 
 nessee, were ready to supply the third important con- 
 stituent of commercial fertilizers. 
 
 The Make-Up of Commercial Fertilizers. 
 
 The fertilizers sold to American farmers are valu- 
 able in so far as they contain the essential available 
 constituents, Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid and Potash. 
 When all are present the fertilizer is said to be complete, 
 otherwise it is incomplete. It is the aim of the fertilizer 
 mixers to supply to farmers both incomplete and com- 
 plete fertilizers, chiefly the latter. Furthermore, usage 
 and state legislation compel them to guarantee that 
 their various brands contain a certain proportion of the
 
 Food for essential constituents, but, unfortunately for the farmer, 
 
 _ they do not require any disclosure whatever as to the 
 
 2 32 availability of the most valuable content, viz., Nitrogen; 
 
 hence, the attempt to state a formula on the bags, or on 
 
 the tags attached to the latter, is a wholly incomplete 
 
 affair. As an example, we may take a fertilizer whose 
 
 formula is 4-8-10, that is, one containing 4 per cent, of 
 
 Nitrogen, 8 per cent, of phosphoric acid and 10 per cent. 
 
 of potash. 
 
 Materials of various qualities and grades are em- 
 ployed for the preparation of so-called complete fer- 
 tilizers, as may be seen from the following list: 
 
 Materials Furnishing 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 Nitrate of Lime, 
 Sulphate of Ammonia, 
 Calcium Cyanamid, 
 Dried Blood, 
 Tankage, 
 Fish Scrap, 
 Cottonseed Meal, 
 Horn and Hoof Meal , 
 Hair and Wool, 
 Leather Scrap. 
 
 Materials Furnishing MaterialsFurnishing 
 
 Phos. Acid. 
 
 Thomas Slag 
 Acid Phosphate, 
 Bone Meal, 
 Phosphatic Guano, 
 Fish Scrap, 
 Bone Tankage. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Potash Salts (from 
 
 Germany), 
 Unleached Wood 
 
 Ashes. 
 
 Aside from these materials, there are others that are 
 occasionally employed by mixers to furnish filler. 
 
 Availability in Fertilizers. 
 
 In the making of complete goods from the various 
 straight fertilizers the mixer is largely guided by the 
 cost, as well as the quality of the latter. The question 
 of quality is particularly important, since no high grade 
 fertilizer can be made from inferior ingredients. The 
 conception of quality has been gradually developed by 
 investigators and farmers and the term Availability is 
 commonly employed when the value of straight or mixed 
 fertilizers is considered. We call a fertilizer Available 
 when the Nitrogen, phosphoric acid or potash contained
 
 in it may be readily used by the crop; and not Avail- Food>r 
 able when it is transformed so slowly in the soil as to _ 
 
 offer but little plant-food to the crop at any one time. 2 33 
 A striking illustration of the significance of Availability 
 in fertilizers is found in the action of comparatively 
 small amounts of Nitrate on grass or grain applied early 
 in the spring. It has been repeatedly observed that 
 soils containing as much as .15 per cent, of Nitrogen, 
 or 6,000 pounds per acre-foot out of a total of 2,000 
 tons, which such an acre-foot weighs, and capable of 
 yielding about one ton of hay per acre, may be made to 
 produce two tons of hay when top-dressed in the spring 
 with only 100-150 pounds of Nitrate. At first it may 
 seem strange that the 23 or 24 pounds of Nitrogen in 
 150 pounds of Nitrate of Soda should produce this 
 magic effect, when measured against the 6,000 pounds 
 of ordinary Nitrogen already in the soil. But the mys- 
 tery is made clear to us when we remember that Nitrate 
 of Soda is a soluble food that may be directly taken up 
 by plant-roots, whereas the Nitrogen of the soil itself is 
 nearly all locked up in inert humous compounds which 
 must first pass through the various stages of Nitration 
 before they become available. With some qualifica- 
 tions a similar comparison could be made between the 
 phosphoric acid in ground phosphate rock, known as 
 "floats," and that in acid phosphate; or between 
 potash in feldspar rock or clay and that in sulphate of 
 potash. 
 
 In order to protect the farmer against fraud, fer- 
 tilizer laws have been enacted in most of the Eastern 
 States. These laws compel the mixers and dealers to 
 guarantee their goods, that is, to state on the bags or 
 tags how much Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 
 their fertilizers contain; furthermore, they are also 
 compelled, but in an incomplete measure, to guarantee 
 the quality, i. e., Availability, of the plant-food sold by 
 them. The farmer is given, however, a fair measure of 
 protection in so far as the phosphoric acid and potash 
 purchased by him are concerned. He is told definitely 
 how much phosphoric acid is present in available form. 
 He knows, also, that the potash in mixed fertilizers is 
 derived almost exclusively from the German potash
 
 Food for salts, all of them readily available. On the other hand, 
 
 he is given little protection in his purchase of Nitrogen. 
 
 2 34 To be sure, the fertilizer laws compel the mixer to state 
 how much Nitrogen there is present in this commodity; 
 yet he is not compelled to tell the exact source or avail- 
 ability of the Nitrogen employed by him. From the 
 consumer's standpoint this is a serious question, since 
 
 Barley. 
 
 Pots manured with Phosphoric Acid, Potash and Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 
 Nitrate 
 of Soda 
 
 none 
 
 1 gr. 
 
 2gr. 
 
 3gr. 
 
 In agricultural practice from 76 Ibs. to 200 Ibs. of Nitrate of Soda 
 per acre is applied in one or more dressings. 
 
 a pound of Nitrogen costs about four times as much as 
 a pound of either phosphoric acid or potash. If the law 
 required merely the stating of the total per cent, of 
 phosphoric acid or of potash without giving the amount 
 of soluble or available percentages of the same, how 
 incomplete the essential information would be as to the
 
 nature or value of the "so-called" complete fertilizers. Food f or 
 More than that, the Nitrogen is not only costly but ans 
 calls for greater farming skill in its use, lest the yields 2 3S 
 and quality of the produce be unfavorably affected. 
 The Activity as well as the Availability of Nitrogen in 
 materials like leather scrap, hair or peat is but one- 
 fifth to one-tenth as much as that in Nitrate of Soda, 
 and we can therefore realize the necessity of complete 
 knowledge as to the agricultural use of Nitrogen. 
 
 It is conceded by all authorities that more accurate 
 knowledge in this direction may be secured by the prac- 
 tice of HOME-MIXING, that is, by the purchase of 
 the straight fertilizers and their mixing at home on the 
 farm in amounts and proportions best suited for any 
 particular soil and crop. 
 
 Advantages of Home Mixing. 
 
 The practice of home-mixing has its friends as well 
 as its opponents, but when all the arguments pro and 
 con are summed up the decision must be entirely in its 
 favor. The advantages claimed for home-mixing are: 
 
 1 . Better adaptation to soil and crop. Soils vary in 
 their chemical composition, and in their previous 
 history, as to cropping and fertilization. One soil 
 may be deficient in available Nitrogen, another de- 
 ficient in available phosphoric acid. In one in- 
 stance a heavy application of manure, a crop of 
 crimson clover, or alfalfa stubble may have been 
 plowed under; and in a second instance a thin 
 timothy sod. Evidently a crop of corn would not 
 find the same amounts and proportions of food in 
 these cases, and it is therefore idle to assume that 
 a so-called corn fertilizer, whatever its composition, 
 would prove as efficient in the one case as in the 
 other. 
 
 Again, it is common knowledge that some 
 crops are particularly grateful for applications of 
 Nitrogen, while others are responsive to applica- 
 tions of phosphoric acid or of potash. Yet even
 
 Fo pi d f ? r here the soil and climate exert an important modi- 
 
 _ fying influence. For instance, clovers and other 
 
 2 3 6 legumes are capable of securing their Nitrogen 
 from the air and, except in the early stages of growth, 
 are independent of the supply in the soil or fer- 
 tilizers. On the other hand, they require large 
 amounts of potash, phosphoric acid and lime. 
 Nevertheless, certain limestone soils require only 
 applications of potash, while many silt loam or 
 clay soils require only applications of phosphoric 
 acid. In a word, then, no single formula for any 
 particular crop can be devised to suit all soils and 
 seasons. When the mixing is done on the farm, 
 proper adjustment can be made to suit local con- 
 ditions, known best by the farm manager after 
 adequate experience. 
 
 One advantage of .Home-Mixing is that the 
 farmer may make any combination of plant-food 
 he wishes, and know the form and availability of 
 the ingredients of his own fertilizer, and he will 
 save not only the high price paid for filler, but also 
 the cost of transporting it. 
 
 2. Better information concerning the quality of 
 materials. The present high prices of organic am- 
 moniates are forcing the fertilizer mixers to employ 
 various organic materials of inferior quality. Since 
 the fertilizer laws do not require any distinction 
 between the sources of Nitrogen, mixers feel free to 
 meet competition and to reduce the cost of mixing 
 by employing inert materials like leather-scrap, 
 hair, wool and garbage tankage. Moreover, even 
 the better grades of organic ammoniates like dried 
 blood, tankage, and ground fish are now adulter- 
 ated more than formerly, florae-mixing protects 
 the farmer against the use of inferior materials 
 and permits him to purchase his Nitrogen in the 
 readily available forms. 
 
 Many of the ingredients used by the manu- 
 facturers of "complete" fertilizers are produced 
 directly or indirectly by themselves. Others, like 
 Nitrate of Soda, potash salts and basic slag, are
 
 not produced in this country. Naturally the Food for 
 manufacturers will use as much as possible of the ans 
 materials produced by themselves, on which they 2 37 
 make both a raw material and a mixing profit, and 
 spend as little as possible for imported materials 
 on which they can make but one profit. 
 
 Carrots. 
 
 Pots manured with Phosphoric Acid, Potash and Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Nitrate 
 of Soda 
 
 none 
 
 3gr. 
 
 gr- 
 
 agricultural practice from 2 cwt. to 4 cwt. of Nitrate of Soda 
 per acre is applied in one or more dressings. 
 
 The "complete" fertilizer manufacturers use 
 large quantities of low grade materials which the 
 farmers would not buy for .Home-Mixing because 
 of the doubtful value of the Nitrogen owing to its 
 not being available, that is, indigestible as plant 
 food. But the manufacturer finds them doubly 
 valuable as filler, because he can label his goods as
 
 F piants containing so and so much Nitrogen, notwith- 
 standing its indigestible quality as a plant food. 
 
 238 
 
 3. Lower cost per unit of plant-food. As shown by 
 the analyses and valuations of fertilizers made by 
 different experiment stations, the so-called overhead 
 charges made by the mixers amount, on the aver- 
 age, to more than six dollars per ton. Otherwise 
 stated, the farmer who buys mixed fertilizers is 
 made to pay about six or seven dollars per ton for 
 mixing, bagging, shipping, agents' commissions, 
 profit, long credit, etc. The overhead charges tend 
 to increase the cost per unit of plant-food in all 
 fertilizers, and to a particularly marked extent in 
 the cheaper brands. Home-mixing enables the 
 farmer to secure available plant-food at a lower 
 cost per unit. 
 
 4. More profitable returns from the use of fertilizers 
 may be secured when one understands their com- 
 position and the functions of their single ingredients. 
 The man who takes the trouble to make himself 
 acquainted with the origin, the history and the 
 action of different fertilizers is perforce bound to 
 secure larger returns from them than the man who 
 blindly follows the experience of others. For this 
 reason the Acme-mixing of fertilizers is an educa- 
 tional factor of great importance. The farmer who 
 does his own mixing is bound to observe the effect 
 of season, of crop and of rotation. He is bound to 
 learn something of the particular influences of 
 Nitrogen, of phosphoric acid and of potash. In 
 the course of time he is led to experiment for him- 
 self, with different mixtures, proportions and 
 methods of application, and by doing all these 
 things he becomes more skilled and successful in the 
 business of crop production. 
 
 The opponents of Acme-mixing have claimed, on 
 their part, that the farmer cannot prepare mixtures as 
 uniform as those made at the factory. They have also 
 claimed that the mixtures made at the farm are more
 
 costly than similar mixtures made at the factory. As Food for 
 to the first of these objections, it has been demonstrated Plants 
 by most of the experiment stations in the East and the 2 39 
 South that home-mixtures can be made mechanically 
 as satisfactory as the best of the commercial brands. 
 It is merely necessary to screen the single ingredients 
 and to use some sort of a filler like dry peat or fine loam 
 to prevent caking. The second objection is not at all 
 borne out by the actual experience of farmers who have 
 been using home-mixtures for years. 
 
 Equipment and Methods for Home- Mixing. 
 
 The equipment required for home-mixing is very 
 simple and inexpensive. It consists of a screen with 
 three (8) meshes to the inch, and about 4-5 feet long 
 and l]/2 to 2 feet wide, a shovel with square point, an 
 iron rake, and platform scales. 
 
 The mixing may be done on a tight, clean barn 
 floor, and a heavy wooden post is useful for crushing 
 big lumps of the material; frequently the use of a 
 sieve may be dispensed with by this means. 
 
 Previous to mixing, the materials are screened, the 
 lumps broken up and again screened. The mixing may 
 then be best accomplished by spreading out the most 
 bulky constituent in a uniform layer about six inches 
 thick. The next most bulky constituent is then similarly 
 spread out on top of the first, and is followed in its turn 
 by the others until the pile is complete. The several 
 layers are then thoroughly mixed by shovelling the en- 
 tire heap three or four times. Thorough mixing is 
 shown by the absence of streaks of different materials. 
 The mixture may be put in bags or other convenient 
 receptacles and kept in a dry place until needed. 
 
 In mixing various materials some knowledge is re- 
 quired concerning the action of different ingredients 
 upon each other. Such knowledge will prevent the 
 danger of loss of constituents or the deterioration of 
 quality. The materials that should not be employed 
 together in mixed fertilizers are known as incompatibles. 
 As is pointed out in this connection in Farmers' Bulletin 
 No. 225, U. S. Department of Agriculture, it should be
 
 F pfants remem bered that " (1) When certain materials are 
 
 mixed chemical changes take place which result in loss 
 
 2 4 of a valuable constituent, as when lime is mixed with 
 guano, Nitrogen escapes ; or in a change of a constituent 
 to a less available form, as when lime is mixed with super- 
 phosphates, the phosphoric acid is made less soluble; 
 and (2), mixtures of certain materials, as, for example, 
 potash salts and Thomas Slag, are likely to harden or 
 * cake,' and thus become difficult to handle if kept some 
 time after mixing." 
 
 Potash salts may be mixed with Thomas phosphate 
 powder, but acid phosphate should not be mixed with 
 quick lime, nor sulphate of ammonia with basic slag. 
 
 The modern farmer in America is beginning to 
 understand the nature of straight fertilizers as well as 
 the farmer in Germany. He knows fairly w r ell the 
 character and qualities of the materials now used in 
 mixing fertilizers; and can thus form his own judgment 
 as to what is best for the different crops and soils. 
 
 It is better to spread fertilizers broadcast by 
 hand, or by a top-dressing machine; fertilizer drills, 
 as a rule, are not of sufficient capacity. Broadcasting is 
 always a more thorough method of applying fertilizers, 
 as it gives the following crops a better opportunity to 
 utilize all the material and prevents too much concentra- 
 tion of plant food by the plants. It also gives a better 
 root development, since the plants are compelled to 
 utilize a larger feeding area to no disadvantage, since 
 it is nature's way. 
 
 It is generally better to harrow in fertilizers after 
 they are applied, except on the seeded crops or on sod 
 lands. 
 
 Calculations for Mixing Fertilizers. 
 
 As an example of how the proportions of the differ- 
 ent ingredients in a mixture may be calculated, let it be 
 assumed that a farmer wishes to prepare a 4-8-6 potato 
 fertilizer out of Nitrate of Soda containing 15 per cent, 
 of Nitrogen; acid phosphate containing 16 per cent, of 
 available phosphoric acid and sulphate of potash con- 
 taining 50 per cent, of actual potash. Remembering
 
 that each one hundred pounds of the required mixture Food for 
 is to contain 4 pounds of available Nitrogen, 8 pounds Plants 
 of available phosphoric acid and 6 pounds of available 2 4i 
 potash, we may best determine the amounts of each per 
 ton by multiplying the given figures by 20. Thus: 
 
 4 x 20 = 80 Ibs. Available Nitrogen per ton. 
 
