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FOOD FOR PLANTS
New Edition
With Supplementary Notes
EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY
William S. Myers, d. Sc f. c. s., Director,
Chilean Nitrate Committee
Late of New Jersey State Agricultural College
25 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK
AGRICULTURE
PREFACE ftGRio.^
LIBRARY
This is the twelfth 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 nows includes results of original investigations and
experiments on Highlands Experimental Farms, made
under the personal direction of the late Professor E. B.
Voorhees.
The main purpose of all the within recorded experi-
ments 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 particu-
larly the questions of amount of Nitrate and other chemi-
cals to be employed, time of application for most profit-
able results and practical methods for the preparation
of grass lands and the harvesting of the hay crop.
These recorded experiments set forth 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 Grow-
ing for Profit," and " Growing Timothy Hay for
Market " — all practical farm books of value, based on
actual scientific and sound practical data. Studies hav-
ing 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.
WTLLTAM S. IMYERS.
325
BlastiiifT a Test Hole.
raliclic h'catly I'lH' Tfaiispoii Id Oliciiia.
FOOD FOR PLANTS
The Food of Plants consists of a number of elements,
including Nitrate, phosphate, lime and potash. Nearly
always two of these are lacking in adequate quantities to
produce crops, especially is Nitrate wanting in the vast
majority of instances. In this case the
Why Nitrate normal growth and yield of the crop will
Is Indispensable, be limited only by the quantity of
Nitrate it can properly assimilate.
There might be an abundant supply of all the other ele-
ments, 1)ut plants can never use other kinds of food with-
out Nitrate.
Nitrate Nitrogen is the food that is
Nitrate nearly always deficient. The question
Nearly Always that presents itself to the farmer, gar-
Deficient, dener and fruit grower is, How can I
supply my plants with Nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid and potash, in the best forms and at the least
expense? "We will try to throw some light upon this ques-
tion in the following pages. AVe will take first. Phos-
phoric Acid.
There are several sources of phos-
Phcsphoric Acid, phoric acid, the principal being bones
and rock phosphate. Of these, the rock
phosphate is the cheapest source. A prevailing impres-
sion exists that superphosphate made from rock phos-
phate is not as good as that made from bones. It has
been shown by many experiments that this idea is en-
tirely without foundation. What the plants want is avail-
able phosphoric acid, and it makes little or no difference
from what source it is derived.
6 Food i'ok Pi, axis.
The largest deposits of rock |)liospliates exist in South
Carolina, Floi-idji and Tennessee. These beds of phos-
phate are supposed to be composed of the petrified bones
and excrements of extinct animals. AVhen this substance
is ground and mixed with a sufficient quantity of sul-
phuric acid, the larger part of the phosplioric acid which
it contains becomes available as plant food. This fact
was one of the greatest agricultural discoveries of
the age.
"When the rock phosijhate is thus treated with sul-
phuric acid, it becomes wliat 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 about 14 per cent,
of soluble phosphoric acid.
The best sources of potash are sul-
Potashes. phate 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 2i4 per cent, of phosphoric acid. They
are valuable as plant food for the potash as well as for
the valuable lime they contain.
Nitrate is the most important and
Nitrate. effective element of plant food, and at
the same time, as stated, is the one that
is generally deficient in the soil.
Crops 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 a process of
cooking and also pre-digestion. When the nitrogenous
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 tankage.
But none of these furnish Nitrogen in the Nitrate form
in which it is taken up by plants. This can only be fur-
nished to plants in the form of Nitrate of Soda. Nitro-
F(K)i) roll Plants. 7
gen applied in any other form must be first converted
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 it to them. 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 cheaper 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.
Materials Used in Making Commercial or Chemical Fertilizers.
Nitrate of Soda or Chile Saltpetre
Nitrate of Soda occurs in vast deposits in the rainless
or Chile districts of the west coast of South
Saltpetre. America, chiefly in (*hile, from whence
it is imported to this country for use in
chemical manufacture and in agriculture. As imported
into the United States, Nitrate of Soda usually contains
about 15 per cent, of Nitrogen. Nitrate of Soda re-
sembles common salt, with which and sodium sulphate
it is often adulterated. This salt is at once available as
a direct fertilizer. Whenever practicable, it should be
applied as a top-dressing to growing crops, and if pos-
sible the dressings should be given in two or three suc-
cessive rations.
General East and West Section of the Nitrate District of Chile.
Vertical Scale Exagoerated.
8
Food fou Plants.
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 out-
come of incorrect reasoning. Nitrate of Soda does not
exhaust soils. It promotes the development of the
leafy parts of plants, and its etfects are at once notice-
able in the deep, rich green, and vigorous growth of
crops. The growth of plants is greatly energized by its
Food for Plants.
9
use, for the Nitrate in supplying an alnindanee of nitro-
genous 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 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
UNEXPLORED NlTSATEJftOUIfl) IN CHILE
74^978 SQUARE MILjES
EXPLORED
NITRATE
GRQjJND
2,244
SO. IWLES
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."
HOW NITRATE BENEFITS THE FARMER.
Nitrate of Soda, from the standpoint
of the agricultural chemist, is a sub-
stance formed by the union of nitric
oxide and soda. In appearance it re-
sembles coarse salt. In agriculture, it
is valuable chiefly for its active Nitro-
gen, altliough it is also a soil sweetener and is frequently
ca])able of rendering soil potash available.
What Nitrate
Looks Like; Its
Chemical
Properties.
50,000,000 TONS OF NITRATE EXTRACTED
Commercially pure Nitrate contains
What it is in about 15 per cent, of Nitrogen, equiva-
Agriculture. lent to 18.25 per cent, of Anmionia, or
:]{){) ])()un(ls of Nitrogen to the ton.
1101
Food for Plants. 11
Nitrate of Soda is found in vast quan-
Where it is tities in Cliile. The beds of Nitrate, or
Found. " Caliche," as it is called in Chile be-
fore 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 tliree feet. This " Caliche "
contains on an average from 15 to 50 per cent, of pure
Nitrate of Soda.
It is calculated there is ample Nitrate now in sight to
last upwards of three hundred years.
The " Caliche " is refined by boiling in water to dis-
solve the Nitrate. This hot water is then run off and
allowed to cool in tanks, when the Ni-
Method of trate forms in crystals like common salt.
Refining. The Nitrate is then placed in bags of a
little over two hundred pounds each and
shipped to all parts of the world.
The process of refining is an expensive one. 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 fermentation of marine animal and
vegetable matter, which contains a considerable amount
of Nitrogen.
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 exhausted, pre-
served this vast quantity of Nitrate of Soda in the rain-
less region of Chile, to be used to furnish crops with the
necessary Nitrate when the natural supply in the soil had
become deficient.
12 Food fou Plants.
The enormous explosive industry of this country could
not be conducted without Nitrate of
Its Uses. ISoda, and glass works are dependent
upon it. In fact, glass works and pow-
der works usually have Nitrate on hand.
Nitrate of Soda has a special bearing on the progress
of modern agriculture, being the most nutritious form of
Nitrogenous or ammoniate plant food. While the action
of micro-organisms with certain crops
Its Position (legumes) combines and makes effective
in Modern use of the inert Nitrogen of the atmos-
Agriculture. phere, 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
Wasteful Methods methods of cropping the rich lands of
by our Pioneer our AVestern States, that for every
Farmers. 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 profitable and
necessary. The agricultural value of
Eminent Scien- Nitrate of Soda has had the attention
tists the World of the foremost agricultural and scien-
Over Well tific specialists of the world, including
Acquainted with such men as Lawes and Gilbert, Sir Wil-
the Great Value liam Crookes, Dr. Dyer, Dr. Hall and
of Nitrate. Dr. Voelcker, in England ; Professors
Grandeau, Cassarini, Migneaux, and
Cadoret, in France; Professors Bernardo and Alino, in
Food I'oii Pla.nts. 13
Spain ; Dr. Wagner and Professor Maercker, of Ger-
many; and Drs. Voorhees, J. G. Lipman, Brooks, Dug-
gar, Ross, Patterson, Ililgard and Garcia in America.
The results obtained by these officials may be summar-
ized as follows :
1. Xitrate of Soda acts very beuehcially and with great
certainty upon all straw-growing plants.
2. It is of special value for forcing the rapid develop-
ment and early maturity of most garden crops.
3. It is of great importance in the production of sugar
beets, potatoes, hops, fodder crops, fiber plants, and
tobacco.
4. It is exceedingly valuable in developing and main-
taining meadow grass and pasture lands.
5. In the early stages of development it produces fa-
vorable results upon peas, vetches, lupines, clover, and
alfalfa.
6. It has been applied mth 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 with-
stand, the ravages of drought, or the onslaughts of plant
diseases or insect pests, such as boll weevil, and others.
8. It may be used as a surface application to the soil,
from time to time, should the plants indicate a need of it
by their lack of color and growth.
9. It is immediately available, and under favorable
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 application
when the soil contains ample supplies of available phos-
phoric acid and potash. It should be remembered that it
furnishes the one most expensive and necessary element
of plant food, namely, Nitrogen, and of the various com-
mercial forms of Nitrogen, Xitrate is the cheapest.
14 Food rou 1*i..\nis.
12. Its uiiifonn 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 inmiediate effect of an application of Nitrate
of Soda, therefore, is to develop a much larger plant
growth and its skillful application must bo relied upon to
secure the largest yields of fruits and grain,
14. Under favorable conditions of moisture and culti-
vation, these effects may be confidently anticipated upon
all kinds of soils.
15. All of the plant food contained in Nitrate of Soda
is available and existing in a 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 generally has
a tendency to protract its growing period and to delay
the ripening of the fruit, as after a liberal application of
Nitrate of Soda, the energies of the plant are immedi-
ately concentrated upon developing its growth. This is
true with a few exceptions.
17. The farmer must not expect it to excuse him from
applying proper principles of land drainage, or cultiva-
tion of the soil, nor should Nitrate of Soda be used in
excessive quantities too close to the plants that are fertil-
ized Avith it. For most seeded crops, an application of
one hundred pounds to the acre is sufficient when it is
used alone.
18. It may be applied in a dry state to either agricul-
tural or garden lands by sowing it broadcast, or
by means of any fertilizer-distributing machine. It
can be applied to the surface, or it may be cultivated
into the soil by some light agricultural implement,
Food for L*LA^■TS. 15
such as a liarrow, weedor, cultivator or liorse hoe.
The capillary movement of the soil waters will distribute
it ill the soil, and osmosis of soil solutions and the capil-
lary attraction of the soil |)articles when in ,i>'ood 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 increase in the
consumption of Nitrate among growers
Its Use Is of tobacco, fiber plants, sugar beets, the
Increasing-. hop, grape, grass and small fruits, has
been most notable of late. The element
of plant food first exhausted in soils is Nitrogen, and in
many cases a marked increase in crop is obtained through
the use of Nitrate alone. " Complete " fertilizers are
generally rather low in Nitrogen, 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-
Fertilizers " and phoric acid and potash. These fertil-
" Phosphates " izers are often called "phosphates,"
the Most Expen- and people have fallen into the habit of
sive Plant Food, calling any commercial fertilizer a
" phosphate," whether it contains phos-
phate or not. Many so-called " complete fertilizers "
are merely acid phosphates with insignificant amounts of
the other essential plant foods. They are frequently ill-
balanced rations for all crops.
The value of these " phosphates," no matter how high
sounding their names, consists in their phosphoric acid
and potash in many cases.
The Nitrogen contained in these ^' complete fertil-
izers " 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
16 Food for Plants.
days to a few years, according to the tenii)erature of tlie
soil and the kind and condition of the material used.
Statistics gathered by the Experiment Stations sliow
that in the United States many millions of dollars are
spent annnally for '' complete fertilizers."
Would you not think a man very un-
How to Save Avise who should buy somebody 's ' ' Com-
Money on plete Prepared Food," at a high price,
Fertilizers. when he wanted feed for his horses, in-
stead of going into the market and buy-
ing 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 ha}' would cost separately. It is fre-
What Fertilizers quently more economical to buy the dif-
to Buy. f erent fertilizing 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 manu-
facturers do not tell this, but some of the experi-
ment 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 infor-
mation on this vital point should be avoided. If you have
on hand a '^ complete fertilizer " containing a small per-
centage of Nitrogen, and only in organic form, such as
cotton-seed, or " tankage," it will be of great advantage
to use one hundred pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda
in addition to it. No fertilizer is really complete without
Nitrate of Soda.
Food for Plants. 17
It is now known that the Nitrogen in organic matter
of soil or mannre is slowly converted into the Nitrate
form by a minute organism. This cannot work if the
soil is 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 conversion 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 seventy-five tons more manure the
next yea,r, and gets a better crop. And he may continue
putting on manure till the soil is as rich in Nitrogen as
the manure itself, and even then he must keep on manur-
ing or he fails to get a good early crop. Why? The
Nitrogen of the soil, or of roots of plants, or manure, 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 wami 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 furnish
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.
38 Food for I^i.ants.
A uivcii <|iiantity of Nitrate will pvo-
On What Crops duc^' a uixcii nmonnt of plant substance.
Nitrate Should A ton of wheat, straw and grain to-
Be Used. gether, contain about 1,500 pounds of
dry matter, of which 25 pounds is Nitro-
gen. To produce a ton of wheat and straw together
would require, therefore, 170 pounds of Nitrate of Soda,
in wliich quantity there is 25 pounds of Nitrogen.
A ton of cabbage, on the other hand, contains about
41,0 pounds of Nitrogen. To produce a ton of cabbage,
therefore, would recpiire 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, pro-
vided they are used rightly. Failures with chemical
fertilizers are caused usually by lack
Fertilizers for of knowledge. There is no doubt but
Vegetables and that stable manure is available as a f er-
Small Fruits. tilizer, and in some cases may be indis-
pensable, but at the same time the quav-
tities necessary to produce good results could be greatly
reduced by using chemical fertilizers to snpply plant
food and only enough manure to give lightness and add
humus to the soil.
For crops like cabbage and beets, that
What Fertilizers it is desirable to force to rapid maturity,
to Use for Gar- the kind of plant food, especially of Ni-
den Crops. trogen, is of the greatest importance.
Many fertilizers sold for this purpose
have all the Nitrogen they contain in insoluble and un-
available 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 un-
natural and unprofitable ration. A ratio of 2 Nitrogen,
2 potash, and 8 of phosphoric acid, is frequent in many
Kool) FoPw Plants. 19
of the so-called " complete fertilizers," which are really
incomplete and unl)alanced as well. A fertilizA'r for
(piick-growing vegetables shonld contain as much Nitro-
gen as phosphoric acid, and at least half this Nitrogen
should be in the form of Nitrate, which is the only imme-
diately available nitrogenous plant food.
Some interesting and valuable experi-
Comparative nients were made at the Connecticut Ex-
Availability of periment Station, to ascertain how much
Nitrogen in of the Nitrogen contained in such mate-
Various Forms. rials 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 (piantity 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 Quantitit of Nitrogen from Different
Sources.
Relative
Sources of Nitrogen Crop Increase
Xitrate of Soda 100
Dried Blood p
Cotton-seed Meal ' -
Drv Fish TO
Taiikage 62
Linseed Meal "^
This table shows some interesting facts. Tt is evident
that only about three-fourths as much of the Nitrogen in
dried blood or cotton-seed meal as in Nitrate of Soda
is available the first season. The Nitrogen in tankage is
even less available, only a little over half being used by
the crop.
These experiments were made with corn, whicli gro^^■s
for a long period when the gromid is w-arm and the condi-
tions most favorable to render the Nitrogen in organic
substances available, and yet only part of it could be used
by the crop.
AVhen it is considered that Nitrogen in tlie foi'iii of
Nitrate of Soda can be bought for as little or less per
20 Kooi) i(»i; L'lants.
pound than in almost any other form, the advantage and
economy of purchasing and using this form is very
apparent.
In a twenty year test to determine the
Proof value of various sources of Nitrogen,
Positive the New Jersey Experiment Station
found that crop yields and the per-
centage of Xitrogen recovered in the crop were greater
when Nitrates were used.
Official figures are —
'' If we assign to Nitrate Nitrogen a value of 100, then
the relative availability of the four materials stands as
follows :
Nitrate of Sode 100.0
Ammonium Sulfate 76 . 1
Dried Blood 62.0
Manure 52 . 4
This research ^vas pubhshed in *' Soil Science," April,
1918.
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
The Leading in the drainage water was practically
Question. negligible. Even when Nitrogen was
appUed 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 occur in the fall when the soil is bare
and heavy rains (H'cur, the Nitrates having accumu-
lated in large ([uantities during the warmer period of the
year. Large losses at this season are, however, pre-
vented by the growing of cover crops.
In applying fertilizers it should be
How to Apply remembered that any form of phos-
Phosphatic phoric acid, such as ac'd phosphate.
Fertilizers. dissolved l)one-black or bone meal is
only partially soluble, and will not cir-
culate f reelv in the soil. These fertiUzers should, there-
Food for Plants. 21
fore, 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 thor-
oughly prepared.
Nitrate of Soda, on the other hand, will ditfuse itself
thoroughly throughout the soil if there is enough mois-
ture to dissolve it. It can therefore be applied by scatter-
ing on the surface of the ground.
Since Nitrate of 'Soda and salts of pot-
How and ash are brought to this country by sea,
Where to Buy and phosphate is usually transported
Fertilizing from the mines in vessels, all these ma-
Materials, terials, as a rule, can be purchased 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, San Francisco, Portland and
Seattle, are also ports of entry.
Lower prices can be obtained by buying fertilizing
materials in carload lots. If you cannot use a carload
yourself, get your neighbors to join with you. Much
money has often been saved in this way.
In buying, always consider the percentage of avail-
ability.
This may be illustrated by comparing gold ores of the
same percentages derived from different sources, — one
gold ore containing ten ounces to the ton might be worth
a great deal of money per ton, — that is to say, if the ore
were extractable with ease and without undue expense, —
whereas another ten-ounce ore might contain its gold in
such form as to be extracted only with great difficulty and
at great expense.
HOW TO USE CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS TO
ADVANTAGE.
Tlie I'oi'Hi of Xitro,i>ou most active as
How Nitrate plant food is the nitrated form, namely:
Increases Nitrate of Soda. All other Nitrogens
Wheat Crops. must ))e converted into this form before
they can l)e used as food l>y plants. Sir
.lohii Lawes wisely remarks: *' When we consider that
the application of a few pounds of Nitrogen in Nitrate of
Soda to a soil which contains several thousand pounds of
Nitrogen 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 Nitrogen
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 establish such a vigor
of growth that they can much better resist disease, and
the attacks of insects and parasites. The famous experi-
ments of Lawes and Gilbert at Rotham-
Nitrate Com- sted have demonstrated that cereals util-
pared with ize more than three times as much of
Farmyard the Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda as of
Manure. the Nitrogen contained in farmyard
manure; in practice, four and one-half
tons of farmyard manure supply only as much available
])lant food as TOO pounds of Nitrate of Soda.
Catch-crops are recommended to pre-
Catch-Crops. vent losses of available plant food after
crops are removed. Rape, Italian rye
grass, I'ye, thousand-headed kale and clovers are suit-
able. All these slioidd be top-dressed with from 100 to
200 pounds per acre of Nitrate of Soda, depending upon
the exhaustion of the soil. In our remarks on the use of
Xitiatc, we have taken it for granted that our readers
Food for Plants, 23
fully miderstaiid that in all cases where Nitrate has been
recommended in large amounts, potash and phosphates
should be used also unless the soil already contains
ample supphes of both.
The most important material used to supply Nitrogen,
in the composition of commercial fertilizers 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 pom-
ace, and cotton-seed meal represent fertilizers where the
Nitrogen is onh' slowly available, and they must be
appled in the fall so as to be decomposed and available
for the following season. Nitrogen in the form of Ni-
trate of 'Soda is available during the growing and fruit-
ing season, possessing, therefore, a decided advantage
over all other Nitrogen plant foods.
Chemical Composition of Soils.
Sandy soils may be described as soils containing
seventy-six (76) per cent, or more of sand.
Sandy loam is a soil containing seventy-five (75) per
cent, less of sand, and a loam is said to be a soil contain-
ing forty (40) to fifty-nine (59) per cent, of sand.
Clay loam runs between twenty-nine (29) to thirty-
nine (39) per cent, of sand, and a clay soil would be
described as a soil containing about sixty-one (61) per
cent, or more of clay.
A very rich soil may be described as a soil containing
2 per cent, of lime and 18.80 per cent, of potash and from
.02 to .10 per cent, of sulphuric acid, in the form of sul-
phate, and from .10 to .30 per cent, of phosphoric acid,
in the form of phosphates, with humus running from
1.20 per cent, to 2.20 per cent, and Nitrogen from .20 to 1
per cent.
According to French authorities a good soil would
contain .20 per cent, of Nitrogen and .20 per cent, of phos-
phoric acid, in the form of ])hospliates, and .30 per cent,
of potash.
24 Food for Pt.ants.
Anything above these figures would be called very
rich. Very poor soil would average about .08 per cent,
of Nitrogen and .08 per cent of potash and .08 per cent,
of pho.s|)lioric acid with humus of .30 per cent. Anything
less than tliese figures would be very poor indeed.
The pounds of available fertility are reckoned to be
contained within eight (8) inches of the surface. The
weight of an acre generally would run about two thou-
sand (2,000) tons.
HOW MONEY CROPS FEED.
The substance of plants is largely
What the water and variations of woody iiber, yet
Food Is. these comprise no part of what is com-
monly understood as plant food. More
or less by accident was discovered the value of farm-
yard manures and general farm refuse and roughage as
a means of increasing 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 as a result,
we have the established fact that the food of plants con-
sists of three different substances, Nitrogen, Potash, and
Phosphates.
These words are now popular names.
Its Principal and are used for the convenience of the
Elements, general public. Nitrate of Soda contains
Nitrate, an amount equivalent to about 15 per
Phosphoric cent, of Nitrogen, 300 pounds to the ton.
Acid, Potash. and cotton-seed meal, for example, about
6 per cent. More than three pounds of
cotton-seed meal are necessary to furnish as much avail-
able Nitrogen as one pound of Nitrate of Soda. We
value the ])lant 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
niaiiiier, phosphoric acid and potasli are siandards,hence
Food foii Plants. 25
the importance of farmers and planters familiarizing
themselves 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 com-
pare the usefulness of all fertilizer materials. No doubt,
other substances are necessary for the proper develop-
ment 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, Phosplioric Acid and Potash.
Farmyard manure acts in promoting
Why Farm- plant growth almost wholly because it
yard Manure contains those three substances ; green
and Other manuring is valuable for the same rea-
Products Are son and largely for that only. Various
Valuable. 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.
AMiile plant food is always plant food,
Nitrate like all other things it possesses the limi-
Pre-digested tation of quality. Quality in plant food
Nitrogen. means the readiness Avith which plants
can make use of it. In a large sense,
this is dependent upon the solubility of the material con-
taining the plant food — not merely solubility in water,
but solubility in soil waters as well. Fertilizer sub-
stances freely soluble in water are generally of the high-
est 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
Nitrogen in the Nitrate form, and the Nitrogen in sul-
phate of ammonia must l)e nitrated before plants can
26 KoOl) Foil I' LA NTS.
make use of it. This is clone in the soil by the action of
certain ori>anisins, under favoral)le con-
Defects and ditions. Tlie weather must he suital)le,
Losses in the the soil in a certain condition; and he-
Use of Ordinary sides there are considerable losses of
Nitrogens. valuable substance in the natural soil
process of nitrating- such Nitrogen. By
unfavorable weather conditions, or very wet or acid soils,
nitration 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
of All Nitrogens blood, and tankage, is limited by condi-
Based on tions similar to those which limit sul-
Nitrate as the phate of ammonia. With these sub-
Standard, stances, the loss of Nitrogen in its natu-
ral 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 all
Unusual three of the plant food elements — Ni-
Functions of trate, Phosphates and Potash — but not-
Nitrate. withstanding this imperative need, each
of the three elements has its special use.