 8 x 20 = 160 " Available phosphoric acid per ton. 
 
 6 x 20 = 120 " Available potash per ton. 
 
 Hence each ton of the mixture is to contain 80 
 pounds of available Nitrogen, 160 pounds of available 
 phosphoric acid and 120 pounds of available potash. 
 
 We next determine the amount of each ingredient 
 necessary to furnish the required quantities of plant- 
 food. Since each one hundred pounds of Nitrate con- 
 tains 15 pounds of Nitrogen, the 80 pounds of Nitro- 
 gen required would represent as many hundreds or 
 fractions thereof, as 15 is contained in 80; or 
 
 80 -f- 15% = 533 Ibs. Nitrate of Soda 
 160 -^ 16% = 1000 Ibs. Acid Phosphate 
 120 -r- 50% = 240 Ibs. Sulphate of Potash 
 
 Filler 227 Ibs. Fine dry loam, or peat, or 
 
 land plaster (gypsum) 
 
 2000 Ibs. 
 
 Calculations of Formula of Mixed Materials. 
 
 It is desirable, at times to determine the propor- 
 tions of plant-food in any given mixture. For instance, 
 a mixture is made up of 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, 
 200 pounds of tankage, 1,000 pounds of acid phosphate 
 and 200 pounds of sulphate of potash, what is the 
 formula if the Nitrate contains 15 per cent, of avail- 
 able Nitrogen, the tankage 5 per cent, of Nitrogen and 
 10 per cent, of phosphoric acid, the acid phosphate 16 
 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and the sulphate of potash 
 50 per cent, of potash. The amounts of plant food 
 would then be:
 
 Food for Nitrogen Phos. Acid Potash 
 
 Plarts Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. 
 
 " Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. x .15 = 30 
 
 Tankage 200 Ibs. x .05 = 10 
 
 Tankage 200 Ibs. x .10 = . . 20 
 
 Acid Phosphate 1000 Ibs. x .16 = . . 160 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 200 Ibs. x .50 = . . . . 100 
 
 Total.. ..40 180 100 
 
 A ton of the mixture would thus contain 40 pounds 
 of Nitrogen, 180 pounds of phosphoric acid and 100 
 pounds of potash. To get the weight per hundred we 
 divide each of these amounts by 20, obtaining a formula 
 that may be represented by 2-9-5. 
 
 To Calculate the Value of Mixed Fertilizers. 
 
 When acid phosphate with 16 per cent, available 
 phosphoric acid can be bought at $15.50 per ton; when 
 sulphate of potash with 48 per cent, of potash can be 
 bought at $50.00 per ton, and when Nitrate of Soda 
 containing 15 per cent, of Nitrogen can be bought at 
 $52.00 per ton; what would be the value of a mixed 
 fertilizer guaranteed to contain 6 per cent, of available 
 phosphoric acid, 5 per cent, of potash, and 3.25 per cent, 
 of Nitrogen? 
 
 As a preliminary step we have to determine the 
 cost per pound of the constituents in the straight fer- 
 tilizers. Thus: 
 
 2000 Ibs. of Nitrate of Soda x .15 = 300 Ibs. available Nitrogen 
 l.OO divided by 300 Ibs. = $0.173 per Ib. 
 
 2000 Ibs. of Acid Phosphate x .16 = 320 Ibs. Phosphoric Acid 
 $15.50 divided by 320 Ibs. = $0.048 per Ib. 
 
 2000 Ibs. of Sulphate of Potash x .48 = 960 Ibs. actual Potash 
 l.OO divided by 960 Ibs. = $0.052 per Ib. 
 
 Next comes the determination of the total plant- 
 food in the mixed fertilizer. Thus:-
 
 3.25%x2000 lbs. = 65 Ibs. Nitrogen which at $0.173 per lb. = $11 25 Food for 
 
 Plants 
 6.00%x2000 Ibs. = 120 Ibs. Phosphoric Acid 
 
 which at 0.048perlb.= 5.76 243 
 
 5.00%x2000 Ibs. = 100 Ibs. Potash which at . 052 per Ib. = 5 . 20 
 
 $22.21 
 
 Assuming that all the Nitrogen in the mixed fer- 
 tilizer was derived from Nitrate, the value per ton would 
 be $22.21, exclusive of the cost of mixing and bagging. 
 
 Straight Fertilizer Formulas for 
 
 Farm, Fruit, and Market 
 
 Garden Crops. 
 
 The primary object in the preparation of fertilizer 
 formulas is to show the kinds and amounts of materials 
 to use in order to provide in a mixture good forms and 
 proportions of the constituents, which shall be in good 
 mechanical condition. It is not believed that any one 
 formula is the best for all conditions, these vary as 
 widely as the soils and different methods of manage- 
 ment. 
 
 Substitutions That May Be Made. 
 
 It is not intended that the kinds of materials shall 
 be absolutely adhered to, for in many cases substitutions 
 of others may be made not only without materially 
 changing the composition of the resultant mixture, but 
 which may also reduce its actual cost. For example, 
 tankage or dried ground fish may be substituted for cot- 
 ton-seed meal in any mixture, and if the right grades are 
 obtained, will substitute the amount of nitrogen in it, 
 though it may be in a slightly less available form; 
 besides, the former contains considerably more phos- 
 phoric acid. In other instances, dried blood may be 
 substituted with advantage for the tankage or cotton-
 
 F pi d ants Seec ^ mea l> though naturally one pound of high grade 
 
 blood will furnish practically twice as much nitrogen as 
 
 2 44 one pound of the others. Again, bone tankage, which 
 is quite similar to ground bone in its composition, may 
 be substituted for bone, and vice versa, the substitu- 
 tion depending upon the cost, as the availability of the 
 constituents is not materially different. In the case of 
 potash, the sulphate may be substituted for the muriate 
 without changing the percentage of actual potash in the 
 mixture; whereas if kainit is substituted for the higher 
 grades, four times the weight must be included in order 
 to obtain the same amount of potash, and the amount of 
 the mixture applied per acre must be doubled in order 
 to obtain the same number of pounds of the constituents 
 for a given area. For example, if in a mixture of 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 100 Ibs. 
 
 Ground Bone 100 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 
 
 400 pounds of kainit is substituted for the 100 pounds of 
 sulphate of potash, the percentage composition of the 
 mixture would be just one-half the former, as the con- 
 stituents are distributed throughout twice the weight. 
 
 Importance of Mechanical Condition. 
 
 In the next place, care should be exercised in the 
 preparation of mixtures, in order to obtain good me- 
 chanical condition. It is sometimes a difficult matter to 
 obtain a dry mixture from the use of purely mineral 
 fertilizing materials, as superphosphates, and muriate of 
 potash, or kainit it is apt to become pasty in the drill 
 or planter, whereas, if some dry material, as bone or 
 tankage, is added, the mixture is much improved and 
 the composition not materially affected. 
 
 The Kinds and Amounts to Apply. 
 
 It should also be remembered that the suggestions 
 in reference both to the particular form of the constitu- 
 ents and the amounts to be applied have reference to 
 their application under average conditions of soil and
 
 methods of practice, and as a supplement to the manures Food for 
 of the farm. Where a definite system of rotation is used, ants 
 and the materials are applied with the purpose of pro- 2 4S 
 viding the specific crop with the constituents especially 
 needed, the formulas may be very materially changed. 
 Where the condition of soil is not good, or where ma- 
 nures are not used, the amounts recommended should be 
 largely increased, practically doubled in most cases, and 
 also, particularly for the cereals, a greater proportion of 
 nitrogen should be used. As a rule, soils that are not in 
 good condition will require a larger application of fertil- 
 izers to obtain the same unit of increase than those in 
 good condition, because in the first case they do not 
 permit the ready penetration of the roots and the easy 
 distribution of the constituents. The indiscriminate 
 use of fertilizers on poor soils is seldom followed by as 
 large a return per unit of plant food applied as where 
 systematic methods obtain. 
 
 Methods of Application. 
 
 The method of application should depend upon the 
 character of the soil, the crop and the material. On 
 good soils and for crops which require large quantities, a 
 part at least, of the material should be applied broadcast 
 and thoroughly worked into the surface-soil; the re- 
 mainder may be used in the row at the time of seeding or 
 setting the plants. It is particularly desirable that 
 formulas that are rich in potash should be in part broad- 
 casted, in order that this element may be thoroughly 
 intermingled with the soil, as the rate at which this con- 
 stituent fixes, particularly on soils of a clayey nature, is 
 very rapid, and unless thoroughly harrowed in the fixing 
 will take place largely at the surface, and thus not be 
 within reach of the feeding roots. On sandy soils, and 
 for such crops as sweet potatoes, the concentration of 
 the fertilizer in the row is more desirable than in the case 
 of good soils and for white potatoes, though the minerals 
 phosphoric acid and potash may be distributed in part. 
 When applied in the row for sweet potatoes, it is desir- 
 able that it should be done two or three weeks, at least, 
 before the plants are set, thus avoiding possible injury 
 from the excess in the soil.
 
 Food for Most manufacturers and dealers in fertilizers are 
 _ willing to supply farmers with the materials suggested, 
 2 4 6 or to mix them at reasonable rates. 
 
 If you cannot conveniently get all the materials for 
 mixing your formulas and can secure any reputable 
 brand of ordinary commercial fertilizer, buy a bag of 
 Nitrate of Soda and mix it with four to six bags of 
 such commercial fertilizer; and the mixing may be done 
 on your barn floor. You will thereby improve and 
 fortify the brand you are buying in a way to vastly en- 
 hance its crop-making powers. 
 
 If the Nitrate should happen to be lumpy, the use 
 of a straight, heavy fence post, rolled over it two or 
 three times will reduce it to splendid condition for home- 
 mixing. 
 
 One hundred pounds of Nitrate of Soda is equal in 
 bulk to about one bushel, or 25 pounds to about one 
 peck. 
 
 Materials Not To Be Mixed. 
 
 Certain ammoniates contain iron, and if mixed 
 with acid phosphate you will lose a considerable portion 
 of your available phosphoric acid. 
 
 Lime should not be mixed with sulphate of am- 
 monia and materials containing lime, should not be 
 used in this connection without advice from an ex- 
 perienced fertilizer chemist. 
 
 Excessive quantities of lime should not be mixed 
 with superphosphate, barnyard manure or bone meal. 
 
 Sulphate of ammonia should not be mixed with 
 Thomas slag and Norwegian Nitrate. 
 
 Basic slag should not be mixed with sulphate 
 of ammonia, blood or tankage as the lime affects 
 these materials and releases ammonia. If mixed with 
 kainit it must be applied shortly after mixing. 
 
 Cyanamid must not be mixed directly with sul- 
 phate of ammonia, but if mixed according to directions 
 will give good results.
 
 Home-Mixing Table. 
 
 To ascertain the quantity of each material neces- 
 sary to make 1,000 pounds of Fertilizer of any desired 
 analysis. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 247 
 
 Percentage 
 Required. 
 
 Available 
 Nitrogen from 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 Available Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 Available 
 Potash from 
 Sulphate 
 of Potash. 
 
 From 14% 
 Acid Phosphate. 
 
 From 16% 
 Acid Phosphate. 
 
 1% 
 
 67 Ibs. 
 
 71 Ibs. 
 
 63 Ibs. 
 
 21 Ibs. 
 
 2% 
 
 133 
 
 
 143 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 42 
 
 
 3% 
 
 200 
 
 
 214 
 
 
 188 
 
 
 63 
 
 
 4% 
 
 267 
 
 
 286 
 
 
 250 
 
 
 83 
 
 
 5% 
 
 333 
 
 
 357 
 
 
 313 
 
 
 104 
 
 
 6% 
 
 400 
 
 
 429 
 
 
 375 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 7% 
 
 467 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 438 
 
 
 146 
 
 
 8% 
 
 533 
 
 
 571 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 167 
 
 
 9% 
 
 600 
 
 
 643 
 
 
 563 
 
 
 188 
 
 
 10% 
 
 667 
 
 
 714 
 
 
 625 
 
 
 208 
 
 
 Example: A common and profitable formula for 
 Oats is 4-7-5, that is 4 per cent. Nitrogen, 7 per cent, 
 phosphoric acid, 5 per cent, potash. From the table 
 we ascertain that 4 per cent, available Nitrogen is ob- 
 tained by using 267 pounds Nitrate of Soda, 7 per cent, 
 available phosphoric acid is obtained by using 438 
 pounds 16 per cent, phosphate and 5 per cent, available 
 potash is obtained by using 104 pounds sulphate of 
 potash, making a total of 809 pounds which contains the 
 same amount of plant food as 1,000 pounds of 4-7-5 
 ready -mixed fertilizer. Should it be desired to make an 
 even thousands pounds, add a sufficient amount of 
 fine dry loam.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 248 
 
 Formulas for Farm Crops. 
 
 Corn. 
 
 (No. 1) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 500 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 600 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.00 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 (No. 2) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 150 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 500 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 250 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 600 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 2.25 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.00 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Formula No. 1 is best suited for sandy loams or 
 soils. Formula No. 2 is for medium and heavy loams.
 
 Oats and Spring Wheat. Food for 
 
 Plants 
 
 ( No - 1) ~~^~ 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 250 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 450 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.75 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.20 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 (No. 2) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 500 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.00 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Formula No. 2 is best suited for use in connection 
 with a leguminous green manure. 
 
 Winter Wheat, Rye and Hay or Grass Lands. 
 
 (No. 1) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 100 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 600 " 
 
 Muriate of Potash 50 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 250 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 1.50 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 9.60 per cent.; available 
 potash 2.40 per cent.
 
 Food for (No. 2) 
 
 Plants Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. 
 
 250 Acid Phosphate 500 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.00 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Mixture No. 1 is best adapted for heavy soils; 
 mixture No. 2, for medium and light loams. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 250 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 450 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.75 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.20 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Clovers, Alfalfa, Cow Peas, Soy Beans and Vetch. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 70 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 550 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 280 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 300-500 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 1.05 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.80 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent.
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 250 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 600 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 50 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.75 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 9.60 per cent.; available 
 potash 2.40 per cent. 
 
 Rice. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 100 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 800 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Application at the rate of 300 pounds per acre. 
 Apply soon after mixing. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 1.50 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 12.80 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 540 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 100 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 200 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 160 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 8.10 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 1.60 per cent.; available 
 potash 9.60 per cent. 
 
 As a general rule, and subject to any special 
 soil conditions, we recommend that the above Nitrate 
 of Soda mixture intended to be applied to the 
 tobacco crop be given in three equal dressings. The 
 first of these should be incorporated with the soil 
 just before the planting out, the second should be given
 
 F pfant r as a to P Dressing at tne time f tne fi rst hoeing and the 
 _ last instalment, in the same manner, about a fortnight 
 2 S 2 or three weeks later. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 550 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 150 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.80 per cent.; available 
 potash 7.20 per cent. 
 
 Early and Late Irish Potatoes. 
 
 (No. 1) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 320 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 480 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 4.80 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.68 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 In order to secure a satisfactory mechanical con- 
 dition, this mixture will require about 300-400 pounds 
 additional of fine dry loam for each 1,000 pounds of 
 material. 
 
 (No. 2) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 260 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 440 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre.
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.90 per cent.; Food for 
 available phosphoric acid 7.00 per cent.; available Plants 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 253 
 
 Hops. 9 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 600 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 200 " 
 
 Sulphate of potash 100 " 
 
 Filler . 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 9.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 3.20 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Formula for Market Garden Crops 
 
 Asparagus, Beans, Beets, (early), Cabbage, Carrots, 
 Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumbers, Egg-Plant, Endive, 
 Kale, Lettuce, Muskmelons, Onions, Peas, (early), 
 Peppers, Pumpkins, Radishes, Spinach, Squash, 
 Tomatoes and Watermelons. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 300 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 400 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Application at the rate of about 1,000 pounds per 
 acre, at the time of seeding and an additional applica- 
 tion at the rate of about 500 pounds to be made between 
 the rows later in the season. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 4.50 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 6.40 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent.
 