There are many oases in which considerations of the
special functions of plant food elements become im-
])ortant. For example, a soil may be rich in organic
anunonia from vegetable matter turned under as green
manure, and through a late wet spring fail to supply the
available 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.
I^"'()()|) hOll Pi, A NTS.
27
Top of Caliche Hopper; Carts Tipping Calielic.
Crystallizing Pans After Running OlT MullR't-litiuor, Showing Deposit
of Nitrate Crystals.
2S I^'ooi) roij I'j.AN rs.
Nitrate as ])laiit food soenis to iullu-
Special Influ- cnce more especially the development of
ence of Nitrate stems, leaves, and roots, which are the
on Edible Value fi-aiii(>\\ork of the plant, while the for-
of Plant. inalioii of fruit buds is held in reserve.
This action is, of course, a necessary
preliminary 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
])laiits the greater the relative proportion in the com-
])()sition of the plant itself, and the most valuable part
of all vegetable substances, for food purposes, is that
])roduced by Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate is seldom used in
sufhcient quantities in the manufacture of " complete
fertilizers."
Potash as plant food seems to influence more particu-
larly the development of the woody parts of stems and
the pulp of fruits. 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 produc-
tion of seed or grain. Its special use in practical agricul-
ture is to hel]) hasten the maturity of crops likely to bo
caught In- an early fall, and to supplement green manur-
ing where grain is to be grown. It is frequently used in
altogether unnecessary excess in " complete " fertilizers.
The natural plant food of the soil comes from many
sources, but chiefly from decaying vegetable matter and
the weathering of the mineral matter of the soil. Both
these processes supply potash and phos-
Sources of phoric acid, hut only the former siqjpUrs
Natural Plant Nitrate. Whether the soil has been fer-
Food. tilized 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
Food for Plants.
29
Packing: Nitrate into Bags.
Tjoadinii' Lighters.
30 l^\)(ti) !-()u Plants.
appears to make a slow growtli, or seems sickly in color,
it does not greatly matter whether the soil is deficient in
Xiti-ate or simply that the Nitrogen present has not been
nitrated and so is not available, the remedy lies in the use
of the immediately available form of Nitrate of Soda.
STAPLE CROPS.
Cotton and Fiber Plants.
Cotton is profitably gro^\^l 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 proportion of
lint; on heavy bottom lands the groAvth may be heavy,
but the proportion of lint to the whole plant much
reduced.
The preparation of the soil must be even and thor-
ough. About one bushel of seed per acre is the usual
allowance.
Many fertilizer formulas have b§en recommended, and
by all kinds of authority, and green manuring is widely
advised as a means of helping to get a supply of cheap
Nitrogen; but, with this crop especially, cheap forms of
Nitrogen are very dear.
[31]
o2 l^'doi) I'oli I^.Wl's.
REPORT ON ALABAMA COTTON PRIZE EXPERIMENTS
WITH CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS.
Extended experiments have been made from year to
year by all the Experhnent Stations in the various cot-
ton-growing- states with a view to arriving at the fer-
tilizer requirements of the cotton plant under the varying
conditions of soil and climate which are met nith
throughout the cotton belt, and the needs of the plant for
the various essential fertilizing elements have been de-
termined with comparative accuracy.
The farmer, himself, however, is often inclined to pay
little attention to the forms in which the fertilizing ele-
ments are applied, even though he may employ sufficient
quantities of a given mixed fertilizer to supply the
proper quota of each element. As a matter of fact, the
selection of a proper form or forms in which to supply
the needed plant foods will, in many cases, determine
the success of the application of a given formula to the
crop, and too much care and attention cannot be given
to this important question.
Many of the formulas for cotton and corn which are
in use throughout the cotton-growing states supply pro-
portions of Nitrogen, and, in some cases, of potash, which
are far below the fertilizer requirements of the crop,
w^hile as before stated little attention is given to the
matter of supplying these elements in forms most avail-
able for the needs of the plant.
Analyses of the cotton plant, made at the South Caro-
lina, Mississippi and Alabama Experiment Stations,
show the needs of the plant for liberal supplies of Nitro-
gen and of potash, particularly of the former element,
since our average cotton soils are, as a rule, so poorly
supplied with it.
At the Albama Experiment Station in 1899 (Bulletin
107), analyses were made of all portions of the cotton
plant at various stages of growth, including the plant at
full maturity. The weight of the various fertilizing con-
stituents contained in the whole plant grown on one acre,
and producing a ci'op ('(jnivnleid lo HOO ])()niids dry
Food for Plants. 33
lint cotton per acre, was also carefully ascertained by
analyses and calculation, the figures being presented in
the following table.
The weight of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, and
lime contained in a crop producing 300' pounds of lint is
given, and the relative distribution of these constituents
through different parts of the plant is also presented.
The weights of the different parts of the plant in a thor-
oughly dried condition are also given, and it will be noted
that the total dry iveiglit of the crop required to yield
300 pounds of lint is 2,470.8 pounds.
Table VIII.
Amounts of Fertilizer Constituents in Pounds Reqiiired to Produce a
Crop of 300 Pounds of Lint.
Phosphoric
Nitrogen Acid Potash Lime
Lint — SOOlbs 0.54 €.27 1.77 0.21
Seed — 507.1 lbs 17.95 7.10 5.73 1.52
Burrs — 363.1 lbs 2 .99 1 . 74 11 . 22 4 . 14
Leaves — 566.2 lbs 12.64 2.70 6.13 29.90
Roots — 130.2 lbs 0.62 0.34 1.17 0.59
Stems — 604.2 lbs 3.87 1.27 5.14 4.71
Total — 2,470.8 lbs.... 38.61 13.42 31.16 41.07
It appears from this table that to produce 300 pounds
of dry lint there are required 38.61 pounds of Nitrogen,
13.42 pounds of phosphoric acid, 31.16 pounds of potash
and 41.07 pounds of lime.
The need of the cotton plant for liberal amounts of
Nitrogen being thus indicated by laboratory tests, the
writer has during the past two seasons supervised and
directed a series of experiments upon the farm of Mr.
J. C. Moore, near Auburn, Alabama, who was desirous
of securing a formula adajjted to the growing of cotton
upon the sandy soil of his farm and of the immediate
section in which he resided.
This soil is designated by the U. S. Soil Survey of this
region as the " Norfolk Sandy Loam." It is described
in the official report of the soil survey of Lee county as
34
Food for Plants.
follows: " The Norfolk Sandy Loam is an easily tilled
soil and the best for g-eneral fanning of any of the Nor-
folk types in this country. It is well adapted to cotton
and when fertilized produces fair yields of corn and oats,
'l^he lightest phase is well adapted to the production of
potatoes, berries and iiuck crops. The soil needs organic
matter which may he supplied ])y green or stal)h'
manure."
The cotton expt'rimcnts conducted upon Uie farm of
Mr. j\loore were carried out upon several ])lots aggre-
gating in area two-thirds of an acre.
Products of Plots, 1905.
Yields oi bet'd C'oUon.
Plot 1. Plot 3. Plot 4.
750 lbs. 1, 272 lbs. 1, 440 lbs.
The land, after proper preparation, was laid off in
rows seventy yards in length, while the distance between
the rows was so adjusted that ten rows would constitute
a plot of one-sixth of an acre. Two blank rows were left
Food for Plants.
35
between the individual plots so that the fertilizers applied
to one plot would not have any undue effect upon the
adjacent plots.
Plot No. 1 was fertilized by the application of an acid
phosphate containing 14 per cent, available phosphoric
acid and 4 per cent, potash, this fertilizer l)eing applied
at the rate of 300 pounds per acre.
Products of Plots, 1906.
Yields of Seed Cotton.
Plot 1. Plot 3. Plot 4.
930 lbs. 1, 284 lbs. 1, 77G lbs.
The remaining three experimental plots of ten rows
each (covering an area of one-sixth acre each) w^ere also
fertilized by the application of the same quantity of the
above mentioned acid phosphate containing potash, and,
in addition, Nitrate of Soda was applied to plots 2, 3 and
4 in the proportions of 42, 84 and 126 pounds per acre,
respectively, while no Nitrate or other form of Nitrogen
was applied to plot No. 1.
36 Food rnn Pt.axtp.
The yields per acre for the different plots for the years
1905 and IDOG were as follows :
1905 750 ll)s. seed cotton. 1,110 lbs. 1,272 lbs. 1, 440 lbs.
1900 9:^0 lbs. seed cotton. 900 lbs. 1,284 ll)s. 1,776 11)S.
As above stated, all of these plots were fertilized
equally as regards the amount of phosphoric acid and
potash, so that the effects of sui)plying or withholding
Nitrate of Soda could be easily noted.
It will be noted that the increased yields are particu-
larly striking in the case of the application of 84 and 126
pounds of Nitrate. On plot 2, in 1906, the yield was
practically the same as that on plot 1, but this was due to
the fact that a few rows in plot 2, owing to the stand on a
part of the plot being not so good and possibly on
account of some other condition, brought down the aver-
age yield per row of that plot. A majority of the rows
of that i)lot, however, undoubtedly gave a better yield
than plot No. 1, and it was apparent to the eye that most
of this plot was superior to plot No. 1.
In 1905 it was noted that the cotton grown upon the
" No Nitrate " plot rusted quite badly, while plots 3
and 4, upon which an abundance of Nitrate had been
applied, were almost immune from rust.
In addition to experiments in which the Nitrate was
applied at a single application, tests were made upon
some smaller plots to note the elTects of the application
of the Nitrate in two different applications, the second
application being made about sixty days after planting.
It was found that there was only a slight difference in
the relative yields, but this slight difference was in favor
of the two applications. It is doubtful, however, if the
increase would have justied the additional cost and labor
of the second a])plication.
Experimental tests upon small lots of the seed cotton
produced in 1906, showed that the yield of lint was about
34.4 per cent, of the weight of the seed cotton, but no
data was secured with regard to the proportionate yield
of lint ill 1905. Applying these figures to the excess yield
Food i-'OR ]^laxts, o7
of seed cotton by reason of the application of 126 pounds
Nitrate, it will be found that there was an increase of
about 238 pounds lint cotton (690 pounds seed cotton)
over the yield on the " No Nitrate " plot in 1905 and an
increase of 291 pounds lint cotton (846 seed cotton) in
1906. At 10 cents per pound, the increased value of the
lint cotton vield bv applying 126 pounds Nitrate would
be $23.80 for 1905 and $29.10 for 1906, to say nothing of
the value of the increased yield of seed which would
amount to from $3 to $-4, or even more in later years.
With regard to the time and manner of application of
the Nitrate in the experiments of the past two 3-ears, it
should be stated that in 1905 the fertilizers were applied
and the cotton planted on April 27th, wdiile in 1906 the
date of planting and application of fertilizers was April
21st. The Nitrate was applied in the furrow along with
the fertilizing materials at the time of planting.
The views given, herewith, will aiTord an idea of the
comparative yields from plots 1, 3 and 4 in 1905 and 1906.
The quantities of seed cotton represented therein are
equal to the yields on one-twelfth of an acre.
In this connection it should be stated that Mr. Moore
gave a large amount of care and attention to these experi-
ments. By his close personal supervision of the work,
the details of the experiments have been secured and
most accurately recorded.
Upon comparing the results of these experiments with
the results of the Nitrate of Soda tests reported in the
January, 1907, Bulletin of the North Carolina Depart-
ment of Agriculture, it will be noted that the general con-
clusions which may be drawn from the two sets of
experiments are practically the same. A number of the
experiments were carried out under almost identical
conditions, though the North Carolina plots were some-
what smaller in area, being one-tenth acre area each,
while the Alabama plots were one-sixth of an acre.
As an average of the two years' results, the most
profitable application, it is stated, was upon the plot
receiving 200 pounds acid phosphate, 83 pounds kainit
38 Foon roii Plants.
and lOU iJoiuuU Nitrate of Soda, 25 pounds of the Nitrate
being applied with otlier materials at planting, and the
remaining 75 pounds reserved and used as a side dress-
ing some two months or more later. This mixture gave
an average proiit of $21.94 per acre for two years above
the yield secured from a plot fertilized with acid phos-
phate and kainit alone, while with oidy 75 pounds Nitrate
of Soda per acre an increased yield valued at $19.26 was
secured !
In the experiments conducted near Auburn, Alabama,
no tests were made with quantities of Nitrate of Soda
intermediate between 84 and 126 pounds per acre, thougli
it is possible that a quantity somewhat less than 126
pounds might have given practically as satisfactory re-
sults as those reported for the maximum applications
of Nitrate. In any event, the results of these tests and
of other tests upon similar lands in this section show
that excellent results may be secured by the application
of from 100 to 125 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre, in
conjunction with the pro^jer quota of acid phosphate and
some salt of potash.
The Rational Use of Nitrate of Soda on Cotton in Fighting the
Boll Weevil.
Some critics of Nitrate have claimed that it made such
a bushy growth of the cotton plant, that it had shaded the
bottom part of the plant where most of the cotton is pro-
duced under Weevil conditions.
Where any Nitrogenous fertilizer is used in excess, too
leafy a growth is apt to result, and excessive quantities
of Nitrate, or indeed of any fertilizers, are not recom-
mended.
Quinine is a wonderful remedy, but no one would
advise the use of forty grains of it when four grains
would be sufficient and satisfactory in every way.
Practice early and thorough preparation of the soil so
as to get a good seed bed for quick germination and
vigorous early growth of the cotton.
Food for Plants. 39
Cotton should be forced as rapidly as possible in its
early growth, especially where the Boil Weevil has been
long established. An early application of Nitrate is
regarded as very helpful in accomplishing this result.
An intelligent rotation is recommended for reducing
damage from the Boll "Weevil.
Our cotton fertihzer formula, given in the following
text, is believed to be a sound one, and when Nitrate is
applied early and an early variety of cotton is used, it is
believed that such a proceeding is one of the best with
which to meet the Boll Weevil situation, and that profit-
able returns will be made.
Early Versus Late Applications of Nitrate of Soda to Cotton
The following figures of averages
Proof prove positively that early applications
Positive. of Nitrate of Soda to Cotton give the
best results.
1919-1920- 1921
Average increase of 23 early applications, 1919 90.22%
Average increase of 15 late applications, 1919 42 . 02%
Average increase of 8 early applications, 1020. . . . 197.35%
Average increase of 4 late applications, 1920 35.50%
Average increase of 7 early applications, 1921. . . . 61.44%
Average increase of 2 late applications, 1921 16.30%
Average increase of 38 early applications, 1919-
2921 115 . 21%
Averao-e increase of 21 late applications, 1919-
1921 31 .27%
April l-:Mav 11, inclusive, are " Early " applications.
May 12-Jnne 26, inclusive, are " Late " applications.
Instructions for Usin^ Nitrate of Soda on Cotton.
Cotton is one of the oldest of the
Origin of cultivated plants and is the most
Cotton. valuable fibre in the world. It probably
orio'inated in India or China. It was
first cultivated in the United States in Virginia.
40 Food I'on L'i.axts.
AIUt having .sclecled the right
The Right, variety for your locality, the best speci-
Variety. mens ol" llu' plants should be saved for
seed. There is a growing demand for
the long staple upland varieties. It is just as easy and
twice as profitable to feed the thorough-bred plants as
it is to feed the low grade lint producer.
Nitrate of Soda is the best top dresser
Nitrate for cotton. Other materials and l)rands
of Soda may be offered at less cost per ton, but
Best for they as a rule do not contain as much
Cotton. available Nitrogen as is necessary for
eoiton. They are frequently only very
slowly available and recpiire a heavier rate of applica-
tion, resulting in much higher cost per acre and lower
efficiency.
Cotton land should be prepared very early, and
thorough deep plowing and cultivation are necessary up
to the time the squares form.
Some planters sow crimson clover at the last cultiva-
tion of the cotton which protects the soil from washing
during the following winter, and provides a certain
amount of forage for animals. If the preceding crop
is crimson clover it should be i3lowed under about the
middle of February.
About the time of planting cotton in
Time to the spring, apply the Nitrate of Soda by
Apply broadcasting it evenly by hand or by
Nitrate. machine, over the entire surface of the
cotton field you are fertilizing, at the
rate of 150 pounds per acre, which in bulk is equal to
about li/o bushels.
We recommend, wherever possible, the application of
Nitrate just before the last harro^^^ng of the land before
seeding. If this is not possible or convenient, then broad-
cast before the first cultivation of the cotton. If the tim.e
for these earlier applications has passed, apply just
before the last cultivation. If put on before planting
Food for Plants. 4l
time, it should be harrowed in ; it* put on after planting,
it should be cultivated in.
Should the Nitrate become hard, it can readily be pul-
verized with the back of a shovel, or with a mallet, or it
may be crushed on a barn floor by using a heavy post as
a roller.
Foiimila for Cvtlon
Nitrate alone 150 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Nitrate 200 " " "
Acid Phosphate 200 " '' "
When potash salts can conveniently be obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
WMt Nitrate Has Done in the Planters' Oun Hands
H. F. Lyle, Soiiierville, Ala. :
" Plot with Nitrate produced 207 ll)s. Cotton. Plot without Nitrate
produced 87 lbs. Cotton.
" Nitrate plot did not shed off fruit in dry weather like the other
plot, — in fact, did not shed any. One-tliird larger stalk. Did not
have more than half stand on plots."
B. F. White, Olive Br-anch, Louisiana:
" Plot with Nitrate produced 90 lbs. Cotton. Plot without Nitrate
produced 36 lbs. Cotton.
" The Nitrate of Soda Cotton matured before the Boll Weevil
affected it. I consider it the best I ever used,— ahead of any for
this climate."
In Alabama the use of 126 pounds of Nitrate per acre
for two successive seasons gave an average increased
yield of 768 pounds of seed cotton per acre; or an
increased yield of lint of 256 pounds per acre in addition
to the seed yield of 512 pounds for the same area.
When Nitrate of Soda is appUed
earlv in the season to cotton, as it pre-
Nitrate ferablv should be, early maturity re-
Gives Best ^^^^^ • ^^^ ^^^^ apphcations of any
Results nitrogenous fertilizer will delay its
from Early , ^. ,
. .. . maturitv.
Application. j^ ^^_^^ planter has been badly advised,
and in consequence applies his nitro-
genous fertilizer too late, he should not blame the fer-
42
Food for Plants.
tilizi'i- for his colloii liaviii.u' 1)ohavo(l contrary to nature's
intent.
What is needed most is to secure conii)h'te maturity
of the cotton l)i'f()re tlu' sliort days of eai'ly autumn
arrive.
Tobacco.
The value of tobacco depends so much upon its grade,
and the grade so much upon tlie soil and climate, as well
as fertilization, that general rules for tobacco culture
No Nitnifc. Virginia Exporiments. 1(10 ll)s. Nitrate of Soda Per Acre.
should not !)(' mathematically laid down. Leaving out
special kinds, such as Perique, the simplest classification
of tobacco is as follows: Cigar. — Tobacco for cigar
manufacture, grown chiefly in Connecticut and Wiscon-
sin. McDiiifacturing. — Tobacco manufactured into plug,
Food for Plants. 43
or tlie various forms for pipe smoking and cigarettes.
All kinds of tobacco have the same general habits of
growth, but the two classes mentioned liave very differ-
ent plant food requirements.
Cigar tobaccos generallj^ 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 practiced
on heavy lands, or lands new to tobacco culture. To-
bacco may be safely grown on the same land year after
year. The plant must be richly fertilized; it has thick,
fleshy roots, and comparatively little foraging 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 of high grade and as much as 3,000
pounds of low grade. While the production of leaf nuiy
be greatly increased by the use of Nitrate, the other plant
food elements should also be used to secure a well ma-
tured crop. In the case of cigar tobaccos. Nitrate may be
used exclusively as the source of Nitrogen as it is diffi-
cult to secure a thoroughly matured leaf unless the sup-
ply of digestible Nitrogen is more or less under control,
a condition not practicable with ordinary fertilizers.
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 regu-
lar 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 mth fertilizers on Burley Tobacco. The land
was " deficient in natural drainage," so that the fertil-
izers 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 :
44 Food for Plants.
Ej})eri))ien(s on Tobacco at the Kentucky Experiment Station.
Value of
Yield of tobacco — pounds. tobacco
Fertilizer per acre. BriKlit. Red. Luks. Tips. Trash. Total. per acre.
1. Xo manure 1200 3G0 (iO 540 1,160 $07. '20
•J. KiO lbs. Xilrate of
Soda 2;«) If)!) :{10 90 530 1,010 138.40
3. 100 lbs. snip, of
l)otash; 100 ll)s.
Nitrate of Soda. 190 755 (i05 120 140 1,810 190.45
4. .320 lbs. super-
pliospliato; 100
lbs. sulp. of pot-
ash; 160 lbs. Ni-
trate of Soda... 310 810 420 10 3(i() 2,00(1 2111.20
" 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
])ound; 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 !
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Tobacco.
Just before setting out plants, apply the Nitrate of
Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by machine, or by hand,
over the entire surface of the tobacco field you are fer-
tilizing, at the rate of 150 pounds per acre. One hundred
and fifty pounds of Nitrate is equal in bulk to about one
and one-half bushels.
Formula for Tohacco.
Nitrate alone ITjO lbs. per acre
or prefei'a))ly
Nitrate '. 200 lbs. per acre
Acid Phosphate 200 lbs. per acre
When potash salts can conveniently be obtained we
advise the use of fifty i)ounds of sulphate of potash to
tlie acre everv other vear.
Food for Plants, 45
FERTILIZERS FOR CORN.
Corn varies in yield of grain per acre, according to
the character of the soil upon which it is growTi, the loca-
tion of its growth and the variety used. Soils best suited
for corn culture are rich, deep loams, naturally well
drained and located in those regions where the average
temperatures during the growing months of May to Sep-
tember, inclusive, reach from 75 degrees to 80 degrees
Fahr. That is, the best climatic conditions do not depend
upon average annual temperature, but upon the high
temperature maintained during these growing months.
The growing season will, however, varj' also in different
sections of the country, ranging from 90 to 160 days,
and varieties exist which are adapted to these different
growing periods. The yield is also, of course, influenced
by moisture, depending again not altogether upon the
total rainfall, but upon the requisite amounts that may
be depended upon from May to September, the growing
months. The plants need high temperatures and maxi-
mum rainfalls throughout July and August, with clear,
sunshiny weather between rains.
The variety also has a direct influence upon the
yield of the crop, and work done recently in the matter
of corn breeding and selection has very considerably
broadened the area of profitable culture. The Flint
varieties are more suitable for the northern sections, and
the Dent varieties for the central and southern sections
of the United States.
The Object of Growth — Grain.
Corn is grown mainly for its grain, and for this reason
the greatest attention has been given to the development
of varieties that mil yield the largest proportion of grain
to stalk; because, however, of the increasing use of corn
as a forage plant, much attention has recently been given
to the varieties adapted for soiling and for silage.
In growing corn for these dilTerent purposes, different
methods are adopted. When the main object is to secure
grain, varieties are selected which produce large, uni-
4(i
iMtOI) I-'(
)R Plants.
foiiii c.-irs, with (IcH'p i»Taiiis. In order to iiisuro its
proixT (U'vclopiiieiit and ripening, it is planted prcfor-
a))ly in hills, at such distances as w ill permit a maximmn
amount of sunshine to reach all i)arts of the plant, and
so cultivated as to encourage the largest use of food from
soil sources. In other words, every precaution is taken
Fertilizer, 300 Pounds per Acre Fertilizer, 300 Pounds per Acre
Minerals and 150 pounds per Minerals Only.
Acre Nitrate of Soda. Rate of Yield, 80 Bushels Ears
Kate of Yield, 100 Bushels Ears per Acre, poor quality,
per Acre, excellent quality.
to insure the largest proportion of ripened grain; the
stalks often being regarded as a by-product of little
value. In fact, in many parts of the country the stalks
are not utilized as they should be, although wdien well
cured they are equivalent in food value, on the dry mat-
ter basis, to good timothy hay.