 Food for 
 
 Formulas for Fruits and Berries 
 
 254 
 
 Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Grapes, Currants, 
 
 Strav^erries, Raspberries, Blackberries, 
 
 and Gooseberries. 
 
 (No. 1) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 300 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 400 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Applications at the rate of about 1,000 pounds per 
 acre for berries and 400-800 pounds for fruit trees. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 4.50 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 6.40 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 (No. 2) 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 200 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 300 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 400 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Application at the rate of about 1,000 pounds per 
 acre for berries and 400-800 pounds for fruit trees. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.00 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 4.80 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Formula 1 is best adapted for medium and heavy 
 soils, Formula 2 for sandy soils.
 
 Formulas for Citrus Fruits p? a n d ts for 
 
 255 
 
 Young Orange Trees. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 350 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 350 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 100 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 200 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Application at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 5.25 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 5.60 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.80 per cent. 
 
 Old Orange Trees. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 375 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 435 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 90 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 
 Application at the rate of 1,600 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 5.62 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.96 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.32 per cent. 
 
 Mandarin Oranges. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 375 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 420 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 80 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 125 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs.
 
 Food for 
 
 Plants Application at the rate of 1,200 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 5.62 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 6.72 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.00 per cent. 
 
 Grape Fruit. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 375 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 435 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 90 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,800 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 5.62 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.96 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.32 per cent. 
 
 Lemons. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 375 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 435 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 90 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,600 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 5.62 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.96 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.32 per cent.
 
 Formulas for Olives. 
 
 Young Olive Trees. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda .... 300 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate. 450 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 150 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 100 " 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 257 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 660 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 4.50 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 7.20 per cent.; available 
 potash 7.20 per cent. 
 
 Old Olive Trees. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 260 Ibs. 
 
 Acid Phosphate 520 " 
 
 Sulphate of Potash 85 " 
 
 Fine Dry Loam 135 " 
 
 1,000 Ibs. 
 Application at the rate of 1,150 pounds per acre. 
 
 Composition: Available Nitrogen 3.90 per cent.; 
 available phosphoric acid 8.32 per cent.; available 
 potash 4.08 per cent.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 ^~ GENERAL DIRECTIONS 
 
 FOR THE USE OF NITRATE OF SODA 
 ON STAPLE CROPS. 
 
 We never recommend the use of Nitrate of Soda 
 alone except at the rate of one hundred pounds to the 
 acre, for seeded crops and two hundred pounds to the 
 acre for cultivated crops. It may be thus safely and 
 profitably used without other fertilizers. It may be even- 
 ly applied at this rate as a broadcast top-dressing, by 
 hand, or by machine, in the Spring of the year, as soon 
 as crops begin rapid, new growth. At this rate very 
 satisfactory results are usually obtained without the use 
 of any other fertilizer, and soda residual, after the 
 nitrogenous food of this chemical is used up by the 
 plant, has a perceptible effect in sweetening sour land. 
 One hundred pounds of Nitrate is equal in bulk to about 
 one bushel. 
 
 When it is desired to use a larger amount than one 
 hundred pounds of Nitrate per acre for seeded crops 
 (or two hundred pounds per acre for cultivated crops) 
 there should be present some form of available phos- 
 phatic and potassic plant food, and we recommend two 
 hundred pounds of acid phosphate and one hundred 
 pounds of sulphate of potash. 
 
 In most of our Grass experiments where Nitrate 
 was used alone at the rate of only one hundred pounds 
 per acre, not only was the aftermath, or rowen much 
 improved, but in subsequent seasons, with no further 
 application of fertilizers to the plots a decidedly marked 
 effect was noticed, even on old meadows. This speaks 
 very well indeed for Nitrate of Soda not leaching out of 
 the soil. The readily soluble elements of fertility are the 
 readily available elements. The natural capillarity of 
 soils, doubtless, is in most instances a powerful factor in 
 retaining all readily soluble elements of fertility, other- 
 wise all the fertility of the world in our humid regions 
 would, in a season or two, run into the ocean, and be 
 permanently lost. This is mentioned on account of 
 certain critics having taken the trouble to object to
 
 the use of Nitrate on the ground that it would leach Food for 
 away. A case is yet to be seen where the after effects Plants 
 of Nitrate are not distinguishable, and in most cases such 2 S9 
 effects have been marked. The two thousand tons of 
 active top soil in an acre of land have a powerful holding 
 capacity for all the useful available elements of fertility. 
 These 2,000 tons form the part usually subject to cul- 
 tivation and might be called service soil. 
 
 For market gardening crops, hops, sugar-beets 
 and other cultivated crops, two hundred pounds of 
 Nitrate per acre may be used to great advantage. 
 
 When the above amounts of phosphatic and potas- 
 sic fertilizers are used, as much as two hundred and fifty 
 pounds of Nitrate, or even more, may be applied with 
 profit. 
 
 If you have any reason to suspect adulteration of 
 Nitrate, send a pound or so of it to your Experiment 
 Station for analysis, giving date of purchase, full name 
 and address of dealer and of the company which the 
 seller represents, with full description of marks on the 
 bag or bags from which you draw the sample. 
 
 On the Pacific Coast, Nitrate may be applied as a 
 top-dressing after the heavy Spring rains are over, but 
 before crops attain much of a start; although recent 
 experience in California suggests that Nitrate may be 
 applied to better advantage just as soon as growth 
 starts in the Spring, or better, before seeding or plant- 
 ing. 
 
 When Nitrate is applied at the rate of two hun- 
 dred (200) pounds per acre for cultivated crops and 
 used alone this application figures out at the rate of 
 8 oz. for a plot 10x10. This application is equivalent 
 to about 1 oz. to the square yard. 
 
 So many inquiries have been made requesting 
 amounts to be applied to small areas that the above 
 word is given in this connection.
 
 F Pi d as r America Spends $175,000,000 a 
 260 Year for Fertilizer. 
 
 By Richard Spillane 
 
 It is estimated that the American farmer pays in 
 excess of $175,000,000 a year for fertilizer. If he mixed 
 a little brains with his fertilizer he would get better 
 results. He is improving in his methods, but it will 
 be a long, long time before he overtakes the European 
 agriculturist, particularly the German. 
 
 One of the indictments against the American 
 people is that, with the greatest natural advantages of 
 any inhabitants of the earth's surface, they make a 
 shockingly bad showing in comparison with their less 
 favored brothers. 
 
 For example: In Europe, where the land has been 
 tilled for centuries upon centuries, the average yield 
 per acre of the great crops is approximately double 
 that of the United States. The European wheat crop 
 averages 33 bushels per acre; oats, 45 bushels per acre, 
 and potatoes, nearly 200 bushels per acre. In the 
 United States the yield averages: Wheat, 14 bushels 
 per acre; oats, 40 bushels per acre, and potatoes, a 
 trifle more than 97 bushels per acre. 
 
 Broadly speaking, the foreign farmer studies his 
 soil; the American farmer does not. It has been said 
 of the American farmer that he is one of the greatest 
 slovens on earth. This may be rather a harsh judg- 
 ment, but certainly he merits sharp criticism. It is 
 not the grower of wheat, or oats, or corn, or potatoes 
 alone who neglects his opportunities. The cotton 
 planter is as bad a sinner as his northern fellow. The 
 average yield of cotton per acre in the United States 
 is 185 pounds. In Egypt the average yield per acre 
 is 400 pounds. There is not any more doubt that the 
 yield per acre in the United States could be brought 
 up to 400 pounds an acre than that the sun is going to 
 continue to shine. 
 
 Europe started half a century before America to 
 nourish the land scientifically. The farmers there,
 
 having studied the subject, now know how to treat the Food for 
 land intelligently. In the United States there is a vast Plants 
 area that has not known the need of fertilizer, but in 2fil 
 the older States, the ones along the Atlantic, where the 
 land has been in cultivation 100 or more years the soil 
 has been worn out and needs reinforcing or it is prac- 
 tically valueless for crops. 
 
 Unfortunately for the United States, a large num- 
 ber of the farmers, neither knowing the needs of their 
 lands, nor the properties that go to make the best 
 fertilizer, think any kind of fertilizer will do. They 
 buy blindly and let it go at that. As a general thing 
 they are actuated by the price. Good fertilizers are 
 costly. The cheap may do just as good, they reason. 
 Sick or worn-out land needs as careful treatment as 
 an ill or worn-out human. To cheat the land is not 
 good business, and does not bring good results. You 
 cannot fool nature. 
 
 No fertilizer is of much account unless it contains 
 the three great essentials nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
 and potash. When all are present the fertilizer is said 
 to be complete. When they are not, the fertilizer is 
 incomplete, lacking in energy, and the result from its 
 use is not satisfactory. 
 
 The materials that furnish nitrogen are Nitrate of 
 Soda, nitrate of lime, sulphate of ammonia, calcium 
 cyanamid, dried blood, tankage, fish scrap, cotton seed 
 meal, horn and hoof meal, hair and wool and leather 
 scrap. 
 
 The materials that furnish phosphoric acid are 
 Thomas slag, acid phosphate, bone meal, phosphoric 
 guano, fish scrap and bone tankage. 
 
 The materials furnishing potash are potash salts 
 and unleached wood ashes. 
 
 A pure fertilizer law is needed as much as a pure 
 food law. The development of agriculture in the 
 United States is retarded by the use of inferior fertilizer. 
 
 Evidently the American tendency to palm off 
 "something just as good" has been in evidence in the 
 fertilizer trade. 
 
 At a luncheon given in Chicago on January 9, 1914, 
 by a committee of the National Fertilizer Association,
 
 F piants one s P ea ker, evidently desirous of spreading the use 
 of fertilizer in the West, had this to say: 
 
 "James J. Hill has conducted some wonder-work- 
 ing experiments with fertilizers, which have not re- 
 ceived the attention they deserve in the West. Is it 
 because the West does not want to admit that it needs 
 rejuvenation, or is it because she is complacent? Hill 
 showed in one season, by the use of fertilizers, that he 
 could double the yield of cereals in the Middle North- 
 west. It matters not at this time whether it was done 
 at a profit. The important thing is to demonstrate 
 that yields can be doubled by a certain treatment. 
 
 "The value of commercial plant food has passed 
 beyond the experimental stage in Europe and in the 
 eastern part of this country. Why not accept the tes- 
 timony of seventy-five years at Rothamsted, of fifty 
 years at Halle, and of thirty years in Georgia and in 
 Maine. I sometimes wonder if the agricultural teach- 
 ers and writers in the West are not standing in the way 
 of agricultural progress by still considering as an 
 academic question the value and need of fertilizers. 
 The question is not Are commercial fertilizers good 
 and useful? but will it pay to use them as James J. 
 Hill has done in his part of the country. To my mind, 
 Mr. Hill has answered the question, "Will it pay?" 
 in the affirmative. By the use of a little over $5 worth 
 of fertilizer per acre he practically doubled the yield of 
 wheat, oats and barley, and you can figure whether it 
 paid or not. I wish that other railway officials might 
 follow his splendid example." 
 
 No agriculturist needs knowledge of the soil more 
 than the cotton grower. Those figures showing that 
 Egypt old, backward Egypt is far in advance of 
 him in cotton raising should stir him, if the loss he is 
 suffering financially did not. 
 
 When he knows more about fertilizers he will raise 
 larger crops. Quantity is less important than quality 
 in what is supplied toward energizing land. 
 
 Considering the fact that of the more than $175,- 
 000,000 spent for fertilizer, the farmer of the South 
 pays out fully one-half, he should not be satisfied with 
 the result.
 
 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 PHOSPHORIC ACID. 
 
 Avail- 
 able. 
 
 insolu- 
 ble. 
 
 Total. 
 
 7. Phosphatic Manures 
 Apatite 
 
 
 
 
 
 ._. 
 
 36.08 
 35.89 
 28.28 
 17.00 
 23.50 
 20.10 
 29.90 
 17.60 
 28.03 
 27.20 
 15.20 
 
 Bone-ash 
 
 7.00 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bone-black 
 
 4.60 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bone-black (dissolved) 
 
 
 
 
 16.70 
 
 8.28 
 
 0.30 
 15.22 
 
 Bone meal 
 
 7.47 
 
 4.12 
 6.20 
 
 
 Bone meal (free from fats) . . . 
 
 Bone meal (from glue factory) 
 Bone meal (dissolved) 
 
 
 1 70 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 60 
 
 
 13.53 
 0.60 
 
 4.07 
 27.43 
 
 S. Carolina rock (ground) .... 
 S. Carolina rock (floats) 
 
 1.50 
 
 
 
 S. Carolina rock (dissolved) . . 
 
 
 
 
 11.60 
 
 3.60 
 
 //. Potash Manures. 
 Carnallite 
 
 
 
 13 68 
 
 Cotton-seed hull ashes 
 Kainit 
 Krugite 
 Muriate of potash 
 Nitrate of potash 
 
 7.33 
 3.20 
 4.82 
 2.00 
 1.93 
 6.31 
 1.25 
 4.75 
 7.25 
 2.75 
 12.00 
 
 13.09 
 2^43 
 
 23.80 
 13.54 
 8.42 
 52.46 
 45.19 
 2.04 
 38.60 
 23.50 
 16.65 
 18.00 
 5.50 
 1.10 
 
 
 
 8.50 
 
 Spent tan-bark ashes 
 Sulph. potash (high grade).. . 
 Sulph. potash and magnesia. 
 Sylvinite 
 Waste from gunpowder works 
 Wood-ashes (unleached) 
 W^ood-ashes (leached) . . . 
 
 
 
 1.61 
 
 
 
 1.85 
 1.40 
 
 2.16 
 1.45 
 1.91 
 
 8.25 
 1.83 
 3.52 
 2.07 
 
 ///. Nitrogenous Manures. 
 Castor pomace 
 
 9.98 
 6.80 
 12.50 
 12.75 
 10.17 
 7.27 
 12.09 
 
 5.56 
 
 6.66 
 10.52 
 7.25 
 13.25 
 4.50 
 10.44 
 
 1.12 
 1.62 
 
 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 
 
 
 
 Dried blood 
 
 
 
 Dried fish 
 
 0.45 
 
 3.05 
 
 5.20 
 
 Horn and hoof waste 
 
 Lobster shells 
 
 
 
 
 IVteat scrap 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 264 
 
 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials. 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 d 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 PHOSPHORIC ACID. 
 
 Avail- 
 able. 
 
 Insolu- 
 ble. 
 
 Total. 
 
 ///. Nitrogenous Manures 
 Continued. 
 
 Malt Sprouts 
 
 7.40 
 1.25 
 6.00 
 8.54 
 1.00 
 13.20 
 10.61 
 9.27 
 
 4.04 
 15.65 
 2.30 
 12.12 
 20.50 
 6.82 
 2.29 
 5.64 
 
 2.20 
 
 
 
 1.70 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 
 
 
 Nitre-cake 
 
 0.40 
 
 
 
 
 Oleomargarine refuse 
 
 
 
 0.88 
 
 Sulphate of ammonia 
 
 
 
 
 Tankage 
 
 6.44 
 1.30 
 
 0.10 
 
 5.02 
 
 6.23 
 
 11.25 
 0.60 
 0.29 
 
 0.10 
 0.40 
 
 Tobacco stems 
 
 Wool waste 
 
 
 
 IV. Miscellaneous Materials. 
 Ashes (anthracite coal) 
 
 
 
 Ashes (bituminous coal) 
 
 
 
 0.40 
 
 
 
 Ashes (corn-cob) 
 
 
 
 23.20 
 
 
 
 Ashes (lime-kiln) 
 
 15.45 
 
 
 0.86 
 
 
 
 1.18 
 0.50 
 
 Ashes (peat and bog) 
 
 5.20 
 
 
 0.70 
 
 
 
 Gas lime 
 
 4.40 
 1.73 
 
 0.30 
 
 
 
 
 Marls (Maryland) 
 
 1.25 
 
 
 
 0.38 
 1.05 
 0.56 
 0.09 
 
 Marls (Massachusetts) 
 
 18.18 
 
 
 
 
 
 Marls (North Carolina) 
 
 1.50 
 
 
 0.04 
 
 
 
 Marls (Virginia) 
 
 15 98 
 
 
 0.49 
 
 
 
 M^uck (fresh) . . . 
 