In planting Indian corn for grain we doubtless often
plant the seed too thick.
Food for Plants.
47
Silage.
When grown for silage, the object is to secure the
largest amount of digestible matter per acre. Hence,
varieties with larger stalk and leaf are generally used
and the corn planted much closer together and thicker
in the rows, but not so thick as to prevent many of the
stalks from producing ears. When cut when the ears
are beginning to glaze, good crops will oftentimes yield
as much as 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of dry matter per acre.
Larger amounts of plant food than for grain are re-
quired, as a rule, in order that the vegetative functions
may be increased, hence on most soils, even in a good
state of fertility, applications of fertilizers are neces-
sary, more particularly those containing Nitrogen.
One Hundred Bushels i>i Ears of Corn per Acre, Before Harvesting.
Soiling.
In growing corn for soiling, the object is to obtain
the largest amount of succulent food per acre, which may
be completely eaten by the animal. Hence, for soiling,
quick-growing varieties, ^\^th a large proportion of leaf
and small stalks, are grown and planted thicker than for
silage, and still greater care in the use of manures and
fertilizers is required in order to enable the plant to
absorb food throughout its entire growth.
48
Food kor Pj.ants.
Sweet Com.
Wlic'ii sweet varieties are grown, the objeet is to obtain
a large number of ears suitable for the table. The sweet
varieties are less hardy and vigorous than the ordinary
lield varieties, and are better adapted for light soils,
hence the treatment is still different from that used w^hen
grown for the purposes already mentioned. The grain
is not planted ordinarily until the soil is thoroughly
warm, and the temperature is likely to continue high
and, because better suited for light soils, special fertiliza-
tion is necessary.
Com and Oats, New York Exi)erimeutal Fields.
INDIAN CORN (MAIZE) EXPERIMENTS.
New York State, Seasons of 1918 and of 1919.
Experiments in New York State car-
Experiments in ried on wnth maize ensilage, or Indian
New York State, corn, show that whilst the return ui
value of the increased crop is not ex-
cessive owing, no doubt, to the lateness of the fertilizer
application, notable crop increases were obtained.
Food for Plants. 49
The late fertilizer application was
Late Fertilizer used in this case advisedly to check up
Applications Not this practice which is followed by many
Generally farmers, and which is rather against
Advisable. our general advice as to very late dress-
ings of Nitrate. Earlier applications on
corn, we are confident, will prove to be more profitable.
Among interesting items secured are
Efficiency of the yields of protein per acre as tabu-
Nitrate Alone. lated in the following tables. It is not-
able that the total ash mineral residue
per acre removed from the plot on which Nitrate alone
was used is less than on the check plot, and that the
exhaustion of phosphoric acid, potash and lime was at a
low^er rate per acre on the Nitrate plot than on the check
plot. Notable also is the fact that the rate of yield of
protein was low^er on the check plot and also on the acid
phosphate alone plot than on the Nitrate plot. Protein
is, of course, a factor of very high food value for dairy
stock.
The results speak well for Nitrate not
Use of Nitrate exhausting soil fertility as to its mineral
Alone Not essentials. It confirms the idea that soil
Exhaustive of exliaustion proceeds more rapidly when
Soil Fertility, no fertilizers are used as compared with
their rational use.
Reports on Expcrimcittdl Work on Maize Ensilage.
191S.
Crop — Maize Ensilage.
Variety — Half State Corn; Half (iokl Nugget.
Location — Chenango County, New York.
Soil — Bottom land.
Cultivations — Three. '
Climate — Short season ; high altitude, 1,000 feet.
Weather — Cool ; latter jiart of summer drought.
Date of Application of Fertilizer — July 5, 1918.
Date of Harvesting — September 16, 1918.
Size of Plots — 1/4 acre.
Rate of Application Per Acre — 250 lbs. Nitrate of Soda ; 400 ll)s.
Acid Phosphate.
Fertilizers Used — Nitrate of Soda and Acid Pliosi)hate.
Cost of Fertilizer Per Acre — Plot 1, $12; plot 2, $8; plot 3, $4.
50 b'ooD run I'j.anits.
C'r in Poioids Per Acre.
J{atp of Applira- Hatp of.Crop
Plot N'os. Table No. 1 tioii Per Acre Yields per Plot. Yield.s per Acre.
1. Nitrate of Soda 250 lbs. 7,120 lbs. 28,480 lbs.
and
Ai-id PIu)si)liale 400 lbs.
2. Nitrato alone 250 lbs. 6,610 lbs. 26,440 lbs.
*:5. Acid Phosphate alone... 400 lbs. 6,030 lbs. 24,120 lbs.
4. Check — nothing 6,290 lbs. 25,160 lbs.
Pounds Per Acre of Essential Fertility Removed by Crop.
Plot Nos. Table No. II Phosphoric Acid. Potash. Nitrogen.
1. Nitrate of Soda and Acid
Phosphate .38.45 11)8. 91.99 lbs. 46.28 lbs.
2. Nitrate alone 34.64 lbs. 82.76 lbs. 42.97 lbs.
.3. Acid Pho.sphate alone... .33.29 lbs. 81.53 lbs. 39.20 lbs.
4. Check — nothing 37.24 lbs. 94.35 lbs. 40.89 lb.s.
Pounds Per Acre of Protein and Ash (Minerals) and Lime Removed
by Crop.
Plot Nos. Table No. Ill Protein. Ash. Lime.
1. Nitrate of Soda and Acid
Phosphate 506 . 9 lbs. 336 . 1 lbs. 17 . 94 lbs.
2. Nitrate alone 499.7 lbs. 290.8 lbs. 14.81 lbs.
3. Acid Phosphate alone... 465.5 lbs. 282.2 lbs. 18.09 lbs.
4. Check — nothing 462.9 lbs. 299.4 lbs. 19.88 lbs.
1919.
Crop — Maize Ensilage.
Variety — Golden Nugget.
Location — Chenango County, New York.
Soil — Clay loam.
Cultivations — Three.
Climate — Temjaerate; 1,000 feet above sea.
Weather — Cloudv ; wet.
Amount of Fertilizer Per Plot — 20, 40 and 80 lbs.
Method of Cultivation — Horse cultivator and by hand hoeing.
Date of Application of Fertilizer- — June 5, 1919, for plots 1, 2, 3
and 4; and June 5 and 24 for plots 5 and 6, when corn was 9 inches
high.
Date of Harvesting — September 15, 1919.
Size of Plot — 1/10 acre, plots 1, 2, 3 and 4; 1/20 acre, plots 5 and 6.
Rate of Application Per Acre — 200 lbs., 400 lbs. and 600 lbs.
Fertilizers Used — Nitrate of Soda and Acid Phosphate.
Cost of Fertilizer Per Acre— $26.40.
Method of Applying — Broadcast, cultivated in immediately.
*Acid Phosphate alone appears to have diminished the crop here as
if did in the case of our sugar cane in Porto Rico.
l^\)oi) ]''()R Plants. 51
Crop ill Punnds Per Acre.
Rate of Rate of Crop
Application Crop Yields Yields per
Plot Nos. Table No. I per Acre. per Plot. Acre.
1. Nitrate of Soda ^
and I 400 4,180 41,800
Acid Phosphate J
2. Nitrate alone 400 4,100 11.000
3. Acid Phosphate ah)ne 400 2,840 28,400
4. Check — nothinc,^ 2,820 28,200
5. NaN03 and P^Oo 200 each
June 5,
1919;
200 each
June 24,
1919.. 1,780 35,600
6. NaNOa and BOo 200 each
June 5,
1919;
400 each
June 24,
1919.. 2,040 40,800
Pounds Per Acre of Protein and Minerals Removed bij Crop.
Phosphoric
Plot Nos. Tabic No. II Acid. Potash. Protein. N;trogen.
1. Nitrate of Soda ^
and U7.23 95.30 689.7 110.3
Acid Phosphate J
2. Nitrate alone 38.06 109.06 471.5 /5.4
3. Acid Phosphate alone 56 . 99 7 7. 25 289 .4 46 . 3
4. Cheek — nothing 31.58 62.89 377.3 61.1
5. NaNOa and P.0= 47.70 75.83 585.2 93.6
6. NaNOa and P.0= 56.71 102.82 739.7 118.3
Pounds Per Acre of Minerals Removed by Crop.
Plot Nos. Table No. Ill Ash. I.ime.
1. Ntate^of So.,a | ^^^ ^ .^^ „^
Acid Phosphate 1
2. Nitrate alone fl^-^^ f-^^
3. Acid Phosphate alone •^;^--- -^-^r
4. Check -nothing 293.0 2..3o
5. NaNOs and P.0= -JH^? ^5.57
6. NaNOa and P.O^ 472.1
34.68
52 Food fou Pj.ants.
PoiDuh Per Acre of Essential Fertilizer InijrcdieiUs Added to the Suit
in the Fertilizers Used.
1919.
Pot;ish in
Rate of NitiMtc
Application riiosphuric Isi d
Plot Nos. Table Xo. IV per Acre Nitroscn Acid Estiiii iti-d
1. Nitrate of Soda 400 56 .... 8
and
Acid Phospliate 400 56 8
2. Nitrate aloiio 400 56 .... 8
3. Acid Phospliate alono 40O 50
4. Check — nothing . . • • • • • • • • • •
5. NaN03 and P^d. 400 each 56 56 8
6. NaN03 and P.0= 600 each 84 84 12
The y)rorit per acre as between the
Rate of Profit application of 400 pounds of acid plios-
Per Acre. ])liate alone, and of Nitrate and acid
phosphate together shows that the
added investnieiit in 400 pounds of Nitrate, which may
be estimated at practically fourteen dollars ($14), gave
a rate of profit of twenty dollars ($20) per acre, valuing
ensilage at present at five dollars ($5) a ton.
Since the rate of yield per acre of the Nitrate and acid
phosphate plot was 20.9 tons as against a rate of yield
per acre of 14.1 tons for the acid phosphate alone plot, —
the value in the first case is placed at one hundred four
dollars and fifty cents ($104.50) per acre, and in the lat-
ter case at seventy dollars and fifty cents ($70.50) per
acre. As the crop increase from the use of 400 pounds
of Nitrate is valued at thirty-four dollars ($34), and the
cost of the Nitrate at fourteen dollars ($14), a profit at
the rate of twenty dollars ($20) per acre is the result, as
aliove stated.
These figures are in general in close agreement with
those secured in 1918, and confirm the view that rational
fertilizing with Nitrate does not appear to exhaust the
soil in the net result as much as does doing without
fertilizers.
Food for Pt.axts. 53
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Corn.
As soon as the corn is planted in the spring, apply the
Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly over the entire
surface of the corn field you are fertilizing, at the rate of
200 pounds per acre, which is equal in bulk to about two
bushels.
Our Formula for Corn.
Nitrate alone -'"• !')>• pei' af'i'e
or preferably
Nitrate ••!t)0 " " "
Acid Pliospliate , 300 " " "
AMien potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to the
acre every other year.
SMALL FRUITS.
Under this head Ave treat of blackberries, currants,
gooseberries and raspberries. vStrawberries are treated
separately. All these small fruits are commonly grown
in the garden, generally under such conditions that sys-
tematic 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 slowly.
This is as true of the decomposition of animal or vege-
table ammoniates as of phosphates and potashes. Conse-
quently, 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, blackberries are
usually set four feet apart each Avay.
So far as possible, small fruits should l)e cultivated
in the early spring, and all dead canes removed. AVork
into the soil along the rows 300 pounds of acid phosphate
and 50 pounds of sulphate of potash if obtainable; Avhen
the plants are in full leaf, broadcast along the rows 300
pounds of Nitrate of Soda, and Avork in Avith a rake. If
at any time before August the vines shoAV a tendency to
drop "leaves, or stop groAving, apply more Nitrate. Small
54 Food for Plants.
fruits must have a steady, even growtli ; 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
])lants must be given plant food in proportion.
RASPBERRIES, CURRANTS, GOOSEBERBIES.
Sow broadcast, in the fall, a mixture of 300 pounds
of acid or superphosphate and 50 pounds sulphate of
potash per acre if obtainable. This can be done, if the
rows are four feet apart, b}^ sowing a large handful at
every two steps on each side of the row. Raspberries
and gooseberries should have a small handful, and cur-
ants a large handful to each bush. This should be culti-
vated 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 acid or superphosphate, but if you do
not want to put on so much, use smaller handfuls.
Our Formula for Raspberries and Currants.
Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre
or i^referably
Nitrate 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
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. AVhile
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 conmion practice is to keep the bed for
Food for Plants.
55
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.
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 200 pounds of acid phosphate,
appUed broadcast immediately after harvest. In the
spring as soon as growth begins broadcast 150 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda to the acre. In setting out a new
bed, broadcast the f ertiUzer along the rows and cultivate
in, before the plants are out.
On old beds, sow 200 pounds of acid phosphate broad-
cast in the fall and 150 pounds of Nitrate per acre in
the spring.
Onr Formula for Strawberries.
Nitrate alone 150 lbs. per acre
or preferal)ly
Nitrate 200 " " "
Acid Phosphate 200 " " "
When potash salts can lie conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to the
acre everv other year.
M'
In the basket, and lying on 12-in('h
rule, 200 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to
the acre.
To the riglit back oi
rule, no Nitrate.
56 Food for Plants.
The experiment was with a field of Bubachs. One plot
was given 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to the acre when
growth began. Another received no Nitrate. On June 3d
all the ripe fruit was picked from equal length of rows
of each plot. The photograph shows the result.
GRAPES.
Grape vineyards should be located and planted by
an expert, and one, too, who has had experience with
the locality selected for the site. The treatment of the
young plants is a matter of soil and climate, 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.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Grapes.
Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly
over the entire surface of the vineyard you are fertiliz-
ing, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, during the early
spring months, preferably just before the vines are in
Our Formula for Grapes.
Nitrate aloup 200 lbs. ])er acre
or preferably
Nitrate '. 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
GREENHOUSE PLANT FOOD.
For flowering plants in greenhouses, as long as pos-
sible before blooming, apply one pound of Nitrate of
Soda to 200 square feet of surface. This application is
equal to 200 pounds per acre. If used with Acid Phos-
phate, a larger amount viz: One and one-half pounds
of Nitrate of Soda with an equal quantity of Acid Phos-
Food for Plants. 57
pliatc may be used to each 200 square feet of surface,
making 300 pounds per acre, provided excessive quan-
tities of barnyard manure have not been used. It is
important to thoroughly work these fertihzers into the
soil.
The use of rotted stable manure as a source of green-
house plant food has been the custom for many years.
Manure, however, supplies its plant food very irregu-
larly and the Nitrogen which it contains is not nitrated,
hence for forcing plants it cannot be fully relied upon.
It should be supplemented by the use of commercial fer-
tilizers such as Nitrate of Soda and acid phosphate.
For Plants in Pots.
Water once every four days, during early active
growth, with a solution of one-half an ounce of Nitrate
of Soda to one gallon of water — avoid whetting the
fohage. This will produce dark green color in the
leaves, which, when obtained, indicates that for this
most important period, a sufficient amount of Nitrate of
Soda has been used. Do not put dry Nitrate on wet
fohage
For young fruit trees in the nursery, from one-quar-
ter to one pound of Nitrate of Soda per acre may be
used, according to ro^q. It is important in this case that
the fertilizer should be thoroughly worked into the soil.
LAWNS AND GOLF LINKS.
Good lawns are simply a matter of care and rational
treatment. If the soil is very light, top-dress lilierally
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 Ehode Island bent grass (Agros-
tis canina). Avoid mixtures, as they give an irregularly
colored laA^^l 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,
58 Food for Plants.
and for Bermuda g-rass 15 pounds. If for any reason
the soil cannot be properly prepared, pulverize the fer-
tilizer very fine indeed. The grass should be mowed
regularly and the clippings removed until nearly mid-
summer when they are best left on the soil as a mulch.
For a good \R^vn, broadcast per acre in the spring 50
pounds of sulphate of potash, 200 pounds of acid phos-
phate and 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda. 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.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Meadows, Lawns
and Golf Links.
As soon as the frost leaves the ground in the spring,
apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by
hand, or by machine, over the entire surface of the lawn,
or meadow you are fertilizing, at the rate of 100 pounds
per acre.
Frequent rolling is of great advantage, as well as fre-
quent raking. Every lawn in the spring should be sub-
jected to a searching inspection for weeds. Early spring
is the time for the hea\o' annual top-dressing of
fertilizers.
Two or three weeks after the application of fertilizers,
a mixture of lawn grasses may be sown and covered with
a thin layer of finely sifted soil and then rolled down.
Rolling should not be continually in one direction, but
should be chano-ed.
If young grasses are growing amongst the old, it will
be an advantage to keep the lawn closely cut. By this
practice roots are strengthened and the density of the
Food for Plants. 59
turf increased. In sowinii; lawn seed, sow half the quan-
tity a'cins: north and south, and half east and west.
Grass which has become brown or yellow may be
watered or treated with Nitrate of Soda and the green
color thus restored. Lawns may safely be given appli-
cations of Nitrate whenever the sickly green color of the
grass appears, as this shows that Nitrogen is the food
needed. Finely sifted soil obtained from decayed leaves
is the best treatment for lawns to provide them with
humus.
Our Formula for Meadous, Laivns and Golf Links.
Xitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Xitrate " 200 " " "
Acid Phosphate 200 " " "
When iDotash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
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 broadcast on any 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 ; 200 pounds
of Nitrate per acre, if used alone, is the quantity to be
applied at any one time. One pound of it would give
about 30 heaping teaspoonfuls. So 1 to IU2 such spoon-
fuls 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 cab-
bage — are half grown and in good condition to grow.
Nitrate of Soda is an ideal fertilizer for all kinds of
flowering plants, especially roses. It is, as you 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 occasion shall
demand at the rate of one-half to one teaspoonful to the
square yard, or one rose bush.
60 V\h)\} koi; Plants.
Fertilizer Experiments with Fuchsias.
■.^>r
k ':^:i.mi^:Mj^iy
mti^
I!
1 liosi)horic Acid and Potasli Phosphoric Aeid and Potash
without Nitrate of Soda. with 2^^ oz. Nitrate of Soda.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Flowers.
Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly
over the entire surface of the garden you are fertilizing,
at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, before you sow your
seeds in the garden and before you set out your plants.
It may be applied later l)y hand between the rows at the
same rate if you find the earlier time inconvenient.
Our Formula fur Floicers.
Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Nitrate ' 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre everv other vear.
Food fop. Plants.
61
Fertilizer Experiments with Chrysanthemums.
Phosplioi'ie Af'id and Potash.
Pliosphoric Acid and Potasli witli
W^, oz. Nitrate of Soda.
62 P^ooD FOR Plants.
MARKET GARDENING WITH NITRATE.
Successful Results in an Unfavorable Growing Season.
Asparagus.
The bed was twenty years old, aiul had been neglected.
As soon as workable, it was disc-harrowed, and later
smooth-harrowed with an Acme harrow. Nitrate of Soda
was applied to the plots early in April. It was sown
directly over the rows and well worked into the soil.
The experiment comprised three plots, two fertilized
with Nitrate of Soda, and one withont 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 lbs. Nitrate 680 120
1.400 lbs. Nitrate 840 280
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 avail-
able form, the best example of which is
Extraordinary Nitrate of Soda. The soil was plowed
Returns on early in May, and subsoiled, thoroughly
Celery. breaking the soil to a depth of 10 inches.
Thirty bushels of slacked lime per acre
was broadcasted immediately after plowing, followed by
a dressing of 20 tons of stable manure, all well worked
into the soil. Plants were set May 10th. The tract was
portioned into three i)lots for experimental purposes;
plot 1 received 675 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre,
plot 2 received 475 pounds and plot 3 none.
Plot 1 was ready for market July 6th, and was all off
bv the 10th. Plot 2 was readv for market July 11th and
Food for Plants.
68
was all harvested by the lith. Plot 3 was practically a
failure and was not harvested. Plot 1, being first in the
market, had the advantage of the best prices.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Scda on Asparagus and
Celery.
(1) Apply the Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 200
pounds per acre by broadcasting it evenly along the rows,
shortly after the plants are set out. (2) A similar appli-
cation may be made four weeks later. Cultivate after
each application.
675 lbs. Nitrate of Soda
to the acre.
475 lbs. Nitrate of
Soda to the acre.
No Nitrate.
()4
Food for Pi>ants.
Our Formula for Asparcujus and Celery.
Nitrate alono 200 lbs. per acre
or iirci'erablv
Nitrate ' 300 " " "
Acid l'liosi)hate 300 '' " "
AVlien potash salts can bo conveniently obtained we
advise the use of iit'ty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
Beets.
The crop must be forced to quick
Table Beets growth in order to obtain tender, crisp
Grown on vegetables, readily salable and at good
Nitrate Were prices. Nitrate of Soda was compared
Ready for with unfertilized soil, with the result
Market 16 Days that on the nitrated plots marketable
Ahead of Un- beets were pulled 56 days from seed-
fertilized Plots, ing; the unfertilized plot required 72
days to produce marketable vegetables.
Nitrate of Soda was applied at the rate of 500 pounds
per acre.
Table Beets.
500 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to the acre.
No Nitrate.
Food for Plants. 65
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Sugar Beets.
Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly,
by machine or hx hand, over the entire surface of the
sugar beet field you are fertilizing, at the rate of 200
pounds per acre before or soon after planting. Two hun-
dred pounds of Nitrate is equal in bulk to about two
bushels.
Our Formuhi for Siicjar Beets.
Nitrate alone -<>(> lbs. per acre
or preferabh'
Nitrate " 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
Early Cabbage.
How a Crop The cabbage plots were thoroughly
Was Saved worked up, and planted to Henderson's
from Total Early Spring Variety. Part of the soil
Failure. was treated with Nitrate of Soda at the
rate of 575 pounds per acre. The part
of the plot not treated with Nitrate of Soda was a failure.
Cabbage and Cauliflower.
Cabbage requires a deep mellow soil, rich in plant food.
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 teaspoonf ul to a plant.
For late cabbage, set 21/2 to 3 feet apart each way. It
is a good plan to apply the fertilizers after the plants are
set out.
3
GG
Food for Plants.
Food for Plants. 67
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 consequently there
will be no extra labor in working this fertilizer into the
soil. Some three weeks later incorporate 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 pre-digested nitrate
in the market, is an absolute necessity for early cabbage,
and should be used hberally. This crop should not fol-
low itself more than tmce, as by so doing there is no
little danger of serious disease to the crop.
Cauliflower.
The cauliflower plot was treated ex-
Nitrated Plot actly the same as the cabbage plot. The
Yields Profit. plants were set on April 26th. The ni-
Non-Nitrated a t rated plot matured 80 per cent, of the
Total Loss. plants set early in the season. Cutting*
began on July 1st, when high prices
ruled. The plot on which no Nitrate was used failed to
mature a single plant so that no comparative figures can
be given. All the profit in the nitrated ])lot was gain over
the non-nitrated plot.
68
Food for Plants.
o
u
(-1
ee
o
CO
Food for Plants.
69
Carrots.
All plots were fertilized with acid phosphate and
potash.
I II III IV
No. Nitrate. Vo 2:r. Nitrate. 3 gr. Nitrate of 41/2 gr. Nitrate of
Soda. Soda.
The carrots were planted April 21st and treated the
same as the beets. The nitrated plot yielded matured
carrots June 27th. Crop was first pulled from the non-
nitrated plot about the middle of September. Carrots
from the nitrated plot sold for from 5 to 8 cents a bunch
more than those from the non-nitrated plot.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Cabbage and Carrots.
Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting- it evenly
over the entire surface of the vegetable field you are fer-
70 l^'oon FOR Plants,
liliziiii;', at llie rate of 300 pounds per acre, before seeding
or plaiiliiig, or transplanting.
Our Fonnnla (or ('(il>l)((i)c and Carrots.
Nitrate alone 300 11)S. ])cr acre
or prcierably
Nitrate 400 " " "
Add Phosphate 400 " " "
Wlien potasli salts can l)e conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
Cucumbers.
1 'hints were set in box frames May 4tli. 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. Sev-
eral applications were made on the experimental plot,
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 without nitrate was just coming
into bloom. The nitrated plot was given on June 29th a
quart of a solution made by dissolving two ounces of
Nitrate of Soda in a gallon of water; and this applica-
tion was repeated July 3d, 7th, 15th. 24th, and August
8th. This practically doubled the Nitrate application.
The first picking on the nitrated plot
Gain in Time was made July 1st, on the non-nitrated
in This Crop plot July 2'2d, when prices were at the
Very Eemark- lowest point. After the early market
able, Two season was over, the vines were treated
Weeks in for pickling cucumliers, the nitrated plot
Advance. receiving Nitrate dissolved in water as
before and later, two applications of a
quart each, containing half an ounce per gallon. The
result was that the vines continued bearing until cut
dow^n by frost. The estimated yields were as follows:
Nitrated plot, per acre, 6,739 dozen, plot without Nitrate
gave per acre 948 dozen.
Food for Plants.
71
I J.
V(H)]) Foii Plants.
Sweet Corn.
The crop was planted on rallu'i- poor soil. Seed was
l)lantcd May 4tli, and the cultivators started May 12tli.
A portion of llie field was selected for experiment, and
on this 75 ])ouiids of Nitrate of Soda ])er acre was applied
May 2{)th, di'illed close to the row. A second application
of the same anionnl was made ^lay 2'6th, and on June 5th
a third a])])li('ation. On June 17th, lOO^ pounds per acre
was applied and cultivated into the soil. The total Xi-
li'atc applied to the ex})eriniental plot amounted to 325
))()unds per acre. The nitrated plot ripened corn live
(hiys ahead of the non-nitrated portion, and j)roduced 994
dozen ears against 623 dozen from an acre not treated
with Nitrate of Soda. The Nitrated crop, being earlier
in the market, l)rought better prices.
Endive.
The photograph of average specimens from a plot
which received 300 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to the acre,
and from one which received none, shows the beneficial
result obtained from the use of Nitrate of Soda.
300 11)8. Nitrate of Soda to tho acre.
No Nitrate.
Food fou Pt.axtr. 73
Eg'ff -Plant.
■"toto"
The plants were set in the usual manner, part of the
tract being treated with Nitrate of Sothi at the rate of
475 pounds per acre to ol)serve 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 applied, on the tenth this was repeated
and on June 22d a third application was niavle. The ni-
trated 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.
Early Lettuce.
The plants were started in the hot house, and pricked
into cold frames; April 26th they were set in the field.
75(1 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to the acre No
in 5 applications. Nitrate.
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 23d, 100 ])onn(ls; a total of 750 i^ounds ])i'i- acre.
74
Food for Plants.
The nitrated jjlot 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 being early to market brought a good price. On the
non-nitrated plot only about 4 per cent, of the plants
headed, and these reached the market three weeks late.
AVithoiit the Xitrate dressing the crop was a failure.
Musk Melons.
325 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to the acre
in 15 applications.
No Nitrate.
Food for Plants.
75
Musk melons were transplanted from the hot house
on May 4th; 325 pounds Nitrate per acre was- applied
on fifteen occasions, about 6 days apart, between May
10th and August 8th. The first ripe fruit was picked
July 19th, 88 days after planting seed and 76 days after
transplanting from hot house. The yield was at the rate
of 9,680 melons per acre, none of which sold for less than
5 cents, and many for 10 cents. The vines on the non-
nitrated plot gave but very small return and did not give
any return for the labor spent on them.
Onions.
The soil was in bad condition, and was liberally 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 intervals of a week
G75 lbs. of Xitrate of
Soda to the acre in
6 applications.
375 lbs. of Xitrate of
Soda to the aei-e in
4 a])plieations.
No
Nitrate.
or 10 days; plot 2 received 375 pounds in four applica-
tions ; plot 3 was not treated with Nitrate. The nitrated
plots seemed least affected by the exceptionally 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:
Total yield
Per cent, scullions
Nitrate
Nitrate 675 lbs.
37. i lbs.
No Nitiate
756 bu.
482 bu.
127 bu.
1.5
1.7
19.0
76 Food for Plants.
Tlio results show very clearly the value of the Nitrate
applications.
Instructions for Using- Nitrate of Soda on Onions.
As soon as the onions are up in the spring, or before
seeding, apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it
evenly, by hand or by machine, over the entire surface
of the onion tield you are fertilizing, at the rate of 200
pounds per acre.
Our Formula for Onions.
Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Xitrate ' 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre everv other vear.
300 lbs Nitrate of Soda
to acre.
No Nitrate
Food for Plants. 77
Early Peas.
This crop was planted under the same conditions and
in like manner to snap beans ; 300 pounds of Nitrate of
Soda per acre was applied 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 fl days. 5 days.
Period of bearing 11 days. 8 days. 10 days. 6 days.
Cro]) on first picking 55 p. c. 40 p. c. 57 p. e. 38 p. c.
Total yield (p. c.) 165 100 168 100
The season was veiy unfavorable for this crop, yet
the results show that the Nitrate made a powerful effort
to offset this disadvantage. The earliness to market in
this case is as pronounced as in the other garden crops,
and is one of the most profitable factors in the use of
Nitrate of Soda. The lengthening of the bearing period
is an added advantage.
Peppers.
Pepper plants were transplanted May
Nitrate Doubles 22nd, when Nitrate of Soda at the rate
Yield. of 100 pounds to the acre was applied,
followed by a second application of 200
pounds on May 31st, and others of 100 pounds each on
June 7th and June 19th. The yield from the plot treated
with 500 pounds of Nitrate was at the rate of 14,620
dozen per acre, and pulling was begun June 30th. The
plot without Nitrate treatment yielded at the rate of
7,432 dozen per acre and pulling did not begin till August
7th, 38 days later.
Early Potatoes.
Ploughing was finished the second week in April, and
the plot limed at the rate of 3-5 bushels per acre. Fur-
rows w^ere opened three feet apart, and 750 pounds per
acre of a high-grade fertilizer worked into the rows.
78 Food for Plants.
May 1st. the potatoes were breaking ground, and 100
pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre was applied on the
experiment plot. (!)n the 11th, 200 pounds of Nitrate was
a])])li(>d, and on the 29th, 150 pounds more was cultivated
ill with a horse-hoe. The total Nitrate application per
acre was 450' pounds. The nitrated plot was harvested
July 6th; the plot not treated with Nitrate was dug
July 17th, 11 days later. The nitrated plot produced
per acre 19 bushels unmarketable tubers, the non-nitrated
plot 46 bushels. The total crop marketable was 297
busliels for Nitrate, and 1)2 bushels for non-nitrated plot.
450 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to the acre No Nitrate,
in 3 applications.
Late Potatoes.
Conditions same as in the case of early potatoes,
except the Nitrate of Soda was used at the rate of 500
pounds per acre. The crop of marketable tubers, per
acre on the nitrated plots, amounted to 374 bushels; 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.
Food for Plants.
79
Yield witliuut Nitrate. iieid with Nitrate.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Potatoes.
As soon as the potatoes are up in the spring, or just
before planting-, apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcast-
ing it evenly, by hand or by machine, over the entire
surface of the potato field you are fertilizing, at the rate
of 200 pounds per acre, or apply it broadcast prior to
planting.
Our Formula for Potatoes.
Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre
or preferably ,, ,, ,,
Nitrate 400 ^^
Acid Phosphate 400
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre every other year.
80
Food top. 1'iaxts.
Radishes.
The iiToiind in wliicli radislics were
Quick Yield i)laiite(l was newly turned liniotliy sod,
Procured by not fertilized for \vn years. Seed was
Nitrate. drilled in April llitli. Nitrate of Soda,
75 pounds to the acre, was ai)plied April
20th, followed l)y an application of 150 pounds a Aveek
later. Radishes on the nitrated ph^t matured evenly and
were marketed on May 15tli at five cents a bunch retail,
the wholesale price ranging from $2 to $2.50 per hundred.
The radishes on the non-nitrated plot matured unevenly
and when ready the market was glutted.
Late Spinach.
The ground used for this experiment, though under
cultivation for generations, had never been fertilized.
Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 350 pounds to the acre
was used in two applications. The photograph of the
product of an equal space of row from the nitrated and
non-nitrated plots tells the result.
350 lbs. Nitrate of Soda to the acre No
in two ai)])lioations. Nitrate.
Early Tomatoes.
With this crop the object is to mature quickUj, rather
than to obtain a heavy acre yield; one basket of early
Food for Plants. 81
tomatoes at $1.25 is irortli 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 ])lot were treated
with a dihited solution of Nitrate four separate times.
Plants were field set May 17, and given six applications
of Nitrate of Soda ; first, 100 pounds per acre soon after
setting out ; second, third and fourth of 75 pounds each ;
and fifth and sixth 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 tirst picking 43 62
Crop at $1.00 and upward i)er basket 40 per cent.
" .75 " '' 30 " 10 per cent.
" .50 " " 20 " 15 "
" .30 " " 10 " 20 "
" .25 " " 25 "
" .15 " " 15 "
" .08 " '' 15 "
Estimated vield per acre, baskets 500 GOO
Gross receipts $377 50 $190 20
Cost of Nitrate of Soda and application. ... 10 35
Xet receipts 367 15 190 20
Gain per acre for Nitrate 176 95
Instructions for Using- Nitrate of Soda on Tomatoes.
Apjjly the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly
over the entire surface of the vegetable field you are fer-
tilizing, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, before seed-
ing, or planting, or transplanting.
Our Formula for Tomatoes.
Nitrate alone 200 lbs. })er acre.
or preferably
Nitrate \ 300 " " "
Acid Phosphate 300 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash to
the acre everv other vear
S2 Food for Plants.
OBSERVATIONS UPON THE LEACHING OF SOLUBLE
FERTILIZER SALTS FROM CRANBERRY SOILS.
l^v JOHN 11. VOORHEES,
Former Assistant in Charpe Cranberry Investigations, N. J.
Experiment Station.
In the spring of 1913 the author was detailed by the
New Jersey Experiment Station to study the fertilizer
requirements of the cranberry. After a survey of the
field it was decided to locate the experimental work upon
bogs owned and operated by practical growers. Plead-
quarters for this work were located at the bogs of J. J.
White, Incorp., situated about three miles northeast of
Hanover farais on the P. E. R. in Burlington county.
A rather complete series of plots was planned including
the separate use of four sources of Nitrogen, — Nitrate of
Soda, ammonium sulphate, dried blood 12 per cent., and
cotton-seed meal ; four sources of phosphoric acid,— acid
phosphate, basic slag, phosphate rock and steamed bone ;
and three sources of potash, — muriate, sulphate and
kainit. These materials were not only used separately,
but also in complete mixtures in which ammonium sul-
phate, acid phosphate and muriate of potash were used
as constant factors. In each case the fertilized plots
received either two pounds of Nitrogen, four of phos-
phoric acid, or five of potash, and in the case of complete
mixtures all of the above quantities were used.
On the bogs of J. J. White the series of plots was laid
out in three distinct types of soil; the Savannah, a pure
sand mixed with more or less organic matter, deep mud,
and deep mud underlaid with iron ore. "Wlierever pos-
sible the plots were made one-twentieth acre in size, one
rod wide and eight rods long. (Details of the plan of
experiment may be found in 1913 Report, N. J. Agricul-
tural Experiment Station, pages 384-488.)
On June 6, 1913, the first application of fertilizer was
made to the plots in these series and observations of the
effect of added plant food have been extremely interest-
ing. One occurrence brings out clearly how little an
Food for Plants. 83
abundance of water affected the lateral movement of soil
moisture and leaching of plant food from the soil stores.
On the nights of June 9th and 10th danger of severe
frost caused the proprietors to flow the bogs for protec-
tion. The series of plots located in the deep mud and
iron ore soils (so-called) were completely flooded to a
depth varying from a few inches to a foot. The Savan-
nah plots, even though located in the same bogs, were on
a higher level and the water onl^^ covered one end of the
plots, about one-half of each. At first thought it would
appear that the lateral movement of the soil water would
carry the plant food, especially the soluble salts. Nitrate
of Soda, ammonium sulphate, and the potash salts, from
one plot to another, and that there would bo considerable
leaching of plant food into the drainage water, because
the water is drawn through the soil into the ditches on
its way out; but subsequent observations extending
through the remainder of the year showed a distinct line
of markation between the fertilized plots and the check
plots adjoining. The increased vine growth causing this
distinct markation became clearly defined, first with Ni-
trate of Soda, then ammonium sulphate, and so on
through the list of plots, showing more clearly upon the
plots which received complete mixtures.
This condition was more particularly true on the
" Savannah " soils, and it might be added that yields
were greatly increased. (Record of yields may be found
in 1914 Report of N. J. Agric. Experiment Station or
Proceedings 45th Annual Meeting American Cranberry
Growers' Association.) Upon the deep mud and iron ore
plots the differences and lines of markation were distin-
guishable but not so clearly defined.
After three years of obsei*vation and experience, both
experimental and practical, the author is convinced that
the loss from leaching is so negligible that he feels no
hesitancy in advising growers to apply fertilizers com-
posed of Nitrate of Soda, acid phosphate and muriate of
potash as soon as the winter water is drawn from the
bogs, about May 20th, before the reflow for insect con-
84: Food kok I*LA^■TS.
trol, ^vhic•ll is a customary })ractice about the second week
ill June, and before any flowing which might be necessi-
tated by danger of frost.
NITRATE AS FERTILIZER.
What It Did For an Acre of Sug^ar Cane in Porto Rico.
Abstract from Facts About Sugar, September 7, 1918.
(The results of an interesting experiment conducted at Central
Aguirre, Porto Rico, during the season 1917-18, to check up the rela-
tive values of Nitrate of Soda, of Acid Phosphate, and of a mixture of
the tico, as fertilizer for sugar cane, are described in the following
article. The accompanying illitstratiotis and table show the striking
results obtained from the Ufc of the Xitrate. — Ep.)
An Instructive Demonstration.
A recent experiment conducted at Margarita field,
Hacienda Carmen of Central Aguirre, Porto Rico,
forcibly brings out the gain in sugar yield, with the
accompanying higher financial return resulting, when
Nitrate of Soda and acid phosphate were used, compared
with the returns when acid pho])hate was used alone.
The test was made to determine the relative efficiency
of acid phospliate — which is the main constituent of the
ordinary brands of mixed fertilizer — as compared with
Nitrate of Soda.
The cane was grown on adjoining one-acre plots.
Applications of the fertilizer materials were made on
July 23, 1917, and the cane was cut on May 27, 1918. On
one plot 400 pounds of acid phosphate was applied; on a
second 400 pounds each of acid phosphate and Nitrate of
Soda; on a third, Nitrate of Soda alone, and on the
fourth, a check plot, no fertilizer was used. The results
obtained are shown in tlie following table;
Confirms Hauaiian Practice.
Sucrose. Purity Cane Suear
\crp Plots percent percent yield tons yield tons
1. Acid Phosi)hato 18.09 92.50 24.96 3.2
2. Nitrate of Soda and Acid Plios-
phate l'-38 91.50 .38.00 4./
3. Nitrate of Soda alone 16 . 45 89 . 20 41 . 50 4.7
4. Check ])lot — no fertilizer 17.55 91.40 30. Y 3 3.8
Food for Plants.
85
Fertilized witli 400 lbs. Nitrate Fertilized with 400 lbs. Acid
of Soda per acre. Phosphate per acre.
Yield: 9,600 lbs. Su^ar per acre Yield: 6,400 lbs. Sui;ar i)cr acre
(30 bags). (20 bags).
Fertilized with 400 lbs. Nitrate of Check Plot — No Fertilizer.
Soda per acre. Yield: 7,680 lbs. Sugar per acre
Yield: 9,000 lbs. Suoar per acre (24 bags).
(30 bags).
86 Food for Plants.
These figures speak for themselves. It is interesting
to note that the $16 worth of Nitrate used alone pro-
duced an increase of 16.54 tons of cane, yielding 1.5 tons
of sugar, over the acid phosphate plot, which, in terms
of cash, represented an increased market value of $138.
In view of the stress laid so frequently in the past upon
the use of the superphosphate variety of mixes, the
sources of Nitrogen in such brands being as a rule en-
tirely unknown to the users, the above experiment is
illuminating. This experiment substantially and em-
phatically confirms Hawaiian results and fully endorses
Hawaiian sugar cane practice.
GRASS GROWING FOR PROFIT.
Timothy and related grasses feed hea\ily 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 about
the equivalent of the active fertilizer ingredients of 20O
pounds of Nitrate of Soda, and 200 pounds of acid phos-
phate. These amounts per acre are recommended to be
broadcasted on old grass lands where intensive fertiliza-
tion is well understood and practiced. Grass lands get
sour easily, especially when old, and when they do, one
ton of slaked lime per acre should be harrowed in before
seeding down anew. For the best results the seeding
should be done before September, and the above-men-
tioned ration should be used as a 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 rea-
sonably be expected. When grass crops are heavy and
run as high as 4i/^ tons per acre field-cured, it is safe to
allow 20 per cent, shrinkage in weight for seasoning and
drying do^vn to a barn-cured basis. Nitrate of Soda, the
chief constituent of the prescribed ration, insures early
growth and enables it to get ahead of all weeds, and the
crop then feeds economically and fully on the other
Food for Plants. 87
manurial constituents present in the fertilizer mentioned
in the formula and present in the soil.
When clean No. 1 hay sells above $16 per ton the finan-
cial results are very satisfactory. Nitrate can some-
times be used alone for a season or two and at very great
profit, but a full grass ration is better in the long run.
Generally speaking, 100 pounds of Nitrate, if used under
proper conditions, will produce an increase of from 1,000
to 1,200 pounds of l^arn-cured, clean timothy hay, the
value of which averages from $8 to $10 and upwards.
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 One Blade Grew
Before.
Grass is a responsive crop, and the part played by
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
1893, 1900, 1901, 1902, Yields in
Nitrate of Soda Applied Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Tons
None 5,075 4,000 3,290 2,950 1.9
150 lbs. per acre* .. . 6,300 5.600 5,550 4,850 2.8
450 lbs. per acre*... 6,913 8,200 9,390 8,200 4.1
These figures show a uniform, con-
What the sistent and marked advantage from the
Figures Show. use of Nitrate of Soda ; and the effect
of its absence is shown by the steady
decline of the yields on the 7?o-Nitrate plot from year to
"Amount slightly reduced in 1901 and 1902.
S8
Food fof. Plants.
1. Product oi.' one square foot
of ground in field yielding over
three tons per acre of cured timo-
thy hay fertilized with Nitrate of
Soda.
2. Product of one square foot
of ground in adjoining field (not
fertilized with Nitrate of Soda)
yielding one ton per acre of cured
liav.
Highland Experimental Farms, New York.
Food for Plants, 89
year. Tn each year the use of 150 pound's of Nitrate gave
increased yields over the plot without Nitrogen, the gain
varying from 1,200 to almost 2,300 pounds, an average
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 advantage
except, perhaps, in the second year. This was an excep-
tionally 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 Nitrogen 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 more
How Nitrate surprising and unexpected, was the
Improves the effect of the Nitrate upon the quality of
Quality of the the hay produced.
Hay. The hay from the plots during the
first season was of such diverse char-
acter 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, w^as worth less than that 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
90
Food for Plants.
Types of Characteristic Rock Sliatterins' (1).
Types of Characteristic Rock bliattermg {:
Tyi)es of Characteristic Rock Shattering (3).
Food for Plants, 91
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., respectively, and in the fourth
year the differences were even more marked.
Timothy is a grass which will not tol-
An Alkaline crate an acid soil, and it is probable
Soil Necessary that the liming given these plots in 1897
for Grass. 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 por-
tion of the latter, is left to combine with free acids in
the soil. This, like lime, neutralizes the
How Nitrate acids and thus " sweetens " the soil for
Neutralizes Soil the timothy. With the assistance of the
Acids and Soda set free from the Nitrate, the timo-
Sweetens the thy was more than able to hold its o^\^l
Soil. and thus to make what the market calls
a finer, better hay ; and since the market
demands timothy and pays for it, the farmer who sells
hay is wise if he meets the demand.
Financial Profit from Use of Nitrate.
Frequently more plant food is paid
How It Pays. for and put on the land than the crop
can possibly use, the excess being en-
tirely thrown away, or, at best, merely saved to benefit
some subsecpient crop. This was far from the case in
these trials. Indeed, it was found by analysis of the hay
that more potash was removed by the crops of the first
two years than had been added in the muriate used, con-
sequently the amount applied upon each plot was in-
creased in 1901 and in 1902. The Nitrogen requirement
of the crops was found to be slightly less than was sup-
plied in 450 pounds of Nitrate and the amount was re-
duced to 40€ pounds in 1901, and changed to 415 pounds
in 1902. The Nitrate on the second plot was also reduced
f)2
l^'ooi) I'Oi; I'lANTS
Rook Before Blastins: One Pound of Forty Per Cent. Dynamite.
haiiie luM-k Shattered l)y the ExplnMcu <.l Dynamite.
Food for Plants. 93
ill proportion. The phosphoric acid, however, was prob-
ably in considerable excess, since liming sets free phos-
phoric acid already in the soil and so lessens the appar-
ent financial profit ; but not to an excessive degree.
Practical Conclusions.
From these striking results it must be evident that
grass lands as well as tilled fields are 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 form
Dressing- Grass of a dressing broadcasted very early in
Lands. the spring in order that the first growth
may find readily available material for
its support 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 laud sw^eet and promotes the
growth of grass plants of the best kinds.
Lime should be som^u upon the plowed land and har-
rowed into the soil. Top-dressing w^th lime after seed-
ing will not answer, and, in the case of very acid soils,
the omission of lime at the proper time will necessitate
reseeding to secure a good stand of grass.
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 iield under
experiment for over twenty years.
It may not be out of place here to men-
Nitrate of Soda tioii the fact that the late Mr. Clark's
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 tliroughout the United States. He attributed
94
Food for 1't.ants.
his success largely to the liberal dressings of Nitrate of
Soda which he invariably applied to his fields early in
the spring, and which started the grass off with such a
vigorous growth as to shade and crowd out all noxious
weeds before they got fairly started and which resulted
I Wn a large crop of clean and high-priced hay.
It is also known that many who have tested his methods
have met with failure chieflv because thev neglected to
How Careful
Cultivation
May Aid in the
Profitable Use
of Nitrate.
1. Williuut Nitrogen., 2. % Ration of Nitrogen. 3. Full Ration of
Nitrogen.
All three fertilized alike with Muriate of Potash and Acid Phosi:)hate. —
R. I. Bui. 103.
supply the young grass plants with a sufficient amount
of readily available food for their use in
early spring, and before the organic
forms of Nitrogen, which exist in the soil
only in an insoluble form and which can-
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 sea-
son 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 decomposition,
and that in the early spring there is always a scarcity of
Nitrogen in the soil in an available form, for the reason
that the most of that which was converted into soluble
Food for Plants. 95
forms by the action of the soil bacteria during the warm
summer months of the previous year was utilized by the
plants occupying the ground at that time or has been
carried down just below the reach of the roots of the
young plants by the melting snow and the heavy rains of
late winter and early spring, and does not come up in
early spring in time to be of use.
AVhen we consider the fact that most plants require
and take up about 75 x>er cent, of their total Nitrate
Nitrogen 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 protoplasm) of
all plants, it is plain that we cannot afford to jeopardize
the chances of growing crops by having only an insuffi-
cient supply of immediately available Nitrogen when it
is most needed.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF WATER DOES HAY LOSE
DURING STORAGE?
Result of Rhode Island Official Experiment.
Hay which had been stored during the summer
was removed from the mow the following February, and
found to contain 12.21 per cent, of water. A careful com-
parison 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 12 to 16 per cent.
Growing hay for market is a subject that is receiving
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 more months of the year;
|)() Food fo]; Plants.