 76.20 
 21.40 
 40.37 
 53.50 
 61.50 
 
 7.80 
 
 0.30 
 1.30 
 1.37 
 0.20 
 0.75 
 
 0.30 
 0.10 
 6.20 
 
 
 
 
 Muck (air-dry) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mud (fresh water) . . 
 
 0.22 
 0.20 
 
 
 
 0.26 
 0.10 
 
 Mud (from sea-meadows) .... 
 Peat 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pine straw (dead leaves or 
 pine needles) 
 
 0.10 
 0.04 
 0.20 
 0.04 
 
 
 
 0.20 
 0.03 
 2.30 
 0.20 
 
 6!64 
 0.10 
 
 Shells (mollusks) 
 
 
 
 Shells (crustacea) 
 
 
 
 
 Shell lime (oyster shell) 
 
 19.50 
 
 
 
 Soot 
 Spent tan. . 
 
 5.54 
 14.00 
 30 80 
 
 0^20 
 1.00 
 2.10 
 1.94 
 
 1.83 
 0.10 
 0.30 
 
 
 
 Spent sumach 
 
 
 
 Sugar-house scum 
 
 50.20 
 19.29 
 
 
 
 Turf 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 Analyses of Farm Manures. 
 
 TAKEN CHIEFLY FROM REPORTS OF THE NEW YORK, 
 MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 265 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 7. 
 
 Cattle (solidfreshexcrement) 
 Cattle (fresh urine) 
 
 .... 
 
 0.29 
 58 
 
 0.10 
 49 
 
 0.17 
 
 Hen manure (fresh) 
 
 
 1 63 
 
 85 
 
 1 54 
 
 Horse (solid fresh excrement) 
 Horse (fresh urine) 
 
 
 0.44 
 1 55 
 
 0.35 
 1 50 
 
 0.17 
 
 Human excrement (solid) . . 
 Human urine 
 
 77.20 
 95.90 
 
 1.00 
 60 
 
 0.25 
 20 
 
 1.09 
 17 
 
 Poudrette (night soil) 
 
 
 0.80 
 
 0.30 
 
 1 40 
 
 Sheep (solid fresh excrement) 
 Sheep (fresh urine) 
 
 
 0.55 
 1 95 
 
 0.15 
 2.26 
 
 0.31 
 01 
 
 Stable manure (mixed) 
 Swine (solid fresh excrement) 
 Swine (fresh urine) 
 
 73.27 
 
 0.50 
 0.60 
 0.43 
 
 0.60 
 0.13 
 
 0.83 
 
 0.30 
 0.41 
 0.07 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. 
 ANALYSES OF HAY AND DRY COARSE FODDERS. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 //. Hay and Dry Coarse 
 Fodders, 
 Blue melilot 
 
 8.22 
 
 1.92 
 
 2.80 
 
 0.54 
 
 Buttercups 
 
 
 1.02 
 
 0.81 
 
 0.41 
 
 Carrot tops (dry) 
 
 9.76 
 
 3.13 
 
 4.88 
 
 0.61 
 
 Clover (alsike) 
 
 9.93 
 
 2.33 
 
 2.01 
 
 0.70 
 
 Clover (Bokhara) 
 
 6.36 
 
 1.77 
 
 1.67 
 
 0.44 
 
 Clover (mammoth red) .... 
 Clover (medium red) 
 
 11.41 
 10.72 
 
 2.23 
 2.09 
 
 1.22 
 2.20 
 
 0.55 
 0.44 
 
 Clover (white) 
 
 
 2.75 
 
 1.81 
 
 0.52 
 
 Corn fodder 
 
 
 1.80 
 
 0.76 
 
 0.51 
 
 Corn stover 
 
 28.24 
 
 1.12 
 
 1.32 
 
 0.30 
 
 Cow-pea vines 
 
 9.00 
 
 1.64 
 
 0.91 
 
 0.53 
 
 Daisy (white) . .- 
 
 9.65 
 
 0.28 
 
 1.25 
 
 0.44 
 
 Daisy (ox-eye) 
 
 
 0.80 
 
 2.23 
 
 0.27 
 
 Hungarian grass 
 
 7.15 
 
 1.16 
 
 1.28 
 
 0.35 
 
 Italian rye-grass 
 
 8.29 
 
 1.15 
 
 0.99 
 
 0.55 
 
 June grass 
 
 
 1.05 
 
 1.46 
 
 0.37 
 
 Lucern (alfalfa) 
 
 6.26 
 
 2.07 
 
 1.46 
 
 0.53 
 
 
 
 

 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 266 
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 //. Hay and Dry Coarse 
 Fodders Continued. 
 Meadow fescue 
 
 9.79 
 
 0.94 
 
 2.01 
 
 0.34 
 
 Meadow foxtail 
 
 
 1.54 
 
 2.19 
 
 0.44 
 
 Mixed grasses 
 
 11.26 
 
 1.37 
 
 1.54 
 
 0.35 
 
 Orchard grass 
 
 8.84 
 
 1.31 
 
 1.88 
 
 0.41 
 
 Perennial rye-grass 
 
 9.13 
 
 1.23 
 
 1.55 
 
 0.56 
 
 Red- top 
 
 7.71 
 
 1.15 
 
 1.02 
 
 0.36 
 
 Rowen 
 
 12.48 
 
 1.75 
 
 1.97 
 
 0.46 
 
 Salt hay 
 
 5.36 
 
 1.18 
 
 0.72 
 
 0.25 
 
 Serradella 
 
 7.39 
 
 2.70 
 
 0.65 
 
 0.78 
 
 Soja bean 
 
 6.30 
 
 2.32 
 
 1.08 
 
 0.67 
 
 Tall meadow oat 
 
 
 1.16 
 
 1.72 
 
 0.32 
 
 Timothy hay 
 
 7.52 
 
 1.26 
 
 1.53 
 
 0.46 
 
 Vetch and oats 
 
 11.98 
 
 1.37 
 
 0.90 
 
 0.53 
 
 Yellow trefoil 
 
 
 2.14 
 
 0.98 
 
 0.43 
 
 ///. Green Fodders. 
 Buckwheat 
 
 82.60 
 
 0.51 
 
 0.43 
 
 0.11 
 
 Clover (red) 
 
 80.00 
 
 0.53 
 
 0.46 
 
 0.13 
 
 Clover (white) 
 
 81.00 
 
 0.56 
 
 0.24 
 
 0.20 
 
 Corn fodder 
 
 72.64 
 
 0.56 
 
 0.62 
 
 0.28 
 
 Corn fodder (ensilage) 
 
 71.60 
 
 0.36 
 
 0.33 
 
 0.14 
 
 Cow-pea vines 
 
 78.81 
 
 0.27 
 
 0.31 
 
 0.98 
 
 Horse bean 
 
 74.71 
 
 0.68 
 
 1.37 
 
 0.33 
 
 Lucern (alfalfa) 
 
 75.30 
 
 0.72 
 
 0.45 
 
 0.15 
 
 Meadow grass (in flower) . . 
 Millet 
 
 70.00 
 62.58 
 
 0.44 
 0.61 
 
 0.60 
 0.41 
 
 0.15 
 0.19 
 
 Oats (green) 
 
 83.36 
 
 0.49 
 
 0.38 
 
 0.13 
 
 Peas 
 
 81.50 
 
 0.50 
 
 0.56 
 
 0.18 
 
 Prickly comfrey 
 
 
 0.42 
 
 0.75 
 
 0.11 
 
 Rve crass. . 
 
 70.00 
 
 0.57 
 
 0.53 
 
 0.17 
 
 Serradella 
 
 82.59 
 
 0.41 
 
 0.42 
 
 0.14 
 
 Sorghum 
 
 
 0.40 
 
 0.32 
 
 0.08 
 
 Spanish moss 
 
 60.80 
 
 0.28 
 
 0.26 
 
 0.30 
 
 Vetch and oats 
 
 86.11 
 
 0.24 
 
 0.79 
 
 0.09 
 
 White lupine 
 
 85.35 
 
 0.44 
 
 1.73 
 
 0.35 
 
 Younc crass. . 
 
 80.00 
 
 0.50 
 
 1.16 
 
 0.22 
 
 IV. Straw, Chaff, Leaves,etc. 
 Barley chaff 
 
 13.08 
 
 1.01 
 
 0.99 
 
 0.27 
 
 Barley straw 
 
 13.25 
 
 0.72 
 
 1.16 
 
 0.15 
 
 Bean shells 
 
 18.50 
 
 1.48 
 
 1.38 
 
 0.55
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 IV. Straw, Chaff, Leaves, 
 etc. Continued. 
 Beech leaves (autumn). 
 
 15 00 
 
 80 
 
 30 
 
 24 
 
 Buckwheat straw. .... 
 
 16 00 
 
 1 30 
 
 2 41 
 
 61 
 
 Cabbage leaves (air-dried) . 
 Cabbage stalks (air-dried) . 
 Carrots (stalks and leaves) . 
 Corn cobs 
 
 14.60 
 16.80 
 80.80 
 12.09 
 
 0.24 
 0.18 
 0.51 
 50 
 
 1.71 
 3.49 
 0.37 
 60 
 
 0.75 
 1.06 
 0.21 
 0.06 
 
 Corn hulls 
 
 11.50 
 
 0.23 
 
 0.24 
 
 0.02 
 
 Hops 
 
 11.07 
 
 2.53 
 
 1.99 
 
 1.75 
 
 Oak leaves 
 
 15.00 
 
 0.80 
 
 0.15 
 
 0.34 
 
 Oat chaff 
 
 14.30 
 
 0.64 
 
 1.04 
 
 0.20 
 
 Oat straw 
 
 28.70 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.88 
 
 0.11 
 
 Pea shells 
 
 16.65 
 
 1.36 
 
 1.38 
 
 0.55 
 
 Pea straw (cut in bloom) . . 
 Pea straw (ripe) 
 
 
 2.29 
 1.04 
 
 2.32 
 1.01 
 
 0.68 
 0.35 
 
 Potato stalks and leaves . . . 
 Rye straw 
 
 77.00 
 15.40 
 
 0.49 
 0.24 
 
 0.07 
 0.76 
 
 0.06 
 0.19 
 
 Sugar-beet stalks and leaves 
 Turnip stalks and leaves. . . 
 \Vheat chaff (spring) 
 
 92.65 
 89.80 
 14 80 
 
 0.35 
 0.30 
 0.91 
 
 0.16 
 0.24 
 0.42 
 
 0.07 
 0.13 
 0.25 
 
 Wheat chaff (winter) 
 
 10.56 
 
 1.01 
 
 0.14 
 
 0.19 
 
 \Vheat straw (spring) 
 
 15 00 
 
 0.54 
 
 0.44 
 
 0.18 
 
 \Vheat straw (winter). 
 
 10 36 
 
 0.82 
 
 0.32 
 
 0.11 
 
 V. Roots, Tubers, etc. 
 Beets (red) 
 
 87.73 
 
 0.24 
 
 0.44 
 
 0.09 
 
 Beets (sugar) 
 
 84.65 
 
 0.25 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.08 
 
 Beets (yellow fodder) 
 
 90.60 
 
 0.19 
 
 0.46 
 
 0.09 
 
 Carrots . . . ; 
 
 90.02 
 
 0.14 
 
 0.54 
 
 0.10 
 
 Mangolds 
 
 87.29 
 
 0.19 
 
 0.38 
 
 0.09 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 79.75 
 
 0.21 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.07 
 
 Ruta bagas 
 
 87.82 
 
 0.21 
 
 0.50 
 
 0.13 
 
 Turnips 
 
 87.20 
 
 0.22 
 
 0.41 
 
 0.12 
 
 VI. Grains and Seeds. 
 Barley 
 
 15.42 
 
 2.06 
 
 0.73 
 
 0.95 
 
 Beans 
 
 
 4.10 
 
 1.20 
 
 1.16 
 
 Buckwheat 
 
 14.10 
 
 1.44 
 
 0.21 
 
 0.44 
 
 Corn kernels 
 
 10.88 
 
 1.82 
 
 0.40 
 
 0.70 
 
 Corn kernels and cobs (cob 
 meal) 
 
 10.00 
 
 1.46 
 
 0.44 
 
 0.60 
 
 Hemp seed 
 
 12.20 
 
 2.62 
 
 0.97 
 
 1.75 
 
 Linseed 
 
 11.80 
 
 3.20 
 
 1.04 
 
 1.30 
 
 Lupines. 
 
 13.80 
 
 5.52 
 
 1.14 
 
 0.87 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 267
 
 Food for 
 Plants . 
 
 268 : 
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 VI. Grains and Seeds 
 Continued. 
 Millet 
 
 13.00 
 
 2.40 
 
 47 
 
 0.91 
 
 Oats 
 
 20.80 
 
 1.75 
 
 0.41 
 
 0.48 
 
 Peas 
 
 19.10 
 
 4.26 
 
 1.23 
 
 1.26 
 
 Rye.. 
 
 14.90 
 
 1.76 
 
 0.54 
 
 0.82 
 
 Soja beans 
 
 18.83 
 
 5.30 
 
 1.99 
 
 1.87 
 
 Sorghum 
 
 14.00 
 
 1.48 
 
 0.42 
 
 0.81 
 
 Wheat (spring) 
 
 14.75 
 
 2.36 
 
 0.61 
 
 0.89 
 
 Wheat (winter) 
 
 15.40 
 
 2.83 
 
 0.50 
 
 0.68 
 
 VII. Flour and Meal. 
 Corn meal 
 
 13.52 
 
 2.05 
 
 0.44 
 
 0.71 
 
 Ground barley 
 
 13.43 
 
 1.55 
 
 0.34 
 
 0.66 
 
 Hominy feed 
 
 8.93 
 
 1.63 
 
 0.49 
 
 0.98 
 
 Pea meal 
 
 8.85 
 
 3.08 
 
 0.99 
 
 0.82 
 
 Rye flour 
 
 14.20 
 
 1.68 
 
 0.65 
 
 0.85 
 
 Wheat flour 
 
 9.83 
 
 2.21 
 
 0.54 
 
 0.57 
 
 VIII. By-products and 
 Refuse. 
 Apple pomace 
 
 80.50 
 
 0.23 
 
 0.13 
 
 0.02 
 
 Cotton hulls 
 
 10.63 
 
 0.75 
 
 1.08 
 
 0.18 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 
 
 
 6.52 
 
 1.89 
 
 2.78 
 
 Glucose refuse 
 
 8.10 
 
 2.62 
 
 0.15 
 
 0.29 
 
 Gluten meal 
 
 8.53 
 
 5.43 
 
 0.05 
 
 0.43 
 
 Hop refuse 
 
 8.98 
 
 0.98 
 
 0.11 
 
 0.20 
 
 Linseed cake (new process) . 
 Linseed cake (old process) . 
 Malt sprouts 
 
 6.12 
 7.79 
 10.28 
 
 5.40 
 6.02 
 3.67 
 
 1.16 
 1.16 
 1.60 
 
 1.42 
 1.65 
 1.40 
 
 Oat bran 
 
 8.19 
 
 2.25 
 
 0.66 
 
 1.11 
 
 Rye middlings 
 
 12.54 
 
 1.84 
 
 0.81 
 
 1.26 
 
 Spent brewers' grains (dry) . 
 Spent brewers' grains (wet) . 
 Wheat bran 
 
 6.98 
 75.01 
 11.01 
 
 3.05 
 0.89 
 2.88 
 
 1.55 
 0.05 
 1.62 
 
 1.26 
 0.31 
 
 2.87 
 
 Wheat middlings 
 
 9.18 
 
 2.63 
 
 0.63 
 
 0.95 
 
 IX. Dairy Products. 
 Milk 
 
 87.20 
 
 0.58 
 
 0.17 
 
 0.30 
 
 Cream 
 
 68.80 
 
 0.58 
 
 0.09 
 
 0.15 
 
 Skim-milk 
 
 90.20 
 
 0.58 
 
 0.19 
 
 0.34 
 
 Butter 
 
 13.60 
 
 0.12 
 
 
 
 Butter-milk 
 
 90.10 
 
 0.64 
 
 0.09 
 
 0.15 
 
 Cheese (from unskimmed 
 milk) 
 
 38.00 
 
 4.05 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.80 
 
 Cheese (from half-skimmed 
 milk) 
 
 39.80 
 
 4.75 
 
 0.29 
 
 0.80 
 
 Cheese (from skimmed milk) 
 
 46.00 
 
 5.45 
 
 0.20 
 
 0.80
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. 
 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Substance. 
 