Second, there arc usually several fields on nearly every
Tarni in inosl sections, which, owinii,' to the heavy char-
acter of the soil, or for various other reasons, are more
suitahle for growin,i>- hay than for growing the several
crops usually gro\\n in a regular rotation;
Third, where the method of seeding down a portion
of a large farm to hay has been practiced it has fre-
quently proven that the net profit per year from the
smaller acreage devoted to grain and hoed crops, because
of the more liberal fertilizing and l)etter cultivation 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 No. 1 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 har-
vesting and marketing the crop. This, coupled with the
fact that the yield per acre of timothy is al)out 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 conditions are favorable.
We have been trying too often to grow timothy by
seeding it with wdieat 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 condi-
tions 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, w^here conditions are
extremely favorable, as much as six tons of timothy per
acre can often be growm in one season.
In view of the conditions here pointed out, an experi-
ment was ])lanned in order to determine whether on soils
naturally well adapted for hay growing, but out of con-
Food for Plants. 97'
ditioii, 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 nse of commercial fertilizers
alone.
Location of the Experiments and Condition of the Land.
The land npon 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 pos-
sible to study both kinds of soil where climatic and sea-
sonal conditions w^ere 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 some-
times affected b}' 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 is planted as early as pos-
sible, and just before the last cultivation 20 quarts of
timothy seed are used per acre.
In this experiment the flatland crop of wild sedge grass
was cut early in June, the field plowed, and was then fre-
quently cultivated until about the first of September,
when it was carefully seeded at the rate of 20 ciuarts of
timothy per acre.
Two methods of seeding were practiced on the upland ;
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 September.
4
98
Food for Plants.
In tlio other case, the pasture land was plowed in June,
roUetl down and thoroughly and frequently cultivated
and similarly seeded about the 24th of September. The
latter method, however, did not kill the native grass, and
is not reconnncnded.
Crop of Grass Grown b\ tlie Use of Nitrate of Soda.
Fertilizers Used.
Since one object of this experiment was to determine
whether profitable cropping could be continued for more
than one season, the land was not only thoroughly pre-
pared, but amply supplied with phosphoric acid, potash
and lime, in order that there might be no deficiency 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 hme was applied per acre before plowing.
Food for Plants.
99
After plowing and rolling and before harrowing, there
was applied to each acre 600 ponnds acid phosphate, 200
pounds sulphate of potash, and, in addition to this, the
lowland received an application of 740 ponnds of basic
slag phosphate, and the upland 540 pounds. The Nitro-
gen was all in the form of Nitrate, and was applied
broadcast in the spring.
The following table shows the kinds and amounts of
fertilizers that were applied for the crops of 190'5 and
1906 :
The Tedders lulldw llic Mnwnm :\l;icliitH'> h.i 1:4. hI rii,,,:_: .m li..i\y
crops of liay.
Kiinl <()}(l Qnantily of Fertilisers Used Per Acre.
Upland Lowland
1905, 1900. 190.-., 190C.
Pi)uud.s Pound.s Pounds Pounds
Lime 2,00n .... 2,000
Wood Ashes •''^-O • • • • ^20
Acid Phosphate «()0 578 600 578
Basic Slag •'^40 740
Sulpliate of Potash 200 .... 200
Nitrate of Soda 200 1G8 200 112
The mineral fertilizers for the crop of 1905 were ap-
plied in the fall of 1904, those for the crop of 1906 were
TOO Food for Plants.
ap])lii'(] diniiii;' tlio suinnior of 1905. The Nitrate of Soda
was all ai)])lic'(l ])r()a( least in the spring, and was evenly
(lislril)uted as soon as the grass had nicely started. The
quantities of Nitrate api)lied were not as large as is some-
times recommended, hut were sufficient to provide for a
large yield.
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
application had been made the grass on these plots grew
luxuriantly, and made a large yield of hay.
The main point was to determine whether it was 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
With 200 lbs. With 200 lbs.
Without Nitrate Without Nitrate
Nitrate per acre Nitrate per aore
Yield per acre.. . . . 3,180 lbs. 8,340 ll).s. 0,985 lbs. 8,712 lbs.
Increase from Ni-
trate 5,160 lbs. lG2';i 1,727 lbs. 24.77c
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 heing dry and gravelly, was unable to pro-
vide Nitrogen in any quantity although an abundance of
minerals was present. The low^land, on the other hand;
containing a large proportion, was capable of furnish-
ing 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 Nitro-
gen with minerals, if full crops are to be produced. 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,
Food for Plants.
101
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 the latter 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 fol-
lowing table shows the financial results of the two experi-
ments from two standpoints: (1) Whether it is profit-
able to grow hay under the conditions, as outlined here ;
and (2) whether the use of Nitrate will pay.
1905. Co.^t of Crop,.
The first point of im|)orlance 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
kind of soil to which Nitrate is applied measures in a
marked degree the profit to be derived from its applica-
tion. On the uplancl, 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 nearlv $4.
102 Food for Plants.
Oil tlio lowland, the crop without Nitrate was worth
$41.!)1 \)vr acre, and, with Nitrate, $52.27, a gain of $10.;-.6,
whieh is reduced to $3.14 when the cost of Nitrate and
harvest iii.i;- is deducted, still a good profit on the invest-
ment, though clearly indicating that Nitrogen was not the
limiting factor in crop production as was the case on the
ui)land. In making the tables, the actual cost of labor,
seed and fertilizers was used. The value of the hay was
estimated at $12 per ton, and based on weights at time
of harvesting. The shrinkage of hay will range from
15 to 25 per cent. ; assuming the shrinkage to be as un-
usually high as 25 per cent., the value per ton would have
to increase to $16 to balance, which is lower than prevail-
ing prices have been since that year for No. 1 timothy.
Crops of 1906.
The experiment was continued in 190(3, on the same
areas. In order to insure a constant and abundant sup-
ply, mineral fertilizers ^vere again added in the form of
W'Ood ashes and acid phosphate, and in the amounts
showm in the table, namely, 520 pounds of w^ood ashes
and 578 pounds of acid phosphate per acre on both the
fields.
The applications of Nitrate wi>re, 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 Ni-
trate was again immediately noticeable in increasing the
vigor of the plants. The yields w^ere as follows :
Yield of Crops in 190G.
Upland Lowland
With With
168 lbs. 112 lbs.
Without Nitrate Witliout Nitrate
Nitrate per acre Nitrate per acre
Yield i)er acre.... 3,200 lbs. 0,240 lbs. 5,920 lbs. 8,080 lbs.
Increase from Ni-
trate 3,040 lbs. 95.0% 2,1G0 lbs. 36.4%
These results confirm those for 1905 on the whole,
though there are points of difference which may be rea-
Food foe Plants.
103
sonably 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 without 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
Hay Weeds
Unfertilized
Hay Weeds Hay Weeds
Nitrate of Soda Sulphate of Ammonia
Hav Weeds
Dried Blood
Hay Weeds
: Limed
other haiid, doubtless contained considerable Nitrogen
in easily changeable forms, which under the influence of
the available phosphoric acid and lime was made effec-
tive on the grass, and 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
104
Food for Plants.
assuinplioii is borne out by the facts; the gain on the
uphind in 1906 is 3,040 pounds, or 95 per cent., as against
a gain of 5,160 pounds, or 162 per cent, in 1905; Avhile
the gain on the lowhmd is 36.4 per cent, in 1906, as
against 24.7 per cent, in 1905. The lower 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 prolits in
the tabulated statement.
1906. Co!iilaii(l ExporiiiuMitnl I'arms, New York.
Tlio average yields per acre of lield-cured hay on the
uplands were as follows :
No Nitrate — 3,200 pounds per acre.
168 lbs. Nitrate — 6,240 pounds per acre.
The average yields per acre of field-cured hay on the
lowlands were as follows :
No Nitrate — 5,920 pounds per acre.
112 lbs. of Nitrate — 8,080 pounds per acre.
Com para th-c Siinnuaru of Tiniotliij Haij Yickh, 19l>5 (iml lilOii.
Uplands.
1905. No Nitrate — 3,180 lbs. 300 lbs. Nitrate — S,340 lbs.
1906. No Nitrate — 3,200 lbs. 168 lbs. Nitrate — 6,'240 lbs.
Lowlands.
1905. No Nitrate — 6,985 ll)s. 200 lbs. Nitrate — 8,712 lbs.
1906. No Nitrates — 5.920 lbs. 112 lbs. Nitrate — 8,080 lbs.
Yield of original '' No Nitrate " hollow square plot in
field of timothy and red top :
Season of 1905 — 3,180 lbs.
Season of 1906 — 1,760 lb.s.
The \ields are lower for 190G than for 190r) owing to
smaller applications of Nitrate and probably also to the
fact that there was much less rainfall during the growing
season.
Distribution of Nitrogen in (lie Grain and Straiv of the Principal
Cereals.
NITROGEN PER TWO AND ONE-HALF ACRES.
Grain.
Oats, Barley, Wheat, Rye,
82.42 lbs. 86.61 lbs. 81.10 lbs. 67.44 lbs.
Rape Seed Peas, Vetches, Broad Beans,
176.32 lbs. 117.03 lbs. 143.92 lbs. 181.16 lbs.
St raw.
Oats, Barley, Wheat, Ryo,
26.4 lbs. 26.4 lbs. 33.06 lbs. 29.. 31 lbs.
Rape Seed, Peas, ^'otchps, Broad Reans,
29.75 lbs 118.35 lbs. 112.40 lbs. 79.34 lbs.
P^ooD FOR Plants.
Ill
Distribution of Nitrogen in the Principal Root Crops.
NITROGEN PER TWO AND ONE-HALF ACRES.
Sugarbeet,
105.79 lbs
Sugarbeet,
52.89 lbs.
Beetroot,
138.85 lbs.
Beetroot,
80.66 Ib^
Roots.
Swedes,
165.30 lbs.
Leaf.
Swedes,
55.1 lbs.
Carrots,
145.46 lbs.
Carrots,
168.60 lbs.
Potatoes,
112.40 lbs.
Tubers.
Potatoes
15.11 lbs.
Shatvs.
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, somid and well baled.
Standard Timothy: Shall be timothy with not more
than one-eighth (i/g) 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 (14) 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 (%)
properly cured, sound, good color and well baled.
No. 1 Clover Mixed Hay : Shall be timothy and clover
mixed, with at least one-half (1/0) timothy, good color,
sound and well baled.
Heavy Clover IMixed Hay : Shall be timothy and clover
mixed with at least one-fourth (14) timothy sound and
well baled.
No. 2 Clover Mixed Hay : Shall 'be timothy and clover
mixed with at least one-third (%) timothy. Reasonably
sound and well baled.
No. 1 Clover Hay : Shall be medium clover not over
one-twentieth (1/20) other grasses, properly cured,
sound and well baled.
11- Food foi; Plants.
No, 2 Clover Hay: Shall Ix' clover soiiiid, well baled,
not good enong-li for Xo. 1.
Sample Hay: Shall include all hay badly cured,
stained, threshed or in any way unsound.
Choice Prairie Ilay : Shall be upland hay of bright,
natural color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain
3 per cent, weeds.
No. 1 Prairie Hay : Shall be upland and may contain
one-quarter (14) 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 12i^ per cent,
weeds.
No. 3 Prairie Hay : Shall include hay not good enough
for other grades and not caked.
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 ]2i/o i)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 Eye 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 Eye Straw : Shall l)e reasonably clean
rye straw, good color, sound and well 1)aled.
No. 2 Tangled Eye Straw: Shall be reasonably clean,
may be some stained, but not good enough for No. 1.
No. 1 AVheat Straw : Shall be reasonabU' clean wheat
straw, sound and well baled.
Food for Plants. 113
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 fme 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 2 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 medium
texture, 20 per cent, bleached and 2 per cent, foreign mat-
ter ; or it may be of a greenish cast of fine stem and cling-
ing 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 matter; 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 property
Use of of taking inert Nitrogen from the air
Legumes. and transforming it into combinations
more or less useful as plant food. This
1 14 Kooi) KOIi r^LANTS.
feature is of ^reat value to ag'riculhu'e, but not so much
from the i)lant food jooint of view as from the fact that
those phuits are rich in that kind of food substance com-
monly called " flesh formers." Liberally fertilized, and
not omitting Nitrate in the fertilizer, we have a crop
containing more nitrogenous food (protein or flesh
fiormers) 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 fer-
tilizing is to apply from 300 to 500 pounds of fertilizer
early every autumn; in the spring broadcast 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, but this is an
experiment experienced farmers do not often repeat.
A fair green crop of clover, for example, removes from
the soil some 160 pounds of Nitrogen, while in 500 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda there are less than 100 pounds. Un-
doubtedly, the Nitrogen taken from the air is a great
aid, but Ave should not expect too much of it. The method
of seeding clovers depends much upon locality and soil
needs with reference to pi-evious crops. Crimson clover
and Canadian Held 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
Avell known to require mention here. Both spring and
winter wheat are commonly fertilized crops, particularly
Food for Plants.
115
the latter. The average fertilizer for wheat should con-
tain Nitrogen, x)hosphoric acid and potash. This fer-
tilizer is applied with the seed, and at the rate of 500
pounds to the acre. Nitrate of Soda is also applied
broadcast as a dressing, soon after the crop shows gro^yth
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 availalile, easily digested nitrated foTm,
such as is only to be found commercially as Nitrate of
Soda.
Wheat.
W heal — 14 Bushels.
Average product per acre for
the U. S. of wheat with average
farm fertilization.
Wheat — 37 Bushels.
The product of an acre of wheat
fertilized with Nitrate of Soda,
phosphates and potash.
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 application
is a minimum quantity. Much has been said of legume
11(i Food for Plants.
Nitrogen Tor wheat, the crop being generally grown in
rotation. Whatever Nitrogen the clover may have gath-
ered, a crop of timothy and a crop of corn must be sup-
plied before the wheat rotation is reached. In all cases
where the acre yields have fallen off, a broadcast dress-
ing of Nitrate of Soda should be given.
Drill in with the wheat in the fall a
How to Apply mixture of 150 pounds of acid phosphate
Nitrate of Soda and 50 pounds Nitrate of Soda per acre,
to Wheat. If your land is sandy, add 50 pounds of
sulphate of potash to the above. Early
in the spring, sow broadcast 50 more pounds Nitrate of
Soda per acre.
Land sown to wheat in the fall and seeded down with
timothy and clover giving a heavy crop, followed by a
hea^^' hay crop the following year, proved the beneficial
after-effect of the Nitrate and that the Nitrate 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 AVheat, as follows :
" I liave made several exi)L'riinents with Nitrate of Soda. The first
was on wheat in Albemarle County, Virginia. 1 used 200 pounds per
aore on part of the field which had been fertilized with 400 pounds acid
phosphate in the fall. The result was 9 l)Ushols per acre more than (Ui
the rest of the field, and a stand of clover, while none of any account
stood on the rest of the field."
Instructions for using Nitrate of Soda on Wheat.
As soon as frost leaves the ground in the spring, apply
the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by hand or
by machine, over the entire surface of the wheat iield you
are fertilizing, at the rate of 100 pounds per acre, which
is equal in bulk to one bushel.
Formula for Wheat.
Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre
or preferablv
Nitrate '. 150 " " "
Acid Phosphate 150 " " "
Food for Plants.
117
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.
Fertilizer Experiment icith Wheat.
Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid and
and Potash with 1 oz. and Potash with i/4 oz. Potash without
Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda.
Yield : SVo oz. Grain. Yield : l^/^ oz. Grain. Yield : Y^ oz. Grain.
118
Food for Plants.
Oats.
This grain does well on nearly all types of soil, but
responds freely to good treatment. There is a vast dif-
ference 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. G5 Busliels.
A.veraiic product per acre, for The jn-oduct of an acre of oats
the U. 8. of oats, with average fertilized with Nitrate of Soda,
farm fertilization.
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 broad-
cast 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 dressing of Nitrate is not omitted.
Under any condition of soil or fertilizing, a sickly green
color of the young crop shows need of Nitrate of Soda
plant food, and the remedy is a dressing of Nitrate. In
seeding, use two or three bushels to the acre.
Food for Plaistts. 119
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 a "dressing of
as much as three hundred (300) pounds of Nitrate per
acre is used annually.
Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Oats.
As soon as you sow the oats in the spring, apply the
Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by hand or
machine, over the entire surface of the oat field at the
rate of 100 pounds per acre. In bulk this is equal to
about one bushel.
Formula for Oats.
Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Nitrate ^ 150 " " "
Acid Phosphate 150 " " "
"When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.
Rye.
This is another illustration of the necessity of care in
the use of fertilizer Nitrogen. Eye does best on fight
soils so long as they are not too sandy, but if the soil
is rich in vegetable matter, or if a fertilizer is used con-
taining 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
120
Food for Plants.
during the warm days of mid-summer, and a constant
supply of avaihiible 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 fer-
tilizer, 500 pounds per acre. As soon as the crop shows
growth, in the spring apply 100 pounds of Nitrate of
Soda to the acre, broadcast.
Bye.
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 rj'e
fertilized ■with Nitrate of Soda,
phosphates and potash.
Instructions for Using- Nitrate of Soda on Rye.
Just as soon as growth starts in the spring, or a little
earlier if possible, apply the Nitrate of Soda by broad-
casting it evenly, by hand or by machine, over the entire
surface of the rye field you are fertilizing, at the rate of
100 pounds per acre, w^hich is equal in bulk to one bushel.
Food for Plants.
121
Formula for Rye.
Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre
or preferably
Nitrate ^ 150 " " "
Acid Phosphate 150 " " "
When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.
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
Buckirheat.
1
No Nitrate.
Yield, 19 bushels per acre.
Fertilized with 125 lbs. Nitrate of
Soda per acre.
Yield, 38 bushels per acre.
general fertilizer to the acre, applied just before seeding,
or even with the seed. Heavy soils do not require fer-
tilizing for this crop, as it has exceptional foraging
powers, and will find nourishment where many grain
crops would starve. As soon as the plants are well above
ground, broadcast 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda per
122 Food for Plants.
acre, both on stroiio- and li,i»-lit soils. Use one bushel
of si'vd ])vv acre on thin soils, hut a heavier application
on richer soils.
In many places in Europe the cereals, like oats and
\vheat, are ])lanted or sown in rows and cultivated as we
cultivate Indian corn. Tt is claimed that this increases
yield materially, and helps 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.
ORANGE GROVES IN FLORIDA.
An orange that weighs a pound would sell in New^ York
for a dime. When it takes as many as six to weigh a
pound they are almost w^orthless.
Satisfactory results have been obtained in Florida by
fertilizing during the cold season. About two months
before the period of grow^th begins, apply to each full-
grown tree a mixture of 7 pounds of 14 per cent, acid or
superphosphate and 4 pounds of sulphate of potash, by
working them into the soil; after which 4 pounds of
Nitrate of (Soda may be likewise applied. The ^vorking 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,
iDut 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 predigested Nitrogen. There is a danger of
loss of Nitrogen in all other forms as they must be con-
verted into Nitrate before becoming available as food,
and during this comparatively long process much of it
may be lost by rains and leaching, since they suffer in
fact from many days of long exposure to the adverse
condition.
In the case of your particular soil, it may well be that
it is sufficiently rich in potash, and therefore, may not
Food foe Plants. 123
require a large application 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 par-
ticular 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 sea-
son, 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 tliey continue to supply available am-
monia 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
l)uds. 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.
Instructions for Using Nitrate on the Citrus in California.
Under ordinary conditions in California — for full-
grown orange trees — we advise applying Nitrate early
in March or even the middle of February, and follow the
application immediately after by disking or harrowing
in the material to the depth of five or six inches.
When it is used alone. Nitrate may be used at the rate
of two hundred (200) pounds to the acre.
It can be used more profitably at the rate of four liun-
dred (400) pounds to the acre if four hundred (4-00)
pounds of dry acid or superphosphate be used with it.
Both materials should be dry.
Four hundred pounds of Nitrate is equal iai bulk to
about four bushels.
We believe the second procedure is the more profitable
as a rule, and we have no hesitation in recommending it
124
Food for Plants.
in preference to the use of Nitrate alone. The earlier
the application, the better the results.
After plowing in the material in February, the orchard
should be cultivated every thirty (30) days until August,
preferably in the forepart of each month. The last culti-
vation is done best by a disk harrow.
Results at Highgrove.
Yields of 3 plots of equal size.
4 l-lo.xe.^ iJ lloxes 15 Boxes
Oranges Oranges Oranges
with no Fertilized Fertilized
Fertilizer, with Acid with
Phosphate Nitrate of
Alone. Soda
and Acid
Phosphate.
Formulas for full-grown citrus trees in tabular form
are as follows :
Kate per Acre
Nitrate of Soda alone 200 lbs.
or preferably
Nitrate of Soda 400 lbs.
Acid, or Super Phosphate 400 lbs.
These formulas it is believed will also be found very
satisfactory for both full-grown lemon trees and full-
grown grapefruit.
Food for Plants.
123
How It Was Done at Corona, California.
The rows were trenched eight inches deep, just out-
side the drip of the trees and the fertilizers spread in the
trench opposite the whole width of each tree. This was
done on tw^o sides of each row in the same direction, then
covered by the plow\ This, the only plowing, w^as done on
March 7, 1918. The application of fertilizers in trenches
is found to give the best results in the orange groves of
this section.
Six after-cultivations to a depth of five or six inches
were given. These six cultivations were made during the
Results at Corona.
32.2 Boxes Oransjes.
Yield of 1/10 acre
fertilized with Acid
Phosphate alone.
41.1 Boxes Oranges.
Yield of 1/10 acre
fertilized with Ni-
trate of Soda and
Acid Phosi^hate.
forepart of each of the months of March, April, May,
June, July and August. The March cultivation consisted
of a thorough disking. The other five cultivations were
made with the ordinary orchard cultivator.
The above trench fertilizing was done parallel with
irrigation furrows up one side and down the other, noth-
126 Food for Plants.
iiig Ix'iiii;' applied on llic other two sides. This has given
g-ood results and the al)ove method is recommended to
California citrus i'ruit growers.
Citrus Growing- in California.
A five-sixteenths of an acre ])lot of orange trees at
Corona fertilized with Nitrate of !Soda and acid phos-
phate at the rate of 320 pounds of each per acre yielded
at the rate of 411 boxes of high quality fruit. A plot
alongside fertilized without Nitrate gave a rate of yield
of only 322 boxes per acre of inferior fruit. This differ-
ence of yield of 89 boxes per acre due to the use of Nitrate
shoivs an increase in value of produce equivalent to
$324.85. Each 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda used in this
case added a rate of profit to the grower's income of
$101.52 per acre.
The best source of Nitrogen for citrus fruits is Nitrate
of Soda, because of its instant availability. Growth is
promoted at once after application is made. It is taking
chances to apply any nitrogenous fertilizer not imme-
diately available because of the tendency to pro-
long growth unduly and to delay maturity; and it is fatal
to apply high grade fertilizers too late. In California
on alkaline soils or soils having alkaline tendencies the
application of Nitrate of Soda witli an eciual quantity of
acid phosphate or super phosphate tends to diminish
black alkali present.
The Rational Use of Chilean Nitrate in California.
The use of Chilean Nitrate is increasing year by year
in England, and it is coming to be more and more appre-
ciated there, as well as on the continent of Europe.
In fact, everywhere in the world where there is pro-
gressive and enlightened experiment work, the unique
(lualities 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
Food for Plants. 127
Chilean Nitrate per acre as would result in any abnormal
accumulation of alkali. Moreover, the use of acid phos-
phates, associated as they are commercially with sul-
phate of lime, converts any black alkali residue into
harmless forms of soda. 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.
The use of potash salts tends to leave acid residuals,
and when phosphates and potashes are used rationally,
and in quantities suitable for normal plant feeding, the
question of Chilean Nitrate leaving abnormal amounts
of alkali residues becomes a purely fanciful one, and is
not worthy of the serious attention of a practical busi-
ness horticulturist or farmer.