 Moisture. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 X. Flesh of Farm Animals. 
 Beef 
 
 77.00 
 
 3 60 
 
 52 
 
 43 
 
 Calf (whole animal) 
 
 66.20 
 
 2.50 
 
 24 
 
 1 38 
 
 Ox 
 
 59.70 
 
 2 66 
 
 17 
 
 1 86 
 
 Pig.. 
 
 52.80 
 
 2 00 
 
 90 
 
 44 
 
 Sheep 
 
 59.10 
 
 2.24 
 
 15 
 
 1 23 
 
 XI. Garden Products. 
 Asparagus 
 
 
 32 
 
 12 
 
 09 
 
 Cabbage 
 
 
 0.30 
 
 0.43 
 
 11 
 
 Cucumbers 
 
 
 0.16 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 Lettuce 
 
 
 0.20 
 
 0.25 
 
 0.11 
 
 Onions 
 
 
 0.27 
 
 0.25 
 
 0.13 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 269 
 
 Table Showing the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Phos- 
 phoric Acid, and Potash Withdrawn Per 
 Acre by an Average Crop. 
 
 (FROM NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY AND CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT 
 STATIONS' REPORTS.) 
 
 Name of Crop. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Barley 
 
 78 
 
 35 
 
 62 
 
 Buckwheat 
 
 63 
 
 40 
 
 17 
 
 Cabbage (white) 
 
 213 
 
 125 
 
 514 
 
 Cauliflower 
 
 202 
 
 76 
 
 265 
 
 Cattle turnips 
 
 187 
 
 74 
 
 426 
 
 Carrots 
 
 166 
 
 65 
 
 190 
 
 Clover, green (trifolium pratense) 
 Clover (trifolium pratense) 
 
 171 
 37 
 
 46 
 18 
 
 154 
 29 
 
 Clover, scarlet (trifolium incarnatum) 
 Clover (trifolium repens) 
 
 95 
 
 89 
 
 17 
 29 
 
 57 
 
 58 
 
 Cow pea 
 
 254 
 
 64 
 
 169 
 
 Corn 
 
 146 
 
 69 
 
 174 
 
 Corn fodder (green) 
 
 122 
 
 66 
 
 236 
 
 Cotton 
 
 110 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 Cucumbers 
 
 142 
 
 94 
 
 193 
 
 Esparsette 
 
 239 
 
 36 
 
 103 
 
 Hops 
 
 200 
 
 54 
 
 127 
 
 Hemp .... 
 
 
 34 
 
 54 
 
 Lettuce 
 
 41 
 
 17 
 
 72 
 
 Lucern 
 
 289 
 
 65 
 
 181 
 
 Lupine, green (for fodder) ' .... 
 
 219 
 
 46 
 
 63 
 
 Lupine, yellow (lupinus luteus) 
 
 80 
 
 37 
 
 155 
 
 Meadow hay 
 
 166 
 
 53 
 
 201
 
 Food for Table Showing the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Phos- 
 phoric Acid, and Potash Withdrawn Per 
 
 270 
 
 Acre by an Average Crop. 
 Continued. 
 
 Name of Crop. 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Oats 
 
 89 
 
 35 
 
 96 
 
 Onions 
 
 96 
 
 49 
 
 96 
 
 Peas (pisuni sativum 
 
 153 
 
 39 
 
 69 
 
 PODDV. . 
 
 87 
 
 30 
 
 87 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 119 
 
 55 
 
 192 
 
 Rape 
 
 154 
 
 79 
 
 124 
 
 Rice 
 
 39 
 
 24 
 
 45 
 
 Rye.. 
 
 87 
 
 44 
 
 76 
 
 Seradella 
 
 128 
 
 57 
 
 196 
 
 Soja bean 
 
 297 
 
 62 
 
 87 
 
 Sugar cane 
 
 518 
 
 37 
 
 107 
 
 Sorghum (sorghum saccharatum) . . . 
 Sugar beet (beet-ro~t) 
 
 446 
 95 
 
 90 
 44 
 
 561 
 200 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 127 
 
 32 
 
 148 
 
 Vetch (visia sativa) 
 
 149 
 
 35 
 
 113 
 
 Wheat.. 
 
 111 
 
 45 
 
 58 
 
 Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land. 
 
 (KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN, 
 No. 23, FEBRUARY, 1890.) 
 
 On low and decidedly wet land. 
 
 ENGLISH BLUE GRASS. 
 
 Fertilizers Used Per Acre. 
 
 Amount 
 Per Acre 
 in Pounds. 
 
 Yield of 
 Hay in 
 Pounds 
 Per Acre. 
 
 Sulphate of potash 
 
 160 
 
 3,000 
 
 Muriate of potash 
 
 160 
 
 2,950 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 
 160 
 
 3,100 
 
 Sulphate of ammonia 
 
 130 
 
 3,600 
 
 No fertilizer 
 
 
 2,850 
 
 Stable manure * 
 
 20 loads 
 
 2,970 
 
 Tobacco stems . 
 
 4,000 
 
 4,700 
 
 

 
 Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land. Continued. 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
 Kind of Fertilizer Used. 
 
 Sulphate of potash . . . 
 
 Muriate of potash 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 
 Sulphate of ammonia. 
 
 No fertilizer 
 
 Stable manure 
 
 Tobacco stems. . 
 
 Amount 
 
 Per Acre 
 
 in Pounds. 
 
 160 
 160 
 160 
 130 
 
 20 loads 
 4,000 
 
 Yield of 
 
 Hay in 
 
 Pounds 
 
 Per Acre. 
 
 1,900 
 2,320 
 2,670 
 2,520 
 1,620 
 2,200 
 3,350 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 271 
 
 Time Required for the Complete Exhaustion of Available 
 Fertilizing Materials and the Amounts of Each Remain- 
 ing hi the Soil During a Period of Seven Years. 
 (FROM SCOTTISH ESTIMATES.) 
 
 ON UNCULTIVATED CLAY LOAM. 
 
 Kind of Fertilizer. 
 
 Exhausted 
 (in years). 
 
 Per cent, remaining in the soil un- 
 exhausted at the end of each 
 
 year. 
 
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
 
 Lime 12 80 65 55 45 35 25 20 
 
 Bone meal 5 60 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 Phosphatic guanos 5 50 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 Dissolved bones and plain 
 
 superphosphates 4 20 10 5 00 00 00 00 
 
 High grade ammoniated fer- 
 tilizers, guano, etc 3 30 20 00 00 00 00 00 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 5 40 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 Barn-yard manure 5 60 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 ON UNCULTIVATED LIGHT OR MEDIUM SOILS. 
 
 Lime. . . . 10 75 60 40 30 20 15 .. 
 
 Bone meal 4 60 30 10 00 00 00 
 
 Phosphatic guanos ..4 50 20 10 00 00 00 .. 
 
 Dissolved bones and plain 
 
 superphosphates 3 20 10 5 00 00 00 00 
 
 High grade ammoniates, 
 
 guanos 3 30 20 00 00 00 00 00 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 4 40 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 Barn-yard manure 4 60 30 10 00 00 00 00
 
 Food for ON UNCULTIVATED PASTURE LAND. 
 
 Plants 
 
 Per cent, remaining in the soil un- 
 
 Kind of Fertilizer. Exhausted exhausted at the end of each 
 
 year, 
 
 1234567 
 
 Lime 15 80 70 60 50 45 40 35 
 
 Bone meal 7 60 50 40 30 20 10 00 
 
 Phosphatic guano 6 50 40 30 20 10 00 80 
 
 Dissolved bone, etc 4 30 20 10 00 00 00 00 
 
 High grade ammoniated 
 
 guanos 4 30 20 10 00 00 00 00 
 
 Cotton-seed meal 5 40 30 20 10 00 00 00 
 
 Barn-yard manure 7 60 50 40 30 20 10 00 
 
 The figures given above are always used in fixing 
 the price for new tenants. In this country no such 
 careful estimates have been made, but the proportions 
 probably vary but little from those in other countries. 
 
 Amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and 
 
 Potash Found Profitable for Different 
 
 Crops Under Average Conditions 
 
 Per Acre. 
 
 REPORTS.) 
 
 Phosphoric 
 
 Nitrogen, Acid, Potash. 
 
 Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
 
 Wheat, rye, oats, corn 16 40 30 
 
 Potatoes and root crops 20 25 40 
 
 Clover, beans, peas and other legum- 
 inous crops 40 60 
 
 Fruit trees and small fruits 25 40 75 
 
 General garden produce 30 40 60 
 
 Rotation hi Crops. 
 
 In the changed conditions of agriculture elaborate 
 systems of crop rotation are no longer necessary. With 
 the help of chemical manures and the judicious use of 
 renovating crops farmers are no longer subject to rigid 
 rule, but may adapt rotations to the varying demands 
 of local market conditions.
 
 Some American Rotations. Food for 
 
 Plants 
 
 1. Potatoes. 1. Potatoes. 
 
 2. Wheat. 2. Wheat. 
 
 3. Clover. 3. Grass, timothy and clover. 
 
 4. Clover. 4. Grass, timothy and clover. 
 
 5. Wheat, oats or rye. 5. Corn. 
 
 1. Roots. 1. Roots. 
 
 2. Wheat. 2. Wheat. 
 
 3. Clover. 3. Clover. 
 
 4. Clover. 4. Clover. 
 
 5. Corn, oats or rye. 5. Wheat. 
 
 6. Oats. 
 
 RESULTS IN NEW YORK. 
 
 The general practice among farmers is to buy com- 
 plete medium or low-grade fertilizers in preference to 
 high-grade fertilizers. In high-grade goods, the cost of 
 plant-food is considerably less than in fertilizers of 
 lower grade. 
 
 Available phosphoric acid is cheapest in the form 
 of dissolved rock (acid phosphate). Bone-meal fur- 
 nishes a cheap source of phosphoric acid in less available 
 form. Nitrate of Soda is one of the cheapest sources 
 of Nitrogen. Nitrogen in the form of dried blood is 
 rather high. Potash in the form of muriate is the 
 cheapest source of potash. In mixtures of fertilizing 
 materials, whether complete or incomplete, the plant 
 food usually costs more than in unmixed materials. 
 
 When purchasing mixed fertilizers, farmers are 
 advised to purchase only high-grade goods, and then to 
 make a commercial valuation to compare with the 
 selling price. Even in high-grade goods, the selling 
 price should not exceed the commercial valuation by 
 more than $5. 
 
 For greatest economy, farmers are advised to 
 purchase unmixed materials and do their own mixing; 
 or, in the case of clubs, several farmers can purchase 
 their unmixed materials and hire a fertilizer manufac- 
 turer to do the mixing for them. 
 
 The following data, taken from the last U. S. 
 Census Report, are of interest in this connection as
 
 274 
 
 indicating in what portion of the Stater the largest 
 amount of money is expended for commercial fertilizers: 
 
 Long Island (Counties of Nassau, Queens and 
 
 Suffolk) $1,241,280 
 
 Monroe County 214,000 
 
 Erie County 186,370 
 
 Cayuga County 131,260 
 
 Oneida County 112,630 
 
 Onondaga, Ontario, Wayne, Ulster, Chautau- 
 
 qua, each from $102,000 to 110,000 
 
 These twelve counties use about one-half of the 
 commercial fertilizers used in the entire State. 
 
 Composition of Fertilizers in Different Classes. 
 
 If we compare our four different classes of com- 
 plete fertilizers in respect to the average amounts of 
 Nitrogen, available phosphoric acid and potash con- 
 tained in them, we have the following table : 
 
 Composition of Different Grades of Fertilizers. 
 
 IN 100 POUNDS OF FERTILIZER.. 
 
 CLASS OF FERTILIZERS. 
 
 Pounds 
 of 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Pounds 
 of Available 
 Pliosphorie 
 Acid. 
 
 Pounds 
 of 
 Potash. 
 
 Pounds 
 of Total 
 Plant-food. 
 
 Low-grade 
 
 1.22 
 
 8.18 
 
 2 60 
 
 12 00 
 
 Medium-grade. . . . 
 
 1 70 
 
 9 10 
 
 3 48 
 
 14 28 
 
 Medium high-grade. . . . 
 Hisrh-srrade. . 
 
 2.47 
 4.00 
 
 8.82 
 8.36 
 
 6.02 
 
 7 22 
 
 17.37 
 19.60 
 
 In the fourth column, under the heading "pounds 
 of total plant-food," we give the sum of the Nitrogen, 
 available phosphoric acid and potash. We notice the 
 following points in connection with this table: 
 
 1. The percentage of phosphoric acid does not 
 vary greatly in the different classes of fertilizers. 
 
 2. The percentage of Nitrogen and of potash in- 
 creases in the higher grades. 
 
 3. The total amount of plant-food in 100 pounds 
 of fertilizer increases in the higher grades, this increase 
 being due to increase of Nitrogen and potash.
 
 4. Representing the amount of Nitrogen in each Food for 
 grade of fertilizer as 1, we have the following propor- Plants _ 
 tions of available phosphoric acid and potash in the 2 7S 
 different grades: 
 
 Composition of Different Grades of Fertilizers. 
 
 
 Nitrogen. 
 
 Available 
 Phosphoric 
 Acid. 
 
 Potash. 
 
 Low-grade 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 Medium-grade 
 
 1 
 
 5 5 
 
 2 
 
 Medium high-grade 
 
 1 
 
 3 5 
 
 2 5 
 
 High-grade 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cost of One Pound of Plant-Food in Different 
 Grades of Fertilizers. 
 
 
 Low- 
 Grade. 
 
 Medium- 
 Grade. 
 
 Medium 
 High- 
 Grade. 
 
 High- 
 Giade. 
 
 Cost of one pound of Nitrogen 
 Lowest 
 
 Cents. 
 20 
 
 Cents. 
 17.9 
 
 Cents. 
 17 
 
 Cents. 
 13.3 
 
 Highest 
 
 36.8 
 
 28.3 
 
 26 
 
 26.0 
 
 Average 
 
 26.3 
 
 23.2 
 
 21 
 
 19.6 
 
 Cost of one pound ofAvailable 
 Phosphoric Acid. 
 Lowest 
 
 6.1 
 
 5.4 
 
 5.1 
 
 4.25 
 
 Highest 
 
 11.1 
 
 8.6 
 
 8.1 
 
 7.9 
 
 Average 
 
 8.0 
 
 7.0 
 
 6.4 
 
 6.0 
 
 Cost of one pound of Potash. 
 Lowest 
 
 5.2 
 
 4.6 
 
 44 
 
 3.4 
 
 Highest 
 
 9.5 
 
 7.3 
 
 6.9 
 
 6.7 
 
 Averace . . 
 
 6.8 
 
 6.0 
 
 5.4 
 
 5.0 
 
 From these data, we readily see the truth of the 
 following statements: 
 
 1. The cost of one pound of plant-food, whether 
 Nitrogen, phosphoric acid or potash, is greatest in 
 low-grade and least in high-grade fertilizers. One 
 purchaser of low-grade goods paid 36.8 cents per pound 
 for Nitrogen, while the highest price paid in high-grade
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 276 
 
 was 26 cents, which is less than the average paid 
 for Nitrogen in low-grade goods. The least amount 
 paid for one pound of Nitrogen in low-grade goods was 
 20 cents, in high-grade goods 13.3 cents. Similar 
 relations hold good in respect to the other elements of 
 plant-food. 
 