In all our literature, the rational and not the irra-
tional use of fertilizers is recommended, i. e., normal
amounts of the three elements of fertility. The use of
Chilean Nitrate alone is not recommended except at the
rate of 100 or 200 pounds per acre, which is a trifling ton-
nage application; and we always ad\nse when larger
amounts are used, that the horticulturist or fanner use
as much in quantity of acid phosphate.
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 in this particular connection,
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 com-
position 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 hun-
128 Food fok Plants.
dred pounds per acre, this relatively small amount could
liave no material influence whatever in increasing the
alkali content of soils. The continued use of Nitrate
under rational methods of fertilizing, would not add
to, but rather diminish the quantity of alkali in the
soil. The associated gypsum and acid phosphate thus
used would tend to loosen heavy clay soils which need
improvement in texture and the acid residues from these
materials would likewise benefit alkaline soils.
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
hi-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. AVlien 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 productivity 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, hence the application of
Chilean Nitrate should give profitable 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
X)er acre, nearly doubled in size and beauty in ahnost
every instance. The above-named fertilizers have more
than doubled the ])ro(lu('t of my soil at a very small out-
lay per acre.
Food for Plants. 129
A\1iere 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.
WINTER SPRAYING WITH SOLUTIONS OF NITRATE OF
SODA.
By W. S. Ballard, Pathologist, Fruit-Disease Investigations, Bureau
of Plant Industry, and W. H. Volck, County Horticultural Com-
missioner of Santa Cruz County, California.
These investigations were conducted in co-operation between the Office of
Pruit-Disease Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry and the office
of the County Horticultural Commissioner of Santa Cruz County, located at
Watsonville, Cal.
Introduction.
Recently several investigators have reported results
in shortening the rest period of a number of woody
plants by immersing the dormant shoots in weak nutri-
ent solutions or by injecting solutions of alcohol, ether,
and various acids into the twigs. These experiments
have been conducted in the laboratory with short cut-
tings of the plants. The effect of such treatment 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 physi-
ologic action of such spraying, but because of its prac-
tical value these preliminary results seem deserving of
attention at this time.
5
]:]() Food I'or. Plants.
Experiments in 1912.
Ill the course of llic iuvostig-atioiis o!' tlic wi-itcrs on
the control of apple i)o\vclery mildew in the Pajaro \'al-
ley, Cal., it became evident that the general vigor of the
tree and the thriftiness of the foliage growth had mnch
to do with the success of the summer spraying treatment
for the control of the mildew, and after a number of
exi)eriments in applying plant-food materials to the
foliage in the form of summer si)rays, and after seeing
that certain crude-oil emulsions used as dormant sprays
had a marked effect in stinudating 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 (potasli lye) was
also added for the purpose of giving the si)ray an insec-
ticide value. The mixture was prepared according to
the following formula:
Nitrate of Soda 50 pounds
Caustic Potasli " pounds
^Y.:ite,- 50 gallons
The experiment was conducted in a Yellow Bellfiower
apple orchard owned by Mr. 0. U. Stoesser, of Watson-
ville, 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 Bellfiower apples of
this particular district that they bloom abundantly, but
set only a partial crop. The .trees are on a deep sedi-
mentary 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 gal-
lons of spray solution were applied to each tree. Adjoin-
ing this row on one side was a check row of seven trees
wiiich received no winter spraying, and on the other side
were several rows of seven trees each which received
various a])i)lications of crude-oil emulsions and soaps.
For tlic purpose of gaining some idea of the etfect of
Food for Plants. 131
Nitrate of Soda used as a fertilizer, 50 iJouiids were ap-
plied as a surface dressing to one vigorous tree selected
from the row adjoining the Xitrate-sprayed row. This
fertilizer was later plowed in and washed down h\ the
rains.
Effects on Blossoming- and on the Fohage.
Notes taken at the time the trees were coming out in
the spring show the following results:
April 7, 1912. Trees in the row sprayed with Nitrate of Soda and
lye are well in bloom, while those in tlie check row adjoining and in the
remainder of the unsprayed orchard are showing only an occasional
flower fnlly 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 Belhlower variety of
apples in the Pajaro A^alley that the foliage buds corny
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. AVhile 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 (PI. 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
* For [ihirf's sec oriiiiiuil article.
132 Food for Pi.ants.
figure 2 shows one from a ciiock 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 on 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
effect on foliage growth became more pronounced, and
the sprayed trees assumed a more vigorous, green ap-
pearance 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 powder^' 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
w^inter spraying but which was properly protected b}'
summer sprayings, produced 8 loose boxes of fruit at
picking time. On the other hand, the adjoining row,
sprayed in Febniary 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 ciTide-oil emulsions and soap
sprays, produced crops varying from 5 to 9 boxes
Food eor Plants. 133
per plat. The single tree wliicli received the 50 pound&
of Nitnite 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 he 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
no noticeable effect from the heavy fertilizing. The
orchard is not irrigated, and the rainfall has been
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 draAving any general
conclusions as to the applicability of Avinter Nitrate
spraying, but the striking results obtained opened a
wide field of inquirj". 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,
IT)! Koon |-{)i; I'l.AXts.
sucli as liiiu' Xilratc, lime (*\aiiaiin(l, and sulphatr of
aiiinioiiia, ix'wv similar i-csultsl' Kollowino' along this
lim' it would lie iuti'icst iiii;- lo know what ciTect, if any,
the otiuT t'ci-lilizci- (dements, jtotash and phosphorfic
acid, mi.uld lia\-e wiieii applied as sprays, and finally,
what ri'sults mii»ht l)e ohtainetl i'lom a similar applica-
tion of othei' snlistances not ordinarily considercMl as
liaxiui;- aii\' particular fertilizer value.
Exi)eriments intended to answer these and a num-
ber of other more or less im])ortant questions were
stinted in Fehi-naiy, li)l.'), in the same orchard in which
the ])revions 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-
duction. Data were obtained, however, on the effect
of the various sprays on the blossoming of the trees
in the spring, and tlie notes taken may lie summarized
as follows :
The plats sprayed with Nitrate of Soda at the rate
of 1 pound to the gallon came into l)loom 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
l)ro])ortion of 16 ])ounds of caustic soda in 100 gallons
of s])i-ay solution increased the action of the Nitrate
of Soda in l)ringing 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 addition of lye, was
not nearly so effective as a solution, of 1 ])ound to the
gallon. A solution of one-fourth of a pound to the gal-
lon, with lye added, had practically no effect. Nitrate of
Soda, at the rate of 1 pound to the gallon, to whicli
oxalic acid was added in the proportion of 50 ])ounds
to 125 gallons of solution, produced results similar to
Nitrate of Soda plus lye, so far as the effect of hastening
the blooming period is concerned. Lime Nitrate, 130
Food fok Plants. IS.")
pounds ill 100 i>alloiis of water, and lime cyaiiaiiiid, 92
pounds in 100 gallons of water, stimulated an earlier
blooming- of the trees, and subsequent experiments will
probably put these substances in a class with Nitrate
of Soda. Normal Yellow Belltiower 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
etfects from sulphate of ammonia 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 superphos-
phate 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 apply
simply to the effects of the various sprays in causing
an earlier lilooming of the trees, but since this early
blooming was a striking characteristic of the Nitrate-
sprayed trees of 1912, which showed a fourfold increase
in production, it seems permissible to conclude that this
etf'eet 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 blossoming 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 blos-
soms 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.
1 .■'>() Food koi; Pl.ANTS.
Thus, it appears that this effect of the Nitrate of Soda
liad continued over to the second year.
Al ])r(\sent, all things considered, Hie Ix'st results
li.-nc been obtained by using a mixture made up as fol-
lows :
Nitrate ol" Soda 20<) i)ouncls
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 w^as added gradually. Any
large Imnps 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 veiy thoroughly sprayed on all
sides, so that all of the small twigs were drenched. The
best results so far obtained have come from the spray-
ing applied about the 1st of Februar>\ Of course,
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 Nitrate
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 re-
sult 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 nor-
mal, produced no increased crop, and showed no
Food for Plants. 137
improvement in general vigor and appearance ; whereas,
none of the trees in the sprayed plat failed to respond
in all of these particulars. Of course, this single tree
test in the application of Nitrate to the soil is too small
an experiment to permit concluding x^ositively that the
effects that we have reported from the spraying experi-
ments 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 tliere 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 AVatsonville, 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 emphasizes
the difference between the results from spraying and the
ordinary results from the application of fertilizer.
Caustic-soda solution alone applied as a 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 Yel-
low Bellflower apples was sprayed with Nitrate 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 win-
ter Nitrate sprayings had a better appearance than in
years past, due apparently to the effect of the Nitrate.
i:',S Food kop. Plants.
( )ii(' orcli.-ird, llial of MncDohald cV; Sons, is located in a
district that practically escaped frost tlaniaiic, and the
results obtained indicated a niai-ked crop increase in
conse(|iience of the s])ra\in,u. The entire orchard, wit'i
the exce])tioii of a few trees, was si)rayed with various
combinations of Nitrate of Soda and lye, and, while no
exact data on the production of the unspraycd trees as
compared with the rest of the orchard was obtained, the
amount of fi'uit on the trees indicated that the spraying
had i)roduce(l a marked increase. This conclusion was
more reliably substantiated by comparing- the total
orchard production this year with that of previous years.
Sweet Cherries.
Mr. A. W. Taite, of Watsonville, sprayed portions
of two blocks of Napoleon (Eoyal Ann) cherries with
Nitrate of Soda, 1 pound to the gallon, to which caustic
soda was added at the rate of 25 i)ounds 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
bloom, in both cases there was an increase in the
foliage growth and a consequent improvement in the
a])pearance 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.
Kor our ol)servation 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.
&: (J. H. Anderson Fruit Co. The spraying was done
about tile 1st of February and the following notes are
taken largely from Mr. Reed's observations:
Ci,AiR(ir.Ai-. — Four rows of al)cut -10 trees eacli were sprnyed willi
comiiien'ial liiiie-snlpluir {3:V f Baiinie) diluted 1 to 9. Adjoiuiiifr tliese
were four rows si)ray('d witli liiiie-suli)liur solution diluted 1 to 9 and
to which was added Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 1 pound to the gal-
lon of the diluted spray. The rows sprayed with the eonihined solution
OOI) l'"()|
1' I, ANTS. 1:19
of Nitrate ui Soda and 1iiuc'-!su1i)Iilu- canu' into bloom about a week
ahead of those that received the linie-sulphiu- sohation ak)nc. The
development of the fmit on these Nitrate-lime-sulphur solution rows
continued to show an advancement of al)out a week throughout half
the g-rowing season, and at picking time the fruit was greener and hung
on l)etter 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
ot! during the latter part of the growing season. This difticulty, how-
ever, 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 ])Ound 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 misunderstanding 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 Comice is a relatively shy bearer, and a valuable pear
conn'nercially, 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 expei'iments of the writers.
Glout Morceau. — A block of Glout Morceau i)ears was sprayed
with the combination of lime-sul])hur solution, diluted 1 to 9, ])lus
Nitrate of Soda 1 i)ound 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 l)e due to the Nitrate
spraying.
WiXTER 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 i^ercentage of the fruit after it had set. How-
ever, at that time the trees w^re carrying the largest crop they had ever
produced, and again it would a])i)ear that the Nitrate spraying had had
a beneficial effect. The trees came into bloom about 10 days ali'nd of
nornuil o])ening ])eriod.
Discussion on Results and Summary.
It is not the writers' iiileutioii to eoiivey the im-
pression that dormant s]ii'a\in,ii,' with Nitrate solntions
will solve the ])rol)lem of shy hearing- of fruit trees nor
140 F()(ii» I'oi; Plants,
offer a iiiorc advisable metliod 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 ai)ples and pears that are more or less
self-sterile may have their crop production materially
increased by dormant sprajdng 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. Xo 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-
pared with that of this year furnishes a basis for con-
clusions that are at least corroborative.
That Nitrate spraying of dormant trees will bring
about an earlier blooming of certain varieties of fruit
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. Eesults 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 thai
might result from forcing trees into bloom earlier than
normal would have to be taken into consideration in
making practical use of Nitrate si)raying in winter.
Food foii L'j.ants. 141
Aside from the effect on crop production, tliere
has also been a very noticeable improvement in the
color, abundance, and vigor of the foliag'e, and it seems
possible that Nitrate spraying of dormant trees may
be a valnal)le 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 groAvth. 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 spray-
ing with a solution of Nitrate of Soda may continue
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-
tion of caustic soda materially increases this action.
Plant Food Withdrawn by Crops.
The New York, the New Jersey, and the Connecticut
Experiment Stations agree that the relative percentages
of plant food withdrawn from the soil by barley, buck-
wheat, corn, oats, rye, and wheat are as follows :
Barley . . . .
Buckwheat
Corn
Oats
Rye
Wheat . . . .
Phosphoric
Acid
per cent.
Nitrogen
per cent.
Potash
per cent
20.0
44.6
.35.4
.3.3.. S
52.5
14.2
17.7
.37.5
44.8
15.9
40.5
43.6
21.3
42.0
36.7
21.0
51.9
27.1
The avcra.iit' rclalivc pci-cciiln.iACs of pliosplioiic ;i('i 1>*'"' <-«-'iit.
Xitroii-en ^^■'^ I'l'i" fe'it-
Polnsh '-^'-^ ■ <> I'd' <'''iit-
Translated into ("oiiim«Tcial Fertilizer terms, the eoni-
paiMson is as follows:
Whiit tlic
What Avcram'
Nature Brand
Requires Supplies
Pliosphorir Acia 2-15 8.00
Xitroacn 4. 48 2.00
Potash 3.:5(i 2.(10
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION AS TO RELATION OF
PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS TO NITRATE OF SODA
PRICES.
From the farmer's point of view, when a reduction in
the price of cotton and produce happens, it is to he
deplored, hut in such a case it should be considered
whether abstention from the use of Nitrate is a wise way
of meeting- the situation. The utility of a fertilizer obvi-
ously depends upon its productivity, which is not affected
by its price, and an increase in the latter justifies aban-
donnu^nt of the fertilizer only when its pro(hictivity ceuses
to l)e profitable. The profit to be reasonal)ly expected
from the use of Nitrate of Soda is not so materially
interfered with by any ordinary rise in its price as to
economically justify any substantial reduction in its con-
sumption.
Agricultural authorities have estab-
What Nitrate lished by careful experimentation that
Has Done 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda when
for Crops. apjjlied to the following crops has pro-
duced under proper conditions iiirrcfiscd
yields as tabulated:
Food i'oe Plants.
143
Api)les 50-75 UuslicLs.
Ai)r:cots 96 lbs.
Asparajius 100 bunches.
Bananas 1,1()7 lbs.
Barley 400 lbs. of -rain.
Beans ( wiiitc ) 225 ll)s.
Beets 4,f)0O lbs. tubers.
Cabbao:es (j,100 lbs.
Carrots 7,800 lbs.
Castor Beans 5() li)s.
Celery 30 per cent.
Corn 280 lbs. of gTain.
Cotton 500 lbs. seed c )tton.
Ensilaii-e Corn 1.18 tons.
Grape Fruit 29 boxes.
Hay, upwards of 1,(M)0 lbs. barn cured.
Hops 100 lbs.
^laiisels 123.7 bushels.
Oats 400 lbs. of orain.
Onions 1,800 lbs.
Orano-es 22 boxes.
Peaches (dried ) 56 lbs.
Pecans 37 lbs.
Potatoes 3,600 lbs. tubers.
Prunes 975 lbs. ( dried ) .
Raisin Grapes 347 lbs.
Rye 300 lbs. frrain.
Strawberries 200 quarts.
Su2-ar Beets 1,330 lbs.
Sugar Cane 2 . 40 tons of cane
(Tropics).
1.17 tons of cane
(Louisiana).
Sugar (from Suuar Cane) 322 lbs. (Tropics).
224 lbs. (Lou: si an;;).
Sugar Mangels 1.6 tons.
Sweet Potatoes 3,900 lbs. tubers.
Tobacco 75 ll)s.
Tomatoes 100 baskets.
1'ni'"ips 37 ])er cent.
Wa'mds 106 lbs.
The increased yields of crops result-
Increased ing- from a top-dressiiio- with Nitrate of
Yield by the • Scda are most striking. In an article
Use of recently published by Dr. E. J. Russell,
Nitrate of Director of the Rothamsted Rxperi-
Sodp. mental Station, the followin«' fioures
are given. On an ordinary farm where
the land, while in fairly good heart, has not been over
144
|M)01) Foi;
I.ANTS.
\\c\\ (lone, a fanner may reas()iial)ly expect the following
increases from a top-dressing of 1 ewt. of Xitrate of
Soda :
Wheat, ^rain
Wheat, straw
I>arley, grain
Barley, straw
Oats, strain .
Oats, straw .
Hay
^fanerolds . . .
Swedes
Potatoes ....
Per 1 cwt. nitrate
of soda.
41/2 bushels
5 cwt
6V2 bushels
61A cwt
7 bushels
() cwt
S to 10 ewt
32 cwt
20 cwt
20 c^vt
Per 1 cwt. superphos-
phate or high grade
basic slag.
to 114 bushels.
V2 to 5 cwt.
2 to 3 bushels.
to 2 cwt.
1 to 31/, bushels.
to 2 cwt.
20 cwt.
20 to 40 cwt.
10 cwt.
For piir]K)ses of comparison the etTeet of phosphates
is shoAm also.
Official Abstract of a Paper read h}i Professor E. B. Voorhees before
The International Congress of Applied Chemistry held in London,
June, 1909.
INVESTIGATIONS RELATIVE TO THE USE OF
NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER MATERIALS, 1898-
1907.
By Edward B. Voorhees, Sc. I). (Director) and Jacob G. Lipmax,
Ph. D.- {Soil Chemist and Bacteriologist), Agricultural Experim,ent
Station, New Jersey, U. S. A.
Ten years ago denitrification was believed to possess
an economic significance. A considerable number of
agricultural chemists thought that the destruction of
nitrate by denitrifying bacteria involved losses of nitro-
gen in all cases where nitrates and animal manures were
used together. The experiments recorded here were
planned, primarily, to determine whether such losses of
nitrogen really occur in field practice. The data collected
in the course of ten years su])ply some definite informa-
tion in tliis connection; and furnish, moreover, much
iinportant information bearing on other ])hases of the
nitrogen question.
Food fou I^lants. 145
The experiments have been carried on in large galvan-
ized iron cylinders 4 feet long, 23.5 inches in diameter,
and open at both ends. The cylinders were sunk in the
ground until only about 2 inches of the upper portion
projected above the level of the surrounding soil. Uni-
form amounts of gravelly subsoil were placed in the
cylinders and firmly tramped down. Weighed quantities
of surface soil were then placed in the cylinders. In
order to enhance the accuracy of the data collected, each
treatment was carried out in triplicate. There were
secured thus 20 series, each consisting of three small
plats. Series 1 has received no applications whatsoever;
series 2, applications of acid phosphate and potassium
chloride repeated annually; and the remaining series
various nitrogenous materials in addition to the acid
phosphate and potassium chloride. Also the nitrogenous
materials have since been applied annually. The follow-
ing diagram shows the treatment for each series:
Diagram of Experiment
Series A B C
1. Check
2. Minerals
3. Manure, solid, f resli
4. Manure, sold and liquid, fresh
5. Manure, solid, leached
6. Manure, solid and liquid, leaohcd (I
7. Sodium Nitrate, 5 gms
8. Sodium Nitrate, 10 gms
9. Manure, solid, fresh; nitrate, 5 gms
10. Manure, solid, fresh ; nitrate, 10 gms
11. Manure, solid and liquid, fresh; nitrate, 5 gms. ...
12. Manure, solid and liquid, fresh; nitrate, 10 gms... (I
13. Manure, solid, leached; nitrate, 5 g-ms (•
14. Manure, solid, leached; nitrate, 10 gms
15. Manure, solid and liquid, leached; nitrate, 5 gms.. d
16. Manure, solid and liquid, leached; nitrate, 10 gms.
17. Ammonium sulphate
18. Dried blood
19. Manure, solid, leached; ammonium sulphate
20. Manure, solid, leached ; dried hlood
The nitrate was a])])liod at the rate of 160 pounds and
320 pounds per acre, respectively. The ammonium sul
phate and dried blood were applied in amounts equivalent
1-1(1 |''(((»1« Kdi; l^LANIS.
to llu" lar.ucr npiilicnlioii of nit rate TIk' dilTcrciil man-
ures woro applii'd in auioiiiits siifficit'iit to ruriiish about
4 g-iiis. of uitroii'i'U i)t'r cylinder. Calculated on the acre
l)asis the manures were applied at the rate of ahout 10
tons.
The cro])s wei'e i>,ro\vn in re.nular rotation, and con-
sisted of the followino-: Corn, oats, wheat and timotliv'.
The oats crops were foUowed in each case hy a so-called
residual crop whose function it was to take up such
available nitrogen compounds as were not utilized by thi'
main crops.
Analyses were made of all of the main croi)s and resid-
ual crops. In the ease of the wheat, the grain and the
straw were analyzed separately. In the case of the timo-
thy, the first cutting and aftermath were analyzed sepa-
rately. The analytical material for the ten years included,
therefore, more than a thousand crop samples. Records
were made of the yields of dry matter, of the propor-
tions of nitrogen in the dry matter of each crop, of the
total nitrogen in each crop, of the proportion of manure
and fertilizer nitrogen recovered, and of the relative
availability of the several nitrogenous materials em-
ployed. In addition to these careful analyses were made
of the soil samples drawn from the several cylinders at
the end of each rotation.
The results secured may be briefly sunnnarized as fol-
lows :
1. There was a marked falling off in the yiehls between
the first and second rotation, especially in the soils which
had received no applications of animal manure.
2. The nitrogen compounds in liquid manure were
much superior to those in solid manure as a source of
nitrogen to crops.
?). Larger applications of nitrogen were invariably
followed ]>y larger yields of this constituent in the crops.
4. Nitrate, ammonium sulphate and dried blood, when
ap])lied in ecjuivalent amounts, were found to possess an
unecfual value. Nitrate was superior to annnonium sul-
Food foh Pt ants. 147
piiato, and the latter was superior to dried blood as a
source of nitrogen to crops.
5. In the presence of nitrate, the manure and humus
iiitrouen were utilized more thoroughly than in its
absence.
6. Under certain conditions, nitrates or other readily
available nitrogen compounds, may hasten the depletion
of the soil nitrogen.
7. Ammonium sulphate and dried l)lood intensified the
development of acidity in the cylinder soils.
8. The proportion of nitrogen in the crops was readily
affccted by the nitrogen treatment. It was also affected
by the character of the crop itself.
' 9. In the first rotation, the fresh manures produced
dry matter relatively somewhat richer in nitrogen than
that produced by the leached manures ; in the second rota-
tion this relation was reversed.
10. The solid and liquid manure, fresh, produced dry
matter relatively somewhat richer in nitrogen than that
produced by the solid, fresh.
11. The smaller application of nitrate, when used
together with manure, produced dry matter relatively
poorer in nitrogen than that produced by the larger
application of nitrate under the same conditions.
12. The wide range in the proportionate content of
nitrogen in the crops, shows clearly that greater care
should be exercised in measuring out the nitrogen to our
cultivated crops.
13. Out of every 100 pounds of nitrogen applied in the
form of nitrate, there were recovered in the first rotation
62.76 pounds, and in the second rotation 61.42 pounds.
The corresponding returns for ammonium sulphate were
49.51 pounds and 37.01 pounds respectively; and for the
dried blood 47.89 pounds and 32.05 pounds respectively.
This indicated that the acidity in the soils of series 17
and 18 had increased sufficiently to interfere with the
normal growth of the plants.
14. Out of every 100 pounds of nitrogen ap])lie(l in the
form of animal manures, there were recovered in the
14S Food Koii 1^1. ANTS.
lii'st I'olnt i(»ii less tlmii '2') poniKls, and in the second rota-
tion loss tlian .'^0 pounds.