 2. In general, the higher the grade of goods, the 
 lower the cost of each pound of plant-food. 
 
 Tabulated General Summary. 
 
 In the table following, we give a general summary 
 of the data that have been presented, showing the cost 
 of one pound of plant-food in different forms to con- 
 sumers : 
 
 Cost of One Pound of Plant-Food to Consumers. 
 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Average. 
 
 NITROGEN IN 
 Low-grade complete fertilizers. . 
 
 Cents. 
 20 
 
 Cents. 
 36 8 
 
 Cents. 
 26 3 
 
 Medium-grade complete fertilizers 
 
 17 9 
 
 28 3 
 
 23 2 
 
 Medium high-grade complete fertilizers 
 High-grade complete fertilizers 
 
 17 
 13.3 
 
 26 
 26 
 
 21 
 19.6 
 
 Dried blood 
 
 14.8 
 
 22.9 
 
 18.5 
 
 Bone-meal 
 
 11.5 
 
 32 
 
 14.9 
 
 Nitrate of Soda 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 13.9 
 
 PHOSPHORIC ACID IN 
 Low-grade complete fertilizers 
 
 6.1 
 
 11.1 
 
 8.0 
 
 Medium-grade complete fertilizers. . . . 
 Medium high-grade complete fertilizers 
 High-grade complete fertilizers 
 Phosphoric acid and potash mixtures. . 
 Acid phosphate or dissolved rock 
 
 5.4 
 5.1 
 
 4.25 
 4.3 
 4.4 
 
 8.6 
 8.1 
 7.9 
 19.5 
 11.0 
 
 7.0 
 6.4 
 6.0 
 6.6 
 5.1 
 
 Bone (total) 
 
 3.1 
 
 8.6 
 
 3.96 
 
 POTASH IN 
 Low-grade complete fertilizers 
 
 5.2 
 
 9.5 
 
 6.8 
 
 Medium-grade complete fertilizers .... 
 Medium high-grade complete fertilizers 
 High-grade complete fertilizers 
 
 4.6 
 
 4.4 
 3.4 
 
 7.3 
 6.9 
 6.7 
 
 6.0 
 5.4 
 5.0 
 
 Phosphoric acid and potash mixtures. . 
 Muriate of potash 
 
 3.7 
 4.4 
 
 16.5 
 4.9 
 
 5.6 
 
 . 4.6 
 
 
 

 
 Plants can take up Nitrogen only in the form of od . for 
 
 Nitrates that is, in combination with alkaline base, 
 
 such as lime or sodium. . 2 77 
 
 The Nitrogen contained in all fertilizers, with the 
 exception of Nitrate of Soda, must first be nitrified 
 that is, converted into Nitrate before the plant can 
 take it up. This nitrification is always attended with 
 greater or less loss of Nitrogen. 
 
 A sufficiency of lime in the soil hastens nitrification, 
 while a scarcity of lime retards it. Nitrate of Soda is 
 the only nitrogenous fertilizer that will do its work 
 perfectly without lime, because it already contains 
 Nitrogen in a form that is capable of absorption by 
 plants. 
 
 Leguminous plants assimilate free Nitrogen from 
 the air through the medium of the micro-organisms 
 inhabiting the nodules found in their roots. Legumi- 
 nous plants, in the early stages of their growth, avail 
 themselves of the Nitrates in the soil. Nitrate of Soda 
 has been very profitably used in the cultivation of 
 Lucern, or "Alfalfa," etc. 
 
 Crops that have suffered from wintering, from 
 insects, etc., can, in most cases, be considerably im- 
 proved by top-dressing with Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 When the soil is very poor in potash, the soda 
 contained in Nitrate of Soda will, to a certain extent, 
 serve as a substitute for potash. It is not, however, a 
 perfect substitute. Poverty in potash can be fully made 
 good only by applying a sufficient quantity of a potash 
 fertilizer. 
 
 Nitrate of Soda is easily soluble, and it distributes 
 itself immediately through the soil. 
 
 i 
 Distribution of Nitrogen in the Grain and Straw of the 
 
 Principal Cereals. 
 NITROGEN PER Two AND ONE-HALF ACRES. 
 
 GRAIN. 
 
 Oats, Barley, Wheat, Rye, 
 
 82.42 Ibs. 86.61 Ibs. 81.10 Ibs. 67.44 Ibs. 
 
 Rape Seed, Peas, Vetches, Broad Beans, 
 
 176.32 Ibs. 117.03 Ibs. 143.92 Ibs. 181.16 Ibs.
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 278 
 
 Oats, 
 26.4 Ibs. 
 
 Rape Seed, 
 29.75 Ibs. 
 
 STRAW. 
 
 Barley, 
 26.4 Ibs. 
 
 Peas, 
 118.35 Ibs. 
 
 Wheat, 
 33.06 Ibs. 
 
 Vetches, 
 112.40 Ibs. 
 
 Rye, 
 
 29.31 Ibs. 
 
 Broad Beans, 
 79.34 Ibs. 
 
 Distribution of Nitrogen in the Principal Root Crops. 
 NITROGEN PER Two AND ONE-HALF ACRES. 
 
 ROOTS. 
 
 Sugarbeet, Beetroot, Swedes, Carrots, Potatoes, 
 105.79 Ibs. 138.85 Ibs. 165.30 Ibs. 145.46 Ibs. 112.40 Ibs. 
 
 TUBERS. 
 
 LEAF. 
 
 Sugarbeet, Beetroot, Swedes, Carrots, Potatoes, 
 
 52.89 Ibs. 80.66 Ibs. 55.1 Ibs. 168.60 Ibs. 15.11 Ibs. 
 
 SHAWS. 
 
 The figures in this table show how many pounds of 
 Nitrogen are withdrawn from two and one-half acres of 
 ground. 
 
 Thus in the low grade "complete fertilizers" the 
 consumer pays more for his Nitrogen than he pays for 
 it in Nitrate of Soda at One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) 
 per ton!!! 
 
 In the medium grade "complete fertilizers" he 
 pays more than he would pay for it in Nitrate of Soda 
 at Eighty Dollars ($80.00) per ton!! 
 
 In the high grade "complete fertilizers" he pays 
 as much for it as he would pay for it in Nitrate of Soda 
 at Seventy-One Dollars ($71.00) per ton! 
 
 Besides which, since one must buy nearly Twenty 
 Tons of low grade fertilizer to get a ton of Nitrate of 
 Soda, or anything like its equivalent, there is a material 
 saving in freight which may amount to 95 per cent, of 
 the cost. Instead of transporting twenty tons of more 
 or less inert material you need only to pay the freight 
 charges on one ton of concentrated plant food that is : 
 substance instead of shadow. 
 
 Since Nitrate of Soda is the one immediately 
 available Nitrogenous plant food, and costs less per
 
 pound for the available Nitrogen it contains, than any 
 other Nitrogenous fertilizer, its rational use is most 
 profitable at present, and has been so since the very 2 79 
 beginning of its use in agriculture. 
 
 What Experiment Station Directors Say : 
 
 "I can safely state that there are a large number 
 of farmers in New Jersey who mix their fertilizers and 
 who find home-mixed material very satisfactory and 
 less costly than the manufactured products." JACOB 
 B. LIPMAN, Director New Jersey Agric. Exp't. Station. 
 
 "We advocate home mixing of fertilizers mainly 
 from the fact that we can modify the fertilizers to suit 
 the crop and the soil, and can avoid the purchase of 
 elements not required for ordinary purposes."- W. R. 
 DODSON, Dean and Director, La. State University 
 College of Agriculture and Agric. Exp't. Station. 
 
 "We practice and preach that farmers should mix 
 their own fertilizers. In our experience, it is entirely 
 practical for the farmer to mix his own fertilizer. 
 The work can be done thoroughly enough for all prac- 
 tical purposes." - H. J. PATTERSON, Director Maryland 
 Agric. Exp't. Station. 
 
 :< This Station has for the past ten years advised 
 farmers to buy high grade raw materials and mix their 
 fertilizers at home. The home mixing cheapens the 
 cost of fertilizers since only such elements as are needed 
 by the plant or are deficient in the soil are used. Prac- 
 tically all of our most intelligent farmers mix their 
 fertilizers at home." E. R. LLOYD, Director Mississippi 
 Agric. Exp't. Station. 
 
 "We find that as a farm proposition, home-mixed 
 fertilizers are more economical and more effective than 
 the regular factory brands." CHAS. E. THORNE, 
 Director Ohio Agric. Exp't. Station. 
 
 "On every account, however, financial, educational, 
 agricultural, it is better to buy the crude stock and 
 home mix if one uses a ton or more." J. L. HILLS, 
 Director Vermont Agric. Exp't. Station.
 
 F Piants ^ e cou ^ &i ye man y additional recommendations 
 
 of home-mixing, but it will suffice to state that of 37 
 
 280 Stations heard from, 35 advocate this practice. 
 
 Frequently fertilizers mixed in the factories, upon 
 being analyzed, show a considerable variation and the 
 claim of "uniform mixed" is not a valid one. In order 
 to secure uniform mixture it is just as necessary to 
 observe care in the factory as on the farm. 
 
 The claim made by fertilizer manufacturers that 
 they only enjoy a monopoly of the custom and habit of 
 being careful and painstaking in their work is not 
 justified by the facts. Frequent practical trials of 
 home mixing by farmers show variations of less than 
 two-tenths of one per cent, as between calculated and 
 actual percentages found by analysis. 
 
 Moreover, the composition of ready-mixed fer- 
 tilizers varies with the opinion of the manufacturer. 
 For example: In New Jersey there have been over 
 fifty different fertilizers for potatoes offered as being 
 precisely the thing for the potato crop, yet varying 
 widely in their percentage composition. 
 
 Bulletin No. 173 of the Alabama Experiment 
 Station states that Nitrate of Soda is the most effective 
 source of nitrogen for oats and that it should be applied 
 as a top dressing in March for that crop. 
 
 When gold ore is sent to an assay office to be 
 analyzed the sender wishes to have the number of 
 ounces of gold per ton determined; in other words he 
 wants to know the percentage of gold in the ore. 
 
 In buying a fertilizer the user ought similarly to 
 know the percentage of nitrogen (which is the gold of 
 the fertilizer) , for it is worth five times more in the open 
 market than any other constituent that the fertilizer 
 may contain. When you buy your fertilizer, therefore, 
 why not inform yourself of this very vital gold point. 
 
 You can make as much money by careful pur- 
 chasing of supplies for your farm as you can in wise 
 marketing of what you produce. Insist on knowing 
 values and the nature and quality of the Nitrogen in 
 your goods, which is worth more than anything else in 
 the open market to you personally for use on your land.
 
 FERTILIZERS. 
 
 After the original Chart arranged by Director J. L. Hills, of the 
 
 Vermont Experiment Station, for the U. S. Government 
 
 Fertilizer Exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition. 
 
 Average cost of a pound of plant food in "low," 
 "medium" and "high" grade "complete fertilizers" 
 (Vermont, 1903.) 
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 281 
 
 The Nitrogen Cost per Ib. 
 
 = $102 a Ton for 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 =$80 a Ton for 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 = $71 a Ton for 
 Nitrate of Soda. 
 
 The Nitrogen in Nitrate off Soda, in 1903, cost 15 cents per Ib. 
 
 The Available Phosphoric Acid Cost per Ib. 
 
 in low grade. 
 in medium grade. 
 in high grade. 
 
 The Phosphoric Acid in Acid Phosphate, in 1903, cost 4 cents 
 per Ib. 
 
 The Actual Potash Cost per Ib. 
 
 in low grade, 
 in medium grade. 
 
 in high grade. 
 
 The Actual Potash in Sulphate of Potash, in 1903, cost 5 cents 
 per Ib.
 
 Food for Table of Quantities Required per Acre. Sow (if alone) per Acre 
 
 Plants 
 
 - Agrostis stolonifera See Creeping Bent ........................................ 2 bushels 
 
 Q canina See R. I. Bent ............................................... 3 bushels 
 
 " vulgaris See Red Top ............................................... 3 bushels 
 
 Fancy ....................................................... 20 Ibs. 
 
 Alopecurus pratensis See Meadow Foxtail ................................ 3 to 4 bushels 
 
 Anthoxanthum odoratum See Sweet Vernal, peren ........................... 3 # bushels 
 
 Avena elatior See Tall Meadow Oat Grass .................................... 3 bushels 
 
 Arrhenatherum avenaceum See Tall Meadow Oat Grass .................... 4 to 5 bushels 
 
 Awnless Brome Grass ..................................................... 20 to 25 Ibs. 
 
 Alsike or Hybrid Clover ......................................................... 8 Ibs. 
 
 Alfalfa Clover ........................................................... 20 to 25 Ibs. 
 
 Artichokes ............................................................ 8 to 10 bushels 
 
 Australian Salt Bush ............................................................ 2 Ibs. 
 
 Barley .............................. Broadcast, 2 to 2^ bushels; Drilled, 1# to 2 bushels 
 
 Beet Sugar ................................................................ 6 to 8 ibs. 
 
 Bermuda Grass ................................................................. 6 Ibs. 
 
 Bromus inermis See Awnless Brome Grass ................................. 20 to 25 Ibs. 
 
 Bokhara Clover ............................................................... 10 Ibs. 
 
 Broom Corn .............................................................. 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 
 Buckwheat ................................... ............................... 1 bushel 
 
 Beans, Field ................... . ...................................... Drilled, 1 bushel 
 
 Canada Blue Grass .......................................................... 3 bushels 
 
 Cynodon dactylon-^-See Bermuda Grass ........................................... 6 Ibs. 
 
 Creeping Bent or Fiorin ...................................................... 2 bushels 
 
 Crested Dog's Tail ........................................................ 1 ^ bushels 
 
 Cynosurus cristatus See Crested Dog's Tail ................................. 1 >? bushels 
 
 Cow Grass See Mammoth Red Clover ..................................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Crimson or Carnation See Scarlet Clover ........................................ 14 Ibs. 
 
 Corn, Dent and Flint ..................................................... 8 to 10 qts. 
 
 " Fodder ..................................... Broadcast, 2 bushels; Drilled, 1 bushel 
 
 " Pop ................................................................ 6 to 8 qts. 
 
 Carrots ........................................................................ 4 Ibs. 
 
 Cotton ....................................................................... 15 Ibs. 
 
 Dactylis glomerata See Orchard Grass ........................................ 3 bushels 
 
 Douras ........................... ....................................... 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 
 English Blue Grass See Meadow Fescue ............................ ........ 2 ]/i bushels 
 
 " or Perennial Rye Grass ........................................ 2% to 3 bushels 
 
 Festuca elatior See Tall Meadow Fescue .................................... 2^ bushels 
 
 heterophylla See Various Leaved Fescue ............................... 3 bushels 
 
 " ovina -See Sheep's Fescue .......................................... 2 } bushels 
 
 " tenuifolia See Fine Leaved Sheep's Fescue ........................ 3 bushels 
 
 " pratensis See Meadow Fescue ...................................... 2 Ji bushels 
 
 rubra See Red Fescue ............................................. 2]4 bushels 
 
 " duriuscula See Hard Fescue ........................................ 2 >? bushels 
 
 Fine Leaved Sheep's Fescue .................................................. 3 bushels 
 
 Flax Seed ............................................................ X to tf bushels 
 
 Fiorin See Creeping Bent ................................................... 2 bushels 
 
 Grasses, Permanent Pasture Mixtures .......................................... 3 bushels 
 
 " Clover for above ..................................... 10 Ibs. 
 
 Renovating Mixture .................................................. 1 bushel 
 
 " Lawn .............................................................. 5 bushels 
 
 Herd's Grass (of the South) See Red Top ..................................... 3 bushels 
 
 " (of the North) See Timothy ................................ # to 1 bushel 
 
 Hungarian Grass See Hungarian Millet ........................................ 1 bushel 
 
 Hard Fescue .............................................................. 2H bushels 
 
 Italian Rye Grass ............. .............................................. 3 bushels 
 
 June Grass See Kentucky Blue ......................................... 2 to 3 bushels 
 
 " Clover See Red Clover ............................................. 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Japan Clover ................................................................. 14 Ibs. 
 
 Johnson Grass ............................................................... 1 bushel 
 
 Jerusalem Corn .............. . ................................................. 5 Ibs. 
 
 Kaffir Corn ...................................................... .' ....... 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 
 Kentucky Blue Grass ........................................................ 3 bushels
 
 Table of Quantities Required per Acre. Sow (if alone) per Acre Food for 
 
 Plants 
 
 Lupins. . . . ..... .............................................. 2 to 3 bushels 
 
 Lohum itahcum See Italian Rye Grass ........................................ 3 bushels 
 
 Lolium perenne See English Rye Grass ................................ 2 K to 3 bushels 2 3 
 
 Lucerne See Alfalfa ..................................................... 20 to 25 Ibs. 
 
 Lespedeza striata See Japan Clover ............................................. 14 ibs. 
 
 Meadow Foxtail ........................................................ 3 to 4 bushels 
 
 Fescue ........ .................................................. 2J^ bushels 
 
 Mammoth or Pea Vine Clover .............................. . .............. 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Medicago sativa See Alfalfa ............ '. ...................................... 20 Ibs. 
 
 Millo Maize See Douras .................................................. 8 to 10 Ibs! 
 
 Millet, German and Hungarian ................................................ 1 bushel 
 
 Pearl, Egyptian, Cat-Tail or Horse Millet ........ Drills, 5 to 6 Ibs.; Broadcast, 8 Ibs. 
 
 Japanese ................................ Drills, 10 Ibs. per acre ; Broadcast, 15 Ibs. 
 
 Mangels .................................................................. 6 to 8 Ibs. 
 
 Melilotus alba See Bokhara Ciover ............................................. 10 ibs. 
 
 Onobrychis sativa See Sainfoin .......................................... 3 to 4 bushels 
 
 Orchard Grass .............................................................. 3 bushels 
 
 Oats ....................................................................... 3 bushels 
 
 Parsnip ....................................................................... 6 Ibs. 
 
 Poa nemoralis See Wood Meadow Grass ...................................... 2 bushels 
 
 " pratensis See Kentucky Blue ....................................... 2 to 3 bushels 
 
 " trivialis See Rough Stalked Meadow Grass .............................. 1 J^ bushels 
 
 " arachnif era See Texas Blue Grass ........................................... 6 Ibs. 
 
 " compressa .............................................................. 3 bushels 
 
 Phleum pratense See Timothy .......................................... % to 1 bushel 
 
 Potatoes ............................................................ 12 to 14 bushels 
 
 Peas, Field ................. ................................................ 3 bushels 
 
 " Cow .................................................................. 2 bushels 
 
 Pea Vine Clover See Mammoth Clover .................................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Perennial Red Clover See Mammoth Clover ............................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Rape, English ............................................................. 2 to 4 Ibs. 
 
 Red Top ................................................................... 3 bushels 
 
 " Fancy ............................................................... 20 Ibs. 
 
 Rhode Island Bent .......................................................... 3 bushels 
 
 Red or Creeping Fescue .................................................... 2 yi bushels 
 
 Rough Stalked Meadow Grass .............................................. 1*4 bushels 
 
 Red Clover (Common or June Clover) ...................................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 Reana luzurians See Teosinte .............................................. 6 to 8 Ibs. 
 
 Rye ..................................................................... 1 J^ bushels 
 
 Ruta Baga ................................................................ 2 to 3 Ibs. 
 
 Sorghum Halapense See Johnson Grass ........................................ 1 bushel 
 
 Sweet Vernal true perennial ............................................... 3 % bushels 
 
 Sheep's Fescue ............................................................ 2 # bushels 
 
 Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass See Kentucky Blue ........................ 2 to 3 bushe.s 
 
 Sweet Clover See Bokhara Clover .............................................. 10 Ibs. 
 
 Scarlet Clover ................................................................. 14 Ibs. 
 
 Sainfoin ............................................................... 3 to 4 bushels 
 
 Sorghums ................................................................ 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 
 Sugar Beet . . . . ............................................................ 6 to 8 Ibs. 
 
 Sugar Canes .............................................................. 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 
 Sunflower ..................................................................... 4 qts. 
 
 Swedish Clover See Alsike ...................................................... 8 Ibs. 
 
 Soja Bean .................................................................. K bushel 
 
 Texas Blue Grass ............................................................. -6 Ibs. 
 
 Tall Meadow Oat Grass ................................................. 4 to 5 bushels 
 
 " Fescue ....................................................... 2K bushels 
 
 Timothy or Herd's Grass of the North .................................... Yt to 1 bushel 
 
 Trifolium pratense See Red Clover ....................................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 " perenne See Mammoth Clover .......................... 10 to 12 Ibs. 
 
 " repens See White Clover .............................................. 8 Ibs. 
 
 " incarnatum See Scarlet Clover ........................................ 14 jbs. 
 
 " hybridum See Alsike Clover ...................................... ---- IDS. 
 
 Toesinte .................................................................. 6 to 8 bs. 
 
 Turnips ................................................................... 2to3 bs. 
 
 Ruta Baga, Russian or Swedish ...................................... 2 to A IDS. 
 
 Vetch, Spring (Tares) ... ................................................. 2 bushelf 
 
 " Sand or Winter ....................................................... ;, 1 . bu ? h ? 1 
 
 Various Leaved Fescue ....................... ................................ busheli 
 
 Wood Meadow Grass ........................................................ 2 busheli 
 
 White or Dutch Clover ..................................................... - 8 ' D f 
 
 Wheat ... .......................................... W bushel*
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 ,8,3 
 
 J| S 5 
 
 j 4 to 5 Ibs. 
 
 
 
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 REFERENCE TABLE FOR VEGETABLE SEED SOWERS. 
 
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 DATES FOR SOWING 
 VICINITY NEW YORK CITY. 
 North, later; South, earlier. As a gen- 
 eral rule, it is pretty safe to allow six days' 
 difference in planting for every hundred 
 miles of latitude. 
 
 UNDER GLASS. 1 OPEN GROUND. 
 
 April and May 
 . Anril . . . 
 
 May 15th to Aug. 1st . 
 May 15th to June 15th 
 
 April to August 
 August and September 
 June 
 April to July 
 February April 
 May and June 
 April 
 May to July 
 February April 
 May and June 
 April 
 May 10th to July 10th. 
 May 15th to July 15th. 
 Marnh 
 
 February April to August 
 April to July 
 February April and May 
 February April to August 
 May 15th to June 15th 
 
 February April and May 
 
 April 
 April 15th to July 1st. 
 April 1st to Aug. 1st . . 
 March . . . 
 
 April 15th to June 1st. 
 May 20th to June 20th 
 April 1st to Sept. 15th. 
 April and May 
 April to Sept. 15th 
 May 15th to July 1st. 
 May 20th to June 20th 
 Feb. and Mar. June 1st 
 April to September. . . . 
 
 KIND OF VEGETABLE 
 
 : : : : : g 8 | :; i :>;:::: 
 
 *U o * * * ''~ v 9 W * *S a * 
 
 epQ... o 3 Z? . . r * 
 
 ra*s : 3* lifii* 13 j 
 
 - $a M RHMalit 8 
 
 1 23 | S| | ||] 
 
 5 pso d d cSuufi 
 
 i Ml 
 
 l! 
 
 Potatoes 
 Pumpkins 
 Radish 
 Salsify 
 Spinach 
 Squash, Summer 
 " Winter 
 Tomato 
 Turnip
 
 Food for 
 Plants 
 
 Index. 28s 
 
 Abstracts of U. S. Experiment Station Record 22 
 
 Acre, Number of Plants to the 211 
 
 Adaptability of the Onion to All Soils 161 
 
 Advantages of Home Mixing 235 
 
 Alfalfa, Cow Peas and Clover Question 127 
 
 Alfalfa, Formula for 250 
 
 Alkaline Soil Necessary for Grass 88 
 
 America's Annual Expenditure for Fertilizer 260 
 
 Ammoniates, Nitrogenous Fertilizers '. . . . 219 
 
 Amount of Barbed Wire Required for Fences 197 
 
 Amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid and Potash Found 
 
 Profitable for Different Crops Under Average Conditions 
 
 per Acre 272 
 
 Amount of Oil in Seeds 210 
 
 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials 264, 264 
 
 Analyses of Farm Manures 265 
 
 Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products; Analyses 
 
 of Hay and Dry, Coarse Fodders 265-269 
 
 Apples, Nitrate of Soda on 171 
 
 Application of Fertilizer to Cotton 74 
 
 Apply and Mix Nitrate of Soda and Other Fertilizers, How 
 
 to 23 
 
 Are the Farmers of Little Europe More Intelligent than 
 
 those of America? 13 
 
 Asparagus 50, 143, 151 
 
 Availability in Fertilizer 232 
 
 Availability of Nitrogen in Various Forms 16 
 
 Average Annual Rainfall in the United States 196 
 
 Barley 134, 137 
 
 Barley, Formula for 250 
 
 Barley and Oats 137 
 
 Beets (Table) Grown on Nitrate, Ready for Market Sixteen 
 
 Days Earlier 145 
 
 Berries, Formulas for 254 
 
 Better Quality Resulted as Well as Saving in Time and 
 
 Increase in Crop 144 
 
 Buckwheat 140 
 
 Bulletin of North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture 74 
 
 Burbank, What Luther, says 174 
 
 Business Laws in Brief . . 200
 
 Food for PAGE 
 
 Plants Cabbage, Early 145 
 
 286 Cabbages and Cauliflower 154 
 
 Calculations for Home Mixing 240, 241 
 
 Cantaloupes 155 
 
 Capacity of Cisterns for Each Ten Inches in Depth 209 
 
 Carrying Capacity of a Freight Car 199 
 
 Catch-Crops 25 
 
 Cauliflower and Cabbages . 154 
 
 Celery 59, 145, 155 
 
 Chemical Manures. Nature of 24 
 
 Chile Saltpetre 224 
 
 Chile's Supply of Nitrate 17 
 
 Citrus Fruits, Formulas for 255, 256 
 
 Clark's Grass Cultivation, Nitrate of Soda as Used in 91 
 
 Clover, Alfalfa and Cow Peas Question 127 
 
 Clovers, Formula for 250 
 
 Common Salt, Use of '. 164 
 
 Comparative Availability of Nitrogen in Various Forms. ... 19 
 Comparison of Nitrate of Soda and Sulphate of Ammonia, 
 
 Both With and Without Lime 135 
 
 "Complete Fertilizers" and "Phosphates" the Most Expen- 
 sive Plant Food 12 
 
 Composition of Different Classes of Fertilizers 274 
 
 Composition of Fertilizers in Different Grades 274 
 
 Corn 141 
 
 Corn, Formulas for 248 
 
 Corn, Sweet 147 
 
 Cost of Active (Available) Nitrogen 38 
 
 Cost of Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda 276 
 
 Cost of One Pound of Plant Food in Different Grades of Fer- 
 tilizers 275 
 
 Cost of One Pound of Plant Food to Consumers 276 
 
 Cost of Transportation of Fertilizers 21 
 
 Cost of Transportation per Ton of Material 21 
 
 Cotton 71 
 
 Cotton, Experiments at South Carolina Experiment Station. 76 
 
 Cotton Fertilizing 74 
 
 Cotton and Fibre Plants 71 
 
 Cotton, Formula for 251 
 
 Cotton, Profitable Use of Nitrate on 76 
 
 Cotton-Seed Meal and Nitrate Compared on Wheat 131 
 
 Cow Peas, Formula for 250 
 
 Cow Peas, Alfalfa and Clover Question 127 
 
 Crop Was Saved From Total Failure, How a 145
 
 PAGE Food for 
 
 Cucumbers 58, 146 Plants 
 
 Cucumbers, Squashes and Melons 160 287 
 
 Currants, Gooseberries, Raspberries 187 
 
 Defects and Losses in the Use of Ordinary Nitrogens .' 30 
 
 Distribution of Nitrogen in the Grain and Straw of the Prin- 
 cipal Cereals 277 
 
 Distribution of Nitrogen in the Principal Root Crops 278 
 
 Dollar Spent in Nitrate Returned $21.00 in Increased Crop. 145 
 
 Doubling the Cotton Crop 76 
 
 Early Cabbage 54, 145 
 
 Early Growth of Plants 34 
 
 Early Lettuce 148 
 
 Early Peas 149 
 
 Early Potatoes 60, 150 
 
 Early Table Beets 48 
 
 Early Table Turnips 55 
 
 Early Tomatoes 52, 151 
 
 Economy in the Purchase of Fertilizers, Home Mixtures. . . . 226 
 
 Economical and Profitable Practice 91 
 
 Edible Value of Plant, Special Influence of Nitrate on 31 
 
 Effect of Nitrate on Quality of Hay 86 
 
 Egg Plant 148 
 
 Eminent Scientists Well Acquainted with Value of Nitrate. 9 
 
 Equipment for Home Mixing 239 
 
 Equivalent Quantity of Nitrate Food 37 
 
 Estimating Measures : 205 
 
 Excess of Value of Hay Over Cost of Fertilizers 90 
 
 Experiments in England, Wheat 131 
 
 Experiments on Cotton at the South Carolina Experiment 
 
 Station 77 
 
 Experiments on Tobacco at the Kentucky Experiment 
 
 Station 82 
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers on Cotton 75 
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers on Sweet Potatoes 168 
 
 Experiments with Fertilizers on Tomatoes 170 
 
 Experiments with Forage Crops 68 
 
 Experiment on Wheat with Nitrogen 136 
 
 Extraordinary Returns on Celery 146 
 
 Facts for Builders 206 
 
 Facts for the Weatherwise 202 
 
 Farm Sewage Disposal 222 
 
 Farmers' Bulletin, No. 107. Prepared in the Office of Ex- 
 periment Stations 218
 