15. A (•onii)ai"ison of the ci-op yields in the lirst and
second rotation, shows that the animal manures have a
mai"kc paper.
In order that the work might be under more perfect
control, it was carried out in galvanized iron cylinders,
open at both ends and ha^dng a diameter of 2314 inches
and a depth of -1 feet. These cylinders were set on the
ground so that about 2 inches remained above the ground
level. Thus the contents of the cylinders are isolated so
that the roots of the crops growing in them are prevented
from getting mineral plant-food from outside sources.
The sub-soil is a gravelly sandy material such as occurs
where the cylinders are located, but the top soil is a
loam (Penn loam) Inought from another source, an
8-inch layer of which was placed in each cylinder on top
of the subsoil, each cylinder receix'ing the same weight
of the thoroughlv mixed soil.
^7)'2 Food Koii Plants.
W'lu'ii tlic work was bcniiii all the soils were given a
libi'ral Ircaliiit'iil ol' linic in the form of ground lime-
stone and with the exception of one series wliich does
not enter into this discussion, all have received annual
dressings of acid phosi)hate and potassium chloride at
the rate of 640 jjounds and 320 ])oun(ls per acre, respec-
li\('ly. Thns nitrogen is made the limiting factor inso-
far as liuman control can provide. Various combina-
tions of manure and fertilizer were arranged, but it is
suflicient to I'eport here only on the four nitrogenous
materials mentioned in the title.
One series received the phosphoric acid and potash,
but no nitrogen, in order that it might be used as a
check. Thus if a certain amount of nitrogen is recovered
in the crop from the nitrogen-treated cylinder, and it is
desired to calculate the percentage of the applied nitro-
gen that was recovered, it is necessary first to deduct
from the total amount of nitrogen recovered in the crop,
the amount recovered from the check cylinder, and thus
account for the soil nitrogen that the crop used.
It is at once obvious that this cannot be an absolutely
correct method of determining the percentage recovered,
since in those c^dinders to which nitrogenous fertilizers
have been applied, the plant will make a quicker start
and the roots go farther in search of the nitrogenous
materials of the soil than in the check cylinders where
there is a pronounced deficiency of available nitrogen,
and thus the check fails to be a true check. In this way
it happens that the recovery may apparently be more
than 100 per cent, as shown in Series 8B, for the years
11K)1 anfl 1910. However, there appears to be no waj' of
overcoming this error so long as the w^ork is carried out
in the natural soil and if one starts with an artificial
soil, other and more serious difficulties arise.
In this work no effoi't has been made to analyze the
roots, since it would be w^ell-nigh impossible to do this
correcth', and even if it could be done the same error
would be introduced. The roots and stubble are left
just as under field conditions so that the residual elTects
of these mav l)e observed.
Food for Plants. 153
To draw conclusions from 1 to 2 years of siicli work
would be manifestly unfair, but when it is carried on
for a period of 10 or 20 years, seasonal differences, dif-
ferences due to the unequal decomposition of organic
matter and differences due to slight errors, which are
sure to creep in now and then, are largely smoothed out
and results are obtained which can be accepted with a
fair degree of confidence. The contidence in such result
is strengthened when it is found that they check with
similar work conducted in other places or even in other
countries.
The work was started in these cylinders in the spring
of 1898 with corn as the first crop in the rotation. Four
5-year rotations have been carried out as follows:
First Rotation Third Uotatirm
1898 Com 1908 Corn
1899 Oats (millet) 1909 Oats (corn)
1900 Oats (corn) 1910 Oats (corn)
1901 Wheat 1911 Rye and oats
1902 Timothy 1912 Timothy
(two cuttinos) (two cuttings)
SpcoiuI Rotatiou Fourth Rotatidii
1903 Corn 1913 Corn
1904 Oats (corn) 1914 Oats (corn)
1905 Oats (corn) 1915 Oats (corn)
1906 Wheat 1916 Wheat
1907 Timothy 1917 Timothy
(two cuttings) (two cuttings)
The corn following the oats is grown as a residual
crop (without further addition of fertilizers) to utilize
any nitrogen which the oat crop may have failed to get.
All com is planted thick and harvested as forage rather
than as mature corn. Oats are harvested as oat-hay
just before maturity, and wheat is harvested at maturity
and saved as grain and straw.
Nitrogenous materials are applied for each main croii
in the rotation as follows :
Cylinder 4B, farm manure, at the rate of 16 tons per acre.
Cylinder 8 B. nitrate of soda, at the rate of 320 pounds per aei;e.
Cylinder 17B, ammonium sulfate, equivalent to 320 pounds of nitrate
of soda per acre. p •. . n
Cylinder 18B, dried blood, equivalent to 320 pounds of nitrate ot
soda per acre.
ir)4 Food I'oK Plants.
'rims ;i (•.•ncrii! iTcoi'd is kcpl ot" llic ;iiiioiiiit of iiiti'o-
li'CMi ;ii)i)lic(l v;\v\] yciw and of the yield of di-y iiiallci'
from I'.Mcli (.'vliiidi'i'. Fi'oni dctenuiiiatioiis of llic ainoiint
ol' nil i-o.ii('ii ill the dry mallei- the lolal amouiil of iiiti'o-
yeii remoN'ed by the ei'op each year is easily eak'iilate(l.
Yield of Dry Matter.
The yield of dry matter under the four different treat-
ments for the 20 years is" shown in table 1, averages l)e-
ini>' ii,iven for two 10-year periods and also for the entire
20 years. For each 10-year ])erio(l the yield has been
lari>est with the manure, thoui-h it is less for the second
10-year pei'iod than for the first, which would indicate
that with manure at the rate of Ki tons jx'r acre tlie
fertility of the soil is not bein^' fully maintained. The
lowest \ield is from 18B where dried blood is used as
the source of nitrooen. Here again the average yield is
less for the second 10-year period than for the first. For
plots 8B and 17B, which receive nitrate of soda and
ammonium sulfate, respectively, the average yields for
the first 10 years are essentially the same for the two
treatments, but for the second 10 years the average for
the nitrate of soda treatment is consideral)ly above that
for the annnonium sulfate; furthermore, the average
yield with ammonium sulfate is, like the yield with dried
blood and farm manure, less for the second than for the
first 10-year period. With the nitrate of soda, however,
tlie figures are reversed, that is the average yield for
the second 10 years is somewhat af)ove that for the tirst
10 years.
The ((uestion may well be raised as to why the average
yields on 4B, 17B and 18B should be less for the second
10-year period than for the first, while the yield on SB
has been well maintained for the 20 years. Since phos-
phoric acid and i)otash have been supplied each year in
liberal amounts, and lime has been used at stated inter-
vals, it would seem clear that the falling off in yield
must be due to a deficiency of available nitrogen, not-
witiislandini'' the fad lliat cvlinders 17B and 18B receive
Food for Plants
155
each year just as mucli iiitroo-eii as 8B, while 4B receives
more than two and one-half times as much as 8B.
Data presented heretofore, and which are confirmed
by results hereafter to be presented, show that of the
four materials, nitrate of soda is most effective in crop
production, that is, the crop is able to utilize or win
back a larger percentage of nitrogen in this form than
in any of the other forms. With a given amomit of
nitrogen, therefore, the crop yield can be better main-
tained over a period of years l)y the use of nitrogen in
the form of nitrate of soda than in the other forms, pro-
vided the soil is one that does not allow rapid leaching.
TABLE 1
Yield of dry matter with different nitrogenous materials
First
10-YE.\R Period
Second 10-ye.\r Period
Year
*
O
4B
SB
17B
18B
Year
*
c
c
d
4B
8B
17B
18B
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
gm.
291.1
146.6
238.1
126.0
86.2
160.3
118.7
125 . 7
98.3
107 . 3
gm.
467.1
354 . 1
387 . 2
342.2
147.8
315
262.0
262.0
316.0
237.0
gm.
393.9
184 . 5
317.0
331.0
150.9
183.0
170.0
226.0
244.0
168.0
gm.
401.0
190.5
310.1
300.0
143.9
291.0
167.0
209.0
226.0
133.0
gm.
341. S
186.3
307.9
239.4
115 6
216.0
160.0
191.0
144.0
172.0
1908
1909
1910 . .
1911
1912
1913
1914. , . .
1915
1916 .
1917. . .
Averaget
gm.
169.0
164.0
214.0
68.0
88.0
177.2
137.0
103.7
91.4
71.1
gm.
326 .
208.0
422.0
236.0
221.0
390 . 5
285.8
231.2
250.9
229.0
gm.
331.0
244.0
338 ,
160.0
187.0
312.5
222 4
21L0
217.3
208.0
gm.
286.0
217.0
287.0
117.0
153
228 . 5
196.9
178.3
181.6
167.0
gm.
228.0
21S.0
276.0
126.0
115.0
286 . 5
198.3
147.5
112.9
139.0
Averagef. .
149.8
309.01
236.83
237.15
207.4
128.3
280.04
243.12
201.23
184.72
* Phosphoric acid, potash and lime, no nitrogen,
t First ten years.
t Second ten years.
This apparently is what has happened in this case.
With the gradual exhaustion of soil nitrogen, which was
made available by the use of lime, and the failure of the
ammonium sulfate, blood and manure to give back in
the form of crops as large a proportion of the applied
nit-rogen as the nitrate of soda, the yields with the for-
mer became gradually less.
The fact that cylinder 4B gave the largest average
yield through 20 years must not be taken as meaning
that the treatment given this cvlinder is' necessarily the
I-'fi KoOl) T'OK l^F.ANTS.
best ()!• most crt'ective. It will be remembcicd that this
cylinder receives cow mMiiin'e at the rate of 16 tons per
acre aimnally, the cost of which Mcuild be much in excess
of the cost of 320 pounds of nitrate of soda or its
('(piivalent in ammonium sulfate or dried blood, and
therefore the larger yield does not necessarily mean an
efficient u&e of the applied nitrogen. As a matter of
fact, the work shows this to be the least efficient of the
four forms.
Percentage of Nitrogen Recovered in the Crops.
Reference has already been made to the method of cal-
culating the percentage of nitrogen that is recovered in
the crop. The recoveries for the four different treat-
ments covering the 20 years are shown in table 2. The
averages for the period are as follows :
4B 32. 69 per cent, (manure)
8B 62.42 per cent. (Nitrate of Soda)
17B 47.48 per cent, (ammonium sulfate)
18B 48.69 per cent, (dried blood)
This means that of 100' pounds of nitrogen applied in
the four different forms approximately one-third, three -
fifths, one-half, and two-fifths, respectively, are recov-
ered or won back in the crop. As has already been men-
tioned, these figures agree quite closely with results
reported from European countries, and they also confirm
earlier work carried out at this Station.
But even so, they are not satisfying figures. We at
once ask why there is this enormous loss of nitrogen and
especially why the loss is so much greater with the
organic materials than with the nitrate of soda and am-
monium sulfate. If the loss is to be attributed to the
leaching out of the materials, then it would seem that
the figures should be reversed. Unquestionably, a cer-
tain amount of loss takes place in this way, but this can-
not explain the loss of over two-thirds from the manure
against a little more than one-third from nitrate.
It is well known that organic materials must undergo
certain transformations in the soil before the nitrogen
Food for Plants.
157
can become available, and it seems that during these
transformations nitrogen as ammonia, nitrate or as ele-
mental nitrogen must be lost in considerable quantities.
As bearing on this it may be pointed out that Russell
and Richards (5) have shown by laboratory experiments
with manure that in addition to the loss of ammonia by
volatilization there is still a loss amounting to 15 per
cent, or more of total nitrogen, and they have gone fur-
ther and shown that during decomposition there is an
evolution of gaseous nitrogen. This they believe com-
pletes the account of- the loss. This loss, they claim,
does not go on under wholly anaerobic or wholly aerobic
conditions but mider mixed anaerobic and aerobic con-
ditions which arise when manure is being produced.
They explain further that in the natural manure heap
nitrogen is also lost as gaseous ammonia as well as in
the form of nitrogen gas.
It is very probable that in a more limited way, similar
changes take place when organic compounds are placed
in the soil and that a part of the loss of nitrogen noted
in our experiments must be thus accounted for. It is a
well-known fact that when an organic substance like
cottonseed meal or dried blood is mixed with soil and
TABLE 2
Percentage of nitrogen recovered from different materials
FiKST 10-TEAR Period
Second 10-te.\r Period
Year
4B
8B
17B
18B
Year
4B
8B
17B
18B
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
28.15
51.48
36.18
41.78
11.48
20.20
38.91
30.10
44.94
33.85
63.75
48.45
77.55
110.26
32.06
30.84
46.19
68.77
81.81
45.10
66.06
58.27
69.47
91.91
23.64
34.38
39.26
56.05
30.80
27.47
58.18
44.58
57.25
68.71
14.32
20.97
33.68
34.01
24.78
42.48
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
Averaget
16.97
18.25
54.74
20.98
29.11
27.63
52.46
32.13
36.60
27.95
42.77
80.64
110.74
64.10
49.16
32.92
74.35
64.10
68.96
55.77
24.20
54.94
62.12
48.46
27.45
15.50
67.86
52.53
57.53
41.75
27.38
49.04
51.22
41.59
10.96
40.26
56.55
48.12
20.26
29.41
Average*
Average!
33.71
32.69
60.48
62.42
49.73
47.48
39.90
38.69
31.68
64.35
45.23
37.48
* First ten years,
t Second ten years,
j Twenty years.
LIS Food i'oi; Plants.
iiiciihalcd in llic l;il)or:ilor> for a few days, escapin^u,'
anmionia iiia\- he detcftc'd, and Iroiii this it is a natural
c-onchision tliat wIhmi hwi^v (luantities of or<>'anic mattor
are ])hveed in the soil niuh'r nalui'al conditions, some
ammonia will he lost hy volatilization, especially when
the temperature and moisture conditions are t'avoral)le.
This then, together with the evolution of gaseous nitro-
gen, would in part at least exi)lain the heavy loss of
nitrogen where manure was used at the rate of 16 tons
per acre.
A discussion of this subject would not be completed
without a brief reference to the efl'ect of cultivation on
nitrogen losses.
Shntt ' lor exani))le has shown that when the ])raii'ie
soils of Saskatchewan were left undisturbed the loss of
nitrogen was slight, but as soon as cultivation was com-
menced losses set in.
Russell (4) refers further to losses of nitrogen
as follows :
One of the Hroadbalk wheat i)h>ts receives annually 14 tons of farm-
yard manure per ac-re containing 200 pounds of Nitrogen. Only a little
drainage can he detected and there is no reason to suppose that any
considerahle leaching out of Nitrates occurs, but the loss of Nitrogen
is enormous amounting to nearly 70 i)er cent, of the added quantity.
The condition for this decomposition appears to be copious aeration,
such as is ])roduced by cultivation and the presence of large quantities
of easily decomposable organic matter. Now these are i)recisely the
conditions of intensive farming in old countries and of pioneer fanning
in new lands, and the result is that the reserves of soil and manurial
Nitrogen are everywliere being dei)leted at an appalling rate.
Russell refers to the recuperative actions that are
going on, but says: " One of the most ])ressing prob-
lems at the present time is to learn how to suppress this
gaseous decomposition and to direct the processes
wholly into the nitrate channels."
In a paper on the nitrate content of cultivated and
uncultivated soils, Blair and McLean ( 1 ), have called at-
tention to the loss of nitrogen from ciUtivated soils and
also to the low recovei'V from nitrogen ai)i)lied as
- Cited 1)V IvusscU (4).
Food for Plants. 159
organic materials. They point out that land under cul-
tivation is gradually being depleted of its store of nitro-
gen even when nitrogenous fertilizers are applied, each
year and that the average recovery of nitrogen applied
m the form of tish scrap for a period of nine years, was
only 36.36 per cent.
With the same nitrogen treatment soils allowed to run
wild just about maintained their nitrogen content, while
the carbon content of these soils was slightly increased.
The recovery of nitrogen in the four different treat-
ments for the 20 years is shown by the curves in iigure
1. A study of these curves shows' that the high points
are generally reached in either the first or second year
of oats, and in the wheat year, while the low points occur
almost invariably in the corn and timothy years. It is
not entirely clear whether this is a seasonal variation or
a crop characterisic.
It is certain, however, that the utilization of the resid-
ual nitrogen by the corn crop which follows the oats,
helps to explain the high recovery for the years when
oats are grown.
Conclusions.
In a 5-year rotation on Penn loam soil well supplied
with phosphoric acid, potash and lime, crop yields were
better maintained over a period of 20 years with nitrate
of soda at the rate of 320 pounds per acre than with an
equivalent amount of ammonium sulfate or dried blood.
For several years the latter gave results about on a par
with the nitrate, but an average of the second 10-year
period shows a considerable falling off with these materi-
als as compared with the nitrate. This is no doubt due
in part to the fact that the nitrate, being immediately
available, gives the i)lant an early start which tends to
keep it in the lead and to the further fact that in the trans-
formation of the ammonium salt and the organic material
into nitrates, there is a considerable loss of nitrogen, pos-
sibly as ammonia gas or gaseous nitrogen or both. The
IGO Food for Plants.
loss cannot all be attrilmted to a leaching out of the
materials, even though the nitrification of ammonia and
organic residues may go on throughout a large portion
of the year.
In the above-mentioned rotation cow manure at the
rate of 16 tons per acre gave somewhat larger yields
than nitrate of soda, but the increased yields were not
sufficient to justify the increase in the cost of nitrogen.
Furthermore, tlie average yield with the manure was
less for the second 10-year period than for the first,
while the reverse is true with the nitrate of soda. Thus
it is shown that with 16 tons of manure per acre annu-
ally, the crop yield is not being maintained, \vhile with
nitrate of soda at the rate of 320 pounds per acre annu-
ally it is increasing slightly, as show^n by the average
for the second 10-year period.
The percentage of nitrogen recovered in the crop was
greater with the nitrate than with any of the other
materials, the 20-year average being as follows:
Per cent.
Nitrate of Soda 62.42
Ammonium sulfate 47 .48
Dried blood 38.69
Cow manure 32 . 69
The average recovery with nitrate for the second 10-
year period was 64.35 per cent, as against 60.48 per cent
for the first lO^year period, whereas the average re-
covery with the ammonium sulfate, dried blood and
manure w^is all less for the second 10-year period than
for the first.
This is in agreement with the crop fields, and indi-
cates a diminishing efficiency for the ammonium sulfate,
blood and manure, and a gradual increase in efficiency
for the nitrate of soda.
The work show^s that wiien properly used nitrate of
soda alone as a source of nitrogen may be depended
upon to maintain crop yields over a long period, and
that a given amount of nitrogen in this form is more
effective than an equivalent amount in the form of am-
monium sulfate, or organic materials.
Food for Plants. 161
Its ctfect is to produce larft-er crops per unit of nitro-
gen, and these crops, in turn, leave behind in the soil
larger crop residues, and with carbonate of lime to aid
in their decomposition these furnish a sufficient supply
of organic matter to keep the soil in good physical
condition.
REFERENCES
(1) Blair, A. W., and McLean, H. C 1917 Total nitrogen and
carbon in cultivated land and land abandoned to grass and
weeds. In Soil Sci., v. 4, no. 4, p. 283-294.
(2) Coleman, D. A. 1917 Tlie influence of sodium nitrate upon
transformations in soils with special reference to its avail-
ability and that of other nitrogenous manures. In Soil Sci,
V. 4, no. 5, p. 345-432.
(3) LiPMAN, J. G., and Blair, A. W. 1916 Investigations relative
to the use of nitrogenous plant foods : 1898-1912. N. J.
Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 288.
(4) Russell, E. J. 1915 Soil Conditions and Plant Growth, new
ed., p. 83, Longmans, Green and Co., New York.
(5) Russell, E. J., and Richards, E. H. 1917 The changes taking
place during the storage of farmyard manure. In Jour. Agr.
Sci., V 8, p. 495-563.
Cost of Transportation of Fertilizers.
A striking illustration of the difference in the cost of
transportation by four different ways is given below:
To transport a ton by
Horse power, 5 miles;
Electric power, 25 miles;
Steam ears, 250 miles;
Steamships on the lakes, 1,000' miles;
costs the same amount in each case and the same amount of money will
haul a ton
5 miles on a common road,
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 1,0'00 miles on a steamship
162 Food for Plants.
lino oil 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 reimiring and
improving their highways while the farmer is apparently
so little awake to his own interests in regard to furnish-
ing himself with better roads, we wonder why it is. The
lesson seems plain and clear, and, as progressive farm-
ers, let us continue to aid the good road movement
throughout the country.
Nitrate of Soda is essentially a seaboard article ; sup-
plies at interior points are not always available, hence
the ports of entry are as a rule the best sources of
supply.
The improvement of our water-ways, so long urged by
us, seems at last to be in sight; and farm chemicals at
low^er rates should ultimately be expected, even at in-
terior points.
It has been the custom of the railroad companies to
discruninate heavily and unfairly against Nitrate of
Soda by charging almost prohibitory chemical rates,
instead of equitable fertilizer rates, and it is hoped by
correctly designating the material, the discrimination
will not be practiced.
Farm newspapers, generally, are quite willing to pub-
lish wholesale quotations on all those things which the
farmer has to sell, and they have not, as a rule, pub-
lished wholesale quotations on those articles which he
has to buy. Among the latter, agricultural chemicals
occupy a position of prime importance, not only as to
actual effect on farm prosperity, but as to the actual
amount of cash Avhich 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 into it. Agricultural journals generally should
make a continued effort in the direction of enhancing his
purchasing ])()wer, by endeavoring to make him more
prosperous.
Food for Plants.
163
OF GENERAL INTEREST.
Average Annual Rainfall in the United States.
Place I
Xeali Bay, Wash
Sitka, Alaska
Ft. Haskins, Oregon
Mt. Vernon, Alabama
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Meadow Valley, California. . .
Ft. Towson, Oklahoma
Ft. Meyers, Florida
Washington, Arkansas
Huutsville, Alabama
Natchez, Mississippi
New Orleans, Louisiana
Savannah, Georgia
Springdale, Kentucky
Fortress Monroe, Virginia. . .
Memphis, Tennessee
Newark, New Jersej*
Boston, Massachusetts
Brunswick, Maine
Cincinnati, Ohio
New Haven, Connecticut. . . .
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . .
New York City, N. Y
Charleston, South Carolina . .
Gaston, North Carolina
Richmond, Indiana
Marietta, Ohio ^
St. Louis, Missouri • ■
Muscatine, Iowa
Baltimore, Maryland
New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Providence, Rhode Island. . . .
Ft. Smith, Arkansas
iiches Place Inches
123 Hanover, New Hampshire ... 40
83 Ft. Vancouver 38
66 Cleveland, Ohio 37
66 Pit'tsburgh, Pennsylvania. .. . 37
60 Washington, D. C 37
57 White Sulphur Springs, Va.. 37
57 Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma 36
56 Key West, Florida 36
54 Peoria, Illinois 35
54 Burlington, Vermont 34
53 Buffalo, New York 33
51 Ft. Brown, Texas 33
48 Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas 31
48 Detroit, Michigan 30
47 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 30
45 Penn Yan, New York 28
44 Ft. Kearney 25
44 Ft. Snellins', Minnesota 25
44 Salt Lake City, Utah 23
44 Mackinac, ^lichigan 23
44 San Francisco, California. ... 21
44 Dallas, Oregon 21
43 Sacramento, California 21
43 Ft. Massachusetts, Colorado.. 17
43 Ft. Marcv, New Mexico 16
43 Ft. Randall, Dakota 10
43 Ft. Defiance, Arizona 14
43 Ft. Craig, New Mexico 11
42 San Diego, California 9
41 Ft. Colville, Washington 9
41 Ft. Bliss, Texas 9
41 Ft. Bridger, Utah 6
40 Ft. Garland, Colorado 6
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 • 8V2 days.
11/2 inches, came up in 91/2 days.
2 inches, came up in 10 days.
21/2 inches, came up in 11^/2 days.