 Food for PAGE 
 
 Plants Farmers' Barometer 203 
 
 288 Farmyard Manure Compared with Nitrate 25 
 
 Farmyard Manure, Management of 222 
 
 Farmyard Manure and Other Products are Valuable, Why. . 29 
 
 Ferns, How to Revive 211 
 
 Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land 270 
 
 Fertilizers Employed as Source of Nitrogen 32 
 
 Fertilizers (Diagram) 281 
 
 Fertilizers for Fruits (Bulletin 66, Hatch Experiment Station) 171 
 
 Fertilizers for Vegetables and Small Fruits 15 
 
 Fertilizers in Use for Garden Crops, What 16 
 
 Fertilizing Cotton 74 
 
 Fertilizing Hay Crops in California 122 
 
 Field Experiments with Nitrate at Highland Farms 116 
 
 Figs 189 
 
 Financial Profit from Use of Nitrate 88 
 
 Flax 80 
 
 Flowers 156 
 
 Food Necessary for Plants 5 
 
 Forage Crops, Experiments with 68 
 
 For Crops of Low Commercial Value 62 
 
 Formulas for Citrus Fruits 255, 256 
 
 Formulas for Farm Crops 248-253 
 
 Formulas for Fruits and Berries 254 
 
 Formulas for Market Garden Crops 253 
 
 Forty Bushels of Wheat to the Acre a Possible Average 131 
 
 Free Use of the Harrow and Pulverizer 163 
 
 Fruits 171 
 
 Fruits, Formulas for 254 
 
 Fruits Generally, Nitrate of Soda for 172 
 
 Fruits, Nitrate on 35 
 
 Functions of Nitrate, Unusual 30 
 
 Gains from Use of Nitrate of Soda 66 
 
 Gain in Time Remarkable, Two Weeks in Advance 147 
 
 Garden Crops, Market 48, 152 
 
 General Directions for Staple Crops 258 
 
 General Fruit Formula per Acre 254 
 
 General Points as to Methods of Application 221 
 
 Good Results Due to Nitrate 215 
 
 Gooseberries, Currants, Raspberries 187 
 
 Grain and Hay 62 
 
 Grains, Grasses, Root Crops, Pastures, Soiling Crops, Nitrate 
 
 as a Top-Dressing for 24 
 
 Grape Fruit, Formula lor 256
 
 PAGE Food for 
 Grapes 189 Plants 
 
 Grass Growing for Profit 83 289 
 
 Grass Lands, Formulas for 249, 250 
 
 Grasses, Grains, Root Crops, Pastures, Soiling Crops, Nitrate 
 
 as a Top-Dressing for 24 
 
 Greenhouse Plant Food 158 
 
 Growing Timothy Hay for Market 91 
 
 Harrow and Pulverizer, Free Use of the 153 
 
 Hay 63 
 
 Hay and Grain 62 
 
 Hay, Growing Timothy for Market * 91 
 
 Hay, How Nitrate Improves the Quality of the 86 
 
 Hay Lands, Formulas for 249, 250 
 
 Hemp 80 
 
 Highland Experimental Farms, Report of Experiments 108 
 
 Hints for Farmers 209 
 
 Hints for Right Use of Nitrate 19 
 
 Home-Mixing of Fertilizers 230 
 
 Home-Mixing Table 247 
 
 Hops. A Record of Four Years' Experiments with Hops. . . 142 
 
 Hops, Formula for 253 
 
 How a Crop was Saved from Total Failure 145 
 
 How All Nitrogen is, of Necessity, Nitrated, and Slowness of 
 
 Process 35 
 
 How All Crops Grow 24 
 
 How and Where to Buy Fertilizing Materials 20 
 
 How Deep in the Ground to Plant Corn 197 
 
 How Nitrate of Soda Helps Crops 45 
 
 How Grain Will Shrink 197 
 
 How It Pays 88 
 
 How Money Crops Feed 28 
 
 How Much Shall be Applied 64 
 
 How Nitrate Benefits the Farmer 7 
 
 How Nitrate Increases Wheat Crops 24 
 
 How Nitrate Improves the Quality of the Hay 86 
 
 How Nitrate Neutralizes Soil Acids and Sweetens the Soil . . 88 
 
 How Nitrate Saves Time, Money and the Crop 34 
 
 How to Apply Nitrate of Soda to Wheat 129 
 
 How to Apply Phosphatic Fertilizers 20 
 
 How to Measure Corn in Crib, Hay in Mow, etc 199 
 
 How to Mix and Apply Nitrate of Soda and Other Fertilizers. 19 
 
 How to Preserve Eggs 205 
 
 How to Rent a Farm 202 
 
 How to Save Humus 223
 
 Food for PAGE 
 
 s How to Save Money on Fertilizers . . 13 
 
 290 How to See the Wind 203 
 
 How to Top-Dress : 35 
 
 How to Treat Sunstroke 200 
 
 How to Use Chemical Fertilizers to Advantage 24 
 
 Increase in Crop, Better Quality and Saving in Time 144 
 
 Increase of Crops from Same Quantity of Nitrogen from Dif- 
 ferent Sources 16 
 
 Increased Yield on Turnips and Swedes 171 
 
 Indispensable, Why Nitrate is 5 
 
 Intrinsic Values of Nitrogens 30 
 
 Irish Potatoes, Formula for 252 
 
 Kale . 148 
 
 Late Potatoes 150 
 
 Lawns and Golf Links 158 
 
 Lemons, Formula for 256 
 
 Length of Navigation of the Mississippi River 198 
 
 Lettuce 159 
 
 Litter 222 
 
 Losses and Defects in the Use of Ordinary Nitrogens 30 
 
 Making Two Blades of Grass Grow Where One Blade Grew 
 
 Before 85 
 
 Management of Farmyard Manure 222 
 
 Margin of Profit Greater 215 
 
 Mandarin Oranges, Formula for 255 
 
 Mangolds 160 
 
 Manures 221 
 
 Market Garden Crops 48, 152 
 
 Market Garden Crops, Formula for 253 
 
 Market Gardening with Nitrate 143 
 
 Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin No. 
 91. Nitrate of Soda vs. No Nitrate of Soda, Applied on 
 
 Wheat; Wheat Unfertilized in Fall 135 
 
 Materials Not to be Mixed 246 
 
 Materials Used in Making Commercial or Chemical Manures 224 
 
 Melons, Cucumbers and Squashes 160 
 
 Methods of Home Mixing 239 
 
 Mix and Apply Nitrate of Soda and Other Fertilizers, How to 19 
 
 Mixing, Home 227, 230 
 
 Modern Agriculture, Position of Nitrate in 9 
 
 Moisture in Soil, Necessity of 163
 
 PAGE Food for 
 
 Money Crops, Results of Nitrate on 36 Plants 
 
 Muskmelons 57 2gi 
 
 Nature of Chemical Manures 24 
 
 Natural Plant Food, Sources of 32 
 
 Nearly Always Deficient, Nitrate 5 
 
 Necessity of Moisture in Soil 163 
 
 Neutralizes Soil Acids and Sweetens the Soil, How Nitrate. . 88 
 
 New Jersey Experiment Station, Abstract from Bulletin 172 38 
 
 Nitrate 6 
 
 Nitrate, Its Use is Increasing 12 
 
 Nitrate Nearly Always Deficient 5 
 
 Nitrate Pre-Digested Nitrogen 29 
 
 Nitrate Compared with Farmyard Manure 25 
 
 Nitrate Test at Kentucky Experiment Station 139 
 
 Nitrate of Soda as Used in Clark's Grass Cultivation 91 
 
 Nitrate and Cotton-Seed Meal Compared on Wheat 135 
 
 Nitrate as a Top-Dressing for Grains, Grasses, Root Crops, 
 
 Pastures, Soiling Crops 24 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, Amount to Apply on Wheat 67 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, How Used on Cereals 225 
 
 Nitrate of Soda on Apples 171 
 
 Nitrate of Soda or Chile Saltpetre 224 
 
 Nitrate of Soda for Fruits Generally 172 
 
 Nitrate of Soda Niter in Fertilizing. (Bulletin 24, California 
 
 State Mining Bureau.) By Dr. Gilbert E. Bailey 25 
 
 Nitration or Nitrification 223 
 
 Nitrogen Should Receive Special Attention 40 
 
 Number of Plants to the Acre 21 1 
 
 Number of Years Seeds Retain Their Vitality 196 
 
 Number Bricks Required to Construct any Building 206 
 
 Nursery Stock 191 
 
 Oats 138 
 
 Oats and Peas for Hay 109 
 
 Oats, Formula for 249 
 
 Of General Interest 196 
 
 Olive Trees, Old, Formula for 257 
 
 Olive Trees, Young, Formula for 257 
 
 Onions 149 
 
 Onion, Adaptability of the, to All Soils 161 
 
 On What Crops Nitrate Should Be Used 15 
 
 Orange Groves 194 
 
 Oranges, Mandarin, Formula for 255 
 
 Orange Trees, Old, Formula for 255
 
 Food for PAGE 
 
 Plants Orange Trees, Young, Formula for 255 
 
 292 Other Ammoniates Higher in Price than Nitrate 215 
 
 Pastures, Soiling Crops, Root Crops, Grains, Grasses, Nitrate 
 
 as a Top-Dressing for 24 
 
 Peaches 171 
 
 Peas and Oats for Hay 109 
 
 Peppers 60 
 
 Philosophical Facts 204 
 
 Phosphates 219 
 
 "Phosphates" and "Complete Fertilizers" the Most Ex- 
 pensive Plant Food 12 
 
 Phosphoric Acid 6 
 
 Pioneer Farmers' Wasteful Methods 9 
 
 Plant Food Needs of Crops 36 
 
 Points as to Prices of Farm Products and Nitrate Prices. . . . 214 
 
 Poison Ivy, How to Kill 211 
 
 Position of Nitrate in Modern Agriculture 9 
 
 Potashes '. 6, 220 
 
 Potatoes 150 
 
 Potatoes, Irish, Formula for 252 
 
 Potatoes, Late 150, 166 
 
 Potatoes, Sweet 167 
 
 Potatoes, Sweet, Formula for 252 
 
 Potatoes, Applying Fertilizers for 166 
 
 Practical Conclusions 90 
 
 Practical Suggestions as a Result of Experiments 48 
 
 Pre-Digested Nitrogen, Nitrate a 29 
 
 Price of Farm Products, Rise in 215 
 
 Principal Elements, Nitrate, Phosphoric Acid, Potash 29 
 
 Probable Stability of Farm Values 215 
 
 Profit, Margin of 215 
 
 Profits from Use of Fertilizers 46 
 
 Profitable and Economical Practice 91 
 
 Profitable Fertilization of Grapes. Summary of Experi- 
 ments at Darmstadt Agricultural Experiment Station, 
 
 Darmstadt, Germany 190 
 
 Profitable Onion Cultivation 161 
 
 Profitable Use of Nitrates, How Careful Cultivation May 
 
 Aid in the 92 
 
 Profitable Use of Nitrate on Cotton 76 
 
 Pulverizer and Harrow, The Use of the 163 
 
 Quantity (Equivalent) of Nitrate Food 37
 
 PAGE Food for 
 
 Raspberries, Currants, Gooseberries 187 Plants 
 
 Rational Use of Chilean Nitrate in California 172 ;93 
 
 Ready for Market Sixteen Days Earlier, Table Beets Grown 
 
 on Nitrate 145 
 
 Reference Table for Vegetable Seed Sowers 284 
 
 Relative Value of Different Foods for Stock 208 
 
 Report of Experiments, Highland Experimental Farms 108 
 
 Results (Good) Due to Nitrate 215 
 
 Results in New York 273 
 
 Results of Nitrate on Money Crops 36 
 
 Results of Saving Small Amounts of Money 211 
 
 Results in an Unfavorable Season with Low Prices for Prod- 
 ucts 143 
 
 Returns on Celery Extraordinary 146 
 
 Rice, Formula for 251 
 
 Rise in Price of Farm Products 215 
 
 Root Crops, Pastures, Soiling Crops, Grains, Grasses, 
 
 Nitrate as a Top-Dressing for 24 
 
 Rotation on Crops 272 
 
 Rules for Farmers, Business 199 
 
 Rye 67, 139 
 
 Rye, Formulas for 249, 250 
 
 Save Humus, How to 223 
 
 Save Money on Fertilizers, How to 13 
 
 Savings Bank Compound Interest Table 212 
 
 Saving in Time, Increase in Crop, and Better Quality 144 
 
 Sewage (Farm) Disposal 
 
 Small Fruits 187 
 
 Small Fruits and Vegetables, Fertilizers for 15 
 
 Snap Beans 144 
 
 Sodas .... 220 
 
 Soiling Crops 27 
 
 Soiling Crops, Root Crops, Pastures, Grasses, Grains, Nitrate 
 
 as a Top-Dressing for 
 
 Some American Rotations 
 
 Some Practical Hints Regarding Nitrate 220 
 
 Sources of Natural Plant-Food 
 
 South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin 
 
 No. 56 136 
 
 South Carolina Experiment Station, Experiments on Cotton 76 
 
 Soy Beans, Formula for 
 
 Special Functions of Plant-Food 
 
 Special Influence of Nitrate on Edible Value of Plant.. . 
 
 Spraying with Solution of Nitrate of Soda 175
 
 F d f r PAGE 
 
 s Square Measure 205 
 
 294 Squashes, Cucumbers and Melons 160 
 
 Stability (Probable) of Farm Values 215 
 
 Straight Fertilizer Formulas 243 
 
 Strawberries 188 
 
 Strength of Ice of Different Thickness 210 
 
 Suggestions for Top-Dressing Crops 38 
 
 Summary of Increased Yields. From Application of One 
 
 Hundred Pounds per Acre of Nitrate of Soda 215 
 
 Supply of Nitrate, Chile's 17 
 
 Surveyor's Measure 210 
 
 Sweet Corn 56, 147 
 
 Sweet Potatoes '..... 61, 167 
 
 Sweet Potatoes, Formula for 252 
 
 Sweetens the Soil and Neutralized Soil Acids, How Nitrate.. 88 
 
 Table Beets Grown on Nitrate Ready for Market 16 Days 
 
 Earlier 145 
 
 Table, Home Mixing 247 
 
 Table of Quantities of Seed Required 282 
 
 Table Showing the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Phos- 
 phoric Acid and Potash Withdrawn per Acre by an Aver- 
 age Crop 269 
 
 Tabulated General Summary 276 
 
 Terms Used in Discussing Fertilizers 218 
 
 The Amount to Apply 67 
 
 The Alfalfa, Cow- Pea and Clover Question 127 
 
 Timothy Hay, Growing for Market 91 
 
 The Most Expensive Plant-Food, "Phosphates" and "Com- 
 plete Fertilizers " 12 
 
 The Quality of Manure and Fertilizers 29 
 
 Time at Which Money Doubles at Interest 212 
 
 Time Required for Digesting Food 201 
 
 Time Required for the Complete Exhaustion of Available 
 Fertilizing Materials and the Amounts of Each Remain- 
 ing in the Soil During a Period of Seven Years. (From 
 
 Scottish Estimates.) 271 
 
 Tobacco 80 
 
 Tobacco, Formula for 251 
 
 Tomatoes 52, 151, 168 
 
 Top-Dress, How To 35 
 
 Top-Dressings- 10, 34 
 
 Top-Dressing Experiments 36 
 
 Top-Dressing Grass Lands 90
 
 PAGE Food for 
 Top-Dressing for Grains, Grasses, Root Crops, Pastures, Plants 
 
 Soiling Crops, Nitrate as a 24 29S 
 
 Turnips and Swedes 171 
 
 U. S. Experiment Station Record, Abstracts 22 
 
 Unusual Functions of Nitrate 30 
 
 Use of Common Salt 164 
 
 Use of Legumes 127 
 
 Use of Nitrate Increasing 12 
 
 Value of Mixed Fertilizers, To Calculate 242 
 
 Value of Nitrate, Eminent Scientists Well Acquainted with 
 
 It 9 
 
 Vegetables and Small Fruits, Fertilizers for - 15 
 
 Vetch, Formula for 250 
 
 Vincent's Remedies 209 
 
 Wasteful Methods Pioneer Farmers 9 
 
 Weight of a Cubic Foot of Earth, Stone, Metal, etc 207 
 
 Weights and Measures for Cooks, etc 209 
 
 What a Deed to a Farm in Many States Includes 207 
 
 What Crops Take Out of Soils 36 
 
 What Experiment Station Directors Say 279 
 
 What Fertilizers to Buy 13 
 
 What Plant-Food Is 28 
 
 What Fertilizers to Use for Garden Crops 16 
 
 WTiat Nitrate Has Done for Crops 215 
 
 What Nitrate is in Agriculture 7 
 
 What Nitrate Looks Like; Its Chemical Properties 7 
 
 W r hat Percentage of Water Does Hay Lose During Storage? 124 
 
 Wheat 66, 128 
 
 WTieat, Formulas for 249, 250 
 
 Wheat and Oats, Rye and Barley 134 
 
 Wheat Crops, How Nitrate Increases 24 
 
 Wheat, Cotton-Seed Meal and Nitrate Compared on 131 
 
 Wheat Experiments in England 131 
 
 Wheat, How to Apply Nitrate of Soda to 129 
 
 Wheat on Ohio Farms 131 
 
 Where Nitrate is Found 8 
 
 Where and How to Buy Fertilizing Materials 20 
 
 Why Farmyard Manure and Other Products are Valuable . . 29 
 
 Why Nitrate is Indispensable 5 
 
 Winter Spraying with Solution of Nitrate 175 
 
 Yield of Cured Hay Under Different Rates of Nitrogenous 
 
 Fertilization 
 
 Yield of Forage Crops per Acre 69
 
 Date Due 
 
 PRINTED IN U.S.A. CAT. NO. 24 161
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 871 296 o