3 inches, came up in 12 days.
314 inches, came up in 13 days.
4 inches, came up in 131/2 days.
1G4
Food for Plants.
The more shallow the sood was covored with earth, the
more rapidly the sprout made its appearance, and the
stronger afterwards was the stalk. The deeper the seed
lay, the longer it remained before it came to the surface.
Four inches was too deep for the maize, and must, there-
fore, be too deep for smaller kernels.
Number of Years Seeds Retain Their Vitality.
Vegetables Years
Cucumber 8 to 10
Melon 8 to 10
Pumi)kin 8 to 10
Squash 8 to 10
Broccoli 5 to 6
Cauliflower 5 to 6
Artichoke 5 to
Endive 5
Pea 5
Radish 4
Beets 3
Cress 3 to
Lettuce 3 to
Mustard 3 to
Okra 3
Rhubarb 3
S])inacli 3 to
Turnip 3 to
to
to
to
to
to
to
Vegetables
Asparap:us . . . .
Beans
Carrots
Celery
Corn (on cob)
Leek
Onion
Parsley
Parsnij)
Pepper
Tomato
Eergr-Plant . . .
Years
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
Herbs.
Anise
Caraway
Summer Savory
Sagfe .
3 to
4
2
,1 to 2
2 to 3
Amount of Barbed Wire Required for Fences.
Estimated number of pounds of Barbed Wire required
to fence space for distances mentioned, Avith one, two or
three lines of wire, based upon each pound of wire, meas-
uring one rod (161/^ feet).
1 line
1 square acre 50%
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 loncrth 1
100 rods in leno:th 100
2 lines
3 lines
lbs.
1011/3
lbs.
152
lbs.
lbs.
25 Mt
lbs.
38
lbs.
lbs.
72
lbs.
108
lbs.
lbs.
2.560
lbs.
3.840
lbs.
lbs.
460
lbs.
690
lbs.
lb.
2
lbs.
3
lbs.
lbs.
200
lbs.
300
lbs.
100 feet in length
6Vi6 lbs.
121/8 lbs.
18%6 lbs.
How Grain will Shrink.
Farmers rarely gain by holding on to their grain after
it is fit for market, when the shrinkage is taken into
Food for Plants. 165
account. Wheat, from the time it is threshed, will shrink
two quarts to the bushel or six per cent, in six months,
in the most favorable circumstances. Hence, it follows
that ninety-four cents a bushel for wheat when first
threshed in August, is as good, taking into account the
shrinkage 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 November, Avill 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 otherwise 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, 3H3
of com stalks.
Carrying Capacity of a Freig-ht Car.
This Table is for Ten-Ton Cars.
Whiske}^ 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
E^gs 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
Ho^s 50 to 60 head Bran 1,000 bushels
Sheep 80 to lOO head Butter 20,0€0 pounds
How to Measure Com in Crib, Hay in Mow, etc.
This rule wdll 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
166
Food for Plants.
long-ill, broadtli 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 nuinl)er of bushels of shelled corn in the crib.
To lind 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 tind the amount of hay in a. mow, allow 512 cubic
feet for a ton, and it will eouie out very generally
correct.
Length of Navigation of the Mississippi River.
The length of navigation of the Mississippi liiver it-
self for ordinary large steamboats is about 2,161 miles,
but small steamers can ascend about 650 miles further.
The following are its principal navigable tributaries,
with the miles open to navigation :
Miles
Minnesota 295
Chippewa ^0
Iowa ^^ 8^
Missouri L,9()0
Bis Horn 50
Allegheny 325
Muskingum 94
Kentuekv 1^^
Wabash' 365
Tennessee ~'^
Osage 30L
White 779
Little White 48
Big Hatchie ''S
Sunflower 271
Tallahatchie 1"5
Red 986
Cy])ress 44
Black 61
Bartholomew 100
Macon 60
Atchaf alaya 21 S
Lafourche 168
The other ten navigable tributaries have less than fifty
miles each of navigation. The total miles of navigation
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
Big Black .
Cane
Ouachita ..
BoeuC . . . .
Tensas . . . .
Teche
D'Arbonne
228
35
54
384
55
112
91
50
Food foe Plants. 167
of these fifty-five streams is about 16,500 miles, or about
two-thirds the distance around the world. The Missis-
sippi and its tributaries may be estimated to possess
15,550 miles navigable to steamboats, and 20,221 miles
navigable to barges.
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 — thej^ 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, w^ho 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 mis-
represent them, for those whom you once deceive will
beware of you the second time.
Deal uprightly with all men, and they will repose con-
fidence in you, and soon become your permanent
customers.
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. i
Trust no stranger. Your goods are better than doubt-
ful charges. What is character worth, if you make it
cheap by crediting everybody?
Agree beforehand with every man about to do a job,
and, if large, put it into writing. If any decline this,
quit, or be cheated. Though you w^ant 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.
168 Food for Plants.
Business Laws in Brief.
T^noraiico of law exciist's none.
It is a fraud to conceal a fraud.
The law compels no one to do iini)ossil)ilities.
An agreement without consideration is void.
Signatures made with lead-i)en('il are good in law.
A receipt for money i)aid 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 minoi" 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 intoxication, 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 thoroughly about his neck and waist. Lay him
doMTi 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. Meanwhile, let some one go
for the doctor. You cannot do more without his advice.
Food for Plants. 169
Sunstroke is a sudden prostration due to long ex-
posure to great heat, especially when much fatigued or
exhausted. It commonly 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 conscious-
ness and complete prostration.
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 com-
mands and can be enforced. Let it be signed in dupli-
cate, 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 drawTi 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
underletting.
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 cred-
itors. In the ordinary case of renting 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 should contain stipulations for for-
feiture 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.
tP
170 Food for Plants.
Facts for the Weatherwise.
If the full moon rises clear, expect fine weather.
A large ring around tlie moon and low clouds indicate
rain in twenty-four hours ; a small ring and high clouds,
rain in several days.
The larger the halo ahout the moon the nearer the rain
clouds, and the sooner the rain may be expected.
When the moon is darkest near the horizon, expect
rain.
If the full moon rises jiale, expect rain.
A red moon indicates wind.
If the moon is seen between the s-cud and broken cloud
during a gale, it is expected to send away the bad
weather.
In^he old of the moon a cloudy morning bodes a fair
afternoon.
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 the duckweed and scarlet pimpernel expand their
tiny petals, rain need not be expected for a few hours,
ssijs 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 protecting coat if a severe winter is at
hand.
Corn fodder is extremely sensitive to hygrometric
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 w^hen
his bees leave their hive in search of honey, the farmer
knows that the weather is going to be good.
Food for Plants. 171
Philosophical Facts.
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
liis 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 sufficient 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 pendulmn 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 woud 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 be-
tw^een the latitudes of forty and forty-nine degrees.
17l' Food for Plants.
At a (k'ptli of forty-live feet under ground, the tem-
perature of the earth is uniform throughout the year.
In summer time, the season of ripening moves north-
ward 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 con-
versed together through rods of wood held between their
teeth, or held to their throat or breast.
The ordinary pressure of the atmosphere on the sur-
face of the earth is two thousand one hundred and sixty
pounds to each square foot, or fifteen jjounds to each
square inch; equal to thirty perpendicular inches of mer-
cury, 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, we may calculate that the dis-
charge of electricity is six and a half miles oft".
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
slaked lime and one pint of common salt ; mix well. Fill
your ban el half full with this fluid, put your eggs dowii
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 3i/2 inches
deep.
Food for Plants. 173
A gallon of water weighs from 8 to 10 pounds, accord-
ing to the size of the gallon, and is equal to a box 6 by 6
inches square and 6, 7 or 71/2 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 62i/^ 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 scpmre
and iy2 feet deep, or 6 cubic feet.
Petroleum barrels contain 40 gallons, or nearly 5
cubic feet.
Square Measure
144 sq. inches = 1 sq. foot. 160 sq. rods = 1 acre.
9 sq. feet = 1 sq. yard. 43,560 sq. feet = 1 acre.
3014 sq. yards = 1 sq. rod. 640 acres = 1 sq. mile.
2.47 acre = 1 hectare.
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, 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.
174
P^ooD FOR Plants.
Cement 1 bushel and sand 2 bushels will cover Sy^
square yards 1 inch thick, 41/0 square yards ^ i^t^h thick,
and 6% square yards V2 "^^^i thick. One bushel cement
and 1 of sand "w411 cover 2i/^ square yards 1 inch thick, 3
s(iuare yards % incli thick, and 41/4 square yards 1/2 inch
thick.
Number of Brick Required to Construct Any Building.
(Hec'koniug 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
1.50
225
300
375
450
525
600
675
750
1,500
2/2,50
3,000
3,750
4,500
5,250
6,000
6,7.50
7,500
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
1.35
1.50
300
450
600
750
900
1,0.50
1,200
1,3,50
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
1.35
158
180
203
225
450
675
900
1,125
1,.350
1,.575
1,800
2,025
2,2.50
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
3,38
.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
2
90
3
1,35
4
180
5
225
6
270
7
315
S
360
9
405
10
4.50
20
900
.30
1,.350
40
50
1,800
2,2.50
60
2,700
70
3,1.50
80
3,600
90
4,0.50
100
4,. 500
200
9,000
300
13,, 500
400
18,000
.500
22,, 500
630
27,000
700
31,. 500
800
.36,000
900
40,500
1000
45,000
Food for Plants.
175
Weight of a Cubic Foot of
Article Pounds
Alcohol 49
Ash wood 53
Bay wood 51
Brass, gun metal 543
Blood QQ
Brick, eommon 102
Cork 15
Cedar 35
Copper, east 547
Clay 120
Coal, Lackawanna 50
Coal, Lehish 56
Cider 64
Chestnut. 38
Earth, loose 94
Glass, window 165
Gold 1,203%
Hiekorv, shell bark 43
Hay, bale 9
Ha}', pressed 25
Honey 90
Iron, cast 450
Iron, plates 481
Iron, -wrouo'lit bars 486
Ice 571/2
Lisrnum Vitte wood 83
Tx)e:wood 57
Lead, cast 709
Earth, Stone, Metal, Etc.
Article Pounds
Milk 64
Maple 47
Mortar HO
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 62534
Steel, plates 48734
Steel, soft 489
Stone, common, about. . . 158
Sand, wet, about 128
Spruce 31
Tin 455
Tar 63
Vinegar 67
Water, salt 64
Water, rain 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 fenc-
ing-stuff, post 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 place. But new fencing material,
just bought, and never attached to the soil, would not
pass. So piles of hop poles stored away, if once used on
the land and intended to be again so used, have been con-
sidered a part of it, but loose boards or scaffold poles
merely laid across the beams of the barn, and never fast-
ened 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 wood where they fell, but not if cut
17() Foon FOR Plants.
and corded up for sale; the wood has then become per-
sonal property.
If there is any manure in the barnyard or in the com-
post heap on the field, ready for immediate use, the buyer
ordinarily, in the absence of any contrary agreement,
takes that also as belono-in.c: 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 man-
ure 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, Drj' 88
Rye-Straw 429 Buckwheat TSVo
Clover, Red, Green 373 Corn 621/0
Carrots 371 Oats 59
Mangolds 3681/2 Barley 58
Potatoes, kept in pit 350 Rye 531/2
Oat-Straw 347 Wheat 441/2
Potatoes 360 Oil-Cake, linseed 43
Carrot leaves (tops) 135 Peas, dry 371/2
Hay, Endish 100 Beans 28
Food for Plants. 177
Hints for Fanners.
Vincent's Eomedies for farm animals have been used
with 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 tea-
cup 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 treat-
ment, unless the aihnents 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 teaspoon-
ful of Essence of Peppermint in half a teacup of warm
water. This is to be administered after feeding night
and morning, and is ahnost 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 reme-
died by raising 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 remem-
bering on account of many sheep having died from this
cause.
To Revive Ferns.
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 occasionallv.
178
Food for Plants.
Capacity of Cisterns for Each 10 Inches in
•25
20
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
61/2
6
5
41/2
4
3
21/2
ICC't
foet
I'ect
J'eet
ft-et
fei't
feet
feet,
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
in diameter
in (liiinieter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
in diameter
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
hlods.
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds,
holds .
holds .
holds .
holds,
holds,
holds.
Depth.
3,059 gallons
1,958 i,rallons
1,101 srallons
«>59 gallons
827 gallons
705 gallons
592 gallons
489 gallons
39G gallons
313 gallons
239 gallons
20G gallons
176 gallons
122 gallons
99 gallons
78 gallons
44 gallons
30 gallons
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 artil-
lery, with carriages and horses.
Ten inches thick — will support an army ; an innumer-
able multitude.
Kinds of Seed
Rapeseed 555
Sweet almond 47
Turnipseed 45
White mustard 37
Bitter almond 37
Hempseed 19
Linseed 17
Indian corn 7
Amount of Oil in Seeds.
Per Cent. Oil Kinds of Seed
Per Cent Oil
Oats
Clover hay .
Wheat bran
Oat straw . .
61/2
5
4
4
Meadow hay 3V^
Wheat straw 3
Wheat flour 3
Barley 21/2
Food for Plants. 179
How to Kill Poison Ivy.
Spraying with arsenate of soda (one pound to twenty
gallons of water) will kill all vegetation. One applica-
tion, if the plants are young and tender, will do this. In
the middle of the summer, however, they should be cut
down tirst, and more than one application 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 instance: Suppose the plants are set
two feet apart and the row^s are four feet apart. Four
times two are eight; di\i.ding 43,560 by eight w^e 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.
Savings Bank Compound Interest Table.
Showing the amount of $1.00, from one year to tifteen
years, with compound interest added semi-annually, at
different rates :
One year
Two years ....
Three years . . .
Four years . . .
Five years ....
Six years
Seven years . . .
Eight years . . .
Xine years ....
Ten years
Eleven years . .
Twelve A-ears . .
Thirteen years
Fourteen years
Fifteen vears .
Three
Four
Five
^er Cent.
Per Cent
Per Cent
$1 03
$1 04
$1 05
1 OG
1
08
1 10
1 09
1
12
1 15
1 12
1
17
1 21
1 16
1
21
1 28
1 19
1
26
1 34
1 23
1
31
1 41
1 26
1
37
1 48
1 30
1
42
1 55
1 34
1
48
1 63
1 38
1
54
1 72
1 12
1
60
1 80
1 47
1
67
1 90
1 51
1
73
1 99
1 56
1
80
2 09
18U V\)(.)\) i'ui; Plants.
Results of Saving Small Amounts of Money.
The following' shows how easy it is to aecuiiiulate a
I'ortuiR', i)rovi(led proper steps are taken. The table
shows what would l)e 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 Tlie Resu
One cent $950 Sixty cents 57,02-i
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.
Time at Which Money Doubles at Interest.
Rate Simple Interest - ^('«lup(lUIlJ]IIltl■n•^t
Two per cent 50 years 35 years, 1 day
Two and one-halt per ceiit. . 40 years 28 years, 26 days
Three per cent 33 years, 4 months. 23 years, 164 days
Tliree and one-halt per cent. . 28 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 Plants. 181
Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials.
Name of Substance
Phosphoric .Acid
Avail-
able
Insolu-
ble
Total
/. Phosphatic Manures —
Apatite
Bone-ash
Bone-black
Bone-black (dissolved)
Bone meal
Bone meal (free from fata)
Bone meal (from glue factory) . .
Bone meal (dissolved)
iS. Carolina rock (gxound)
S. Carolina rock (floats)
S. Carolina rock (dissolved) . . . .
7.47
4.12
6.20
1.70
2.60
16.70
8.28
0.30
15.22
1.50
13.53
0.60
4.07
27.43
//. Potash Manures
Carnallite
Cotton-seed hull ashes I 7 . 33
Kainit I 3.20
4.82
2.00
1 93
6.31
1 25
4.75
7.25
2.75
12.00
Krugite
Muriate of potash
Nitrate of potash
Spent tan-bark ashes
Sulph. potash (high grade) . . . .
Sulph. potash and magnesia . . .
Sylvinite
Waste from gunpowder works .
Wood-ashes (unleached)
Wood-ashes (leached)
13.09
///. Niirogeyious Manures
Castor pomace
Cotton-seed meal
Dried blood
Dried fish
Horn and hoof waste
Lobster shells
Meat scrap
Malt sprouts
Nitrate of soda
Nitre-cake
Oleomargarine refuse
Sulphate of ammonia
Tankage
Tohacco stems
Wool waste
71'. Miscellaneous Materials.
Ashes (anthracite coal)
Ashes (bituminous coal)
Ashes (corn-cob)
Ashes (lime-kiki)
2.43
9.98
6.80
12.50
12.75
10.17
7.27
12.09
7,40
1.25
6.00
8.54
1.00
13.20
10.61
9.27
5. 56
6.66
10.52
7.25
13.25
4.50
10.44
4.04
15 . 65
2.30
12.12
20.50
6.82
2.29
5.64
15.45
11.60
3.60
36.08
35.89
28.28
17.00
23.50
20.10
29 . 90
17.60
28.03
27.20
15.20
13.68
23.80
13.54
8.42
52.46
45.19
2.04
38.60
23.50
16.65
18.00
5.50
1.10
1.12
1.62
0.45
2.20
0.40
0.35
5.20
5.02
6.23
6.44
1.30
10|
0.40!
23.20
0.86
8.50
1.61
1.85
1 40
2.16
1.45
1.83
3 52
2 07
1.70
0.88
11.25
0.60
0.29
0.10
0.40
1.18
Food Foii Plants.
Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials. Continued.
Name of Substance
/ V. Miscellaneous Materials — Cont'd
Ashes (peat and bog)
Gas lime
Marls (Maryland)
Marls (Massachusetts)
Marls (North Carohna)
Marls (Virginia)
Muck (fresh)
Muck (air-dry)
Mud (fresh water)
Mud (from sea-meadows)
.53
Peat
Pine straw
needles)
Shells (mollusks)
Shells (crust acea)
Shell lime (oyster shell) .
Soot
Spsnt tan
Spent sumach
Sugar-house scum
Turf
(dead leaves or pine
5.20
4.40]
1.7:i
18. IS'
1.50
15.98
76.20
21.40
40.37
53.50
61.50
7.80
0.30
19.50
5.54
14.00
30.80
50.20
19.29
0.70
1.25
0.04
0.49
0.30
1.30
1.37
0.20
0.75
0.30
0.10
6.20
0.20
1.00
2.10
1 94
0.22
0.20
Phosphoric Acid
Avail-
able
Insolu-
ble
0.10
0.04
0.20
0.0-1
1.83
0.10
0.30
Total
0.50
0.38
1.05
0.56
09
26
10
20
03
2.30
0.20
0.04
0.10
Analyses of Farm Manures.
Taken Chiefly from Eeports of the New York,
Massachusetts and Connecticut Experiment Stations.
Name of Substance
Cattle (solid fresh excrement)
Cattle (fresh urine)
Hen manure (fresh)
Horse (solid fresh excrement) .
Horse (fre.sh urine)
Human excrement (solid) . . . .
Human urine
Poudrette (night soil)
Sheep (solid fresh excrement) .
Sheep (fresh urine)
Stable manure (mixed)
Swine (solid fresh excrement)
Swine (fresh urine)
Moisture
77.20
95.90
73 27
Nitrogen
0.29
0.58
1.63
0.44
1.55
1.00
0.60
0.80
0.55
1.95
50
0.60
43
Potash
0.10
0.49
0.85
0.3.5
1.50
0.25
0.20
0..30
0.15
2.26
0.60
0.13
0.83
Phos-
phoric
acid
17
1
54
17
1 09
0.17
1.40
31
01
30
0.41
07
Food foe PLA^:TS.
183
Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products.
Ax-AiYSES OF Hay and Dry Coarse Fodders.
Name of Substance
//. Hay and Dry Coarse Fodders
Blue melilot
Buttercups
Carrot tops (dry)
Clover (alsike)
Clover (Bokhara ~l
Clover (mammoth red)
Clover (medium red)
Clover (white)
Corn fodder
Corn stover
Cow-pe^ vines
Daisy (white)
Daisy (ox-eye)
Hungarian grass
Italian rye-grass
June grass
Lucern (alfalfa)
^Meadow fescue
Meadow foxtail
Mixed grasses
Orchard grass
Pereimial rye-grass
Red-top
Rowen
Salt hay
Serradella
Soja bean
Tall meadow oat
Timothy hay
Vetch and oats
Yellow trefoil
///. Green Fodders
Buckwheat
Clover (red)
Clover (white)
Corn fodder
Corn fodder (ensilage)
Cow-pea v'nss
Horse bean
Lucern (alfalfa)
Meadow grass (in flower) .
MiUet
Oats (green)
Peas
Prickly comfrey
Rye grass
Serrad.41a
Sorghum
Spanish moss
^'etch and oats
White lupin
Young grass
Moisture
8.22
9.76
9.93
6.36
11.41
10.72
28 24
9.00
9.65
7 1.5
8.29
6.26
9.79
11.26
8.84
9.13
7.71
12.48
5.36
7.39
6.30
7.. 52
11.98
82.60
80.00
81.00
72.64
71.60
78.81
74.71
75 30
70.00
62.58
83.36
81.50
Nitrogen
70 00
82.59
60.80
86.11
85.35
80.00
1.92
1.02
3.13
2.33
1.77
2.23
2.09
2.75
1.80
1 12
1 64
0.28
0.80
1 16
1.15
1.05
2.07
0.94
1 54
1.37
1.31
1 . 23
1.15
1.75
1.18
2.70
2.32
1.16
1.26
1.37
2.14
0.51
0.53
0.56
0.56
0.36
0.27
0.68
0.72
0.44
0.61
0.49
0.50
0.42
0.57
0.41
0.40
0.28
0.24
0.44
0.50
Potas h
2.80
0.81
4.88
2.01
1.67
1.22
2.20
1.81
0.76
1.32
0.91
1.25
2.23
1.28
0.99
1.46
1.46
2.01
2.19
1.54
1.88
1.55
1.02
1.97
0.72
0.65
1.08
1.72
1.53
0.90
0.98
0.43
0.46
0.24
0.62
0.33
0.31
1.37
0.45
0.60
0.41
0.38
0.56
0.75
0.53
0.42
0.32
0.26
0.79
1.73
1 16
Phos-
phoric
acid
0.54
0.41
0.61
0.70
0.44
0.55
0.44
0.52
0.51
0.30
0.53
0.44
0.27
0.35
0.55
0.37
0.53
0.34
0.44
0.35
0.41
0.56
0.36
0.46
0.25
0.78
0.67
0.32
0.46
0.53
0.43
0.11
0.13
0.20
0.28
0.14
0.98
0.33
0.15
0.15
0.19
0.13
0.18
0.11
0.17
0.14
0.08
0.30
6.09
0.35
0.22
184 Food for Pi.ants.
Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. Cont'd
Name of Substance
/ V. Straw, Chaff, Leaves, etc.
Barley chaff
Barley straw
Bean shells
Beech leaves (autumn)
Buckwheat straw
Cabbage leaves (air-dried)
Cabbage stalks (air-dried)
Carrots (stalks and leaves)
Corn cobs
Corn hulls
Hops
Oak leaves
Oat chaff
Oat straw
Pea shells
Pea straw (cut in bloom)
Pea straw (ripe)
Potato stalks and leaves
Rye straw
Sugar-beet stalks and leaves
Turnip stalks and leaves
Wheat chaff (spring)
Wheat chaff (winter)
Wheat straw (spring)
Wheat straw (winter)
V. Roots, Tubers, etc.
Beets (red)
Beets (sugar)
Beets (yellow fodder)
Carrots
Mangolds
Potatoes
Ruta bagas
Turnips
VI. Grains and Seeds
Barley
Beans
Buckwheat
Corn kernels
Corn kernels and cobs (cob meal) .
Hemp seed
Linseed
Lupines
Millet
Oats
Peas
Rye
Soja beans
Sorghum
Wheat (spring)
Wheat (winter)
Moisture
1 3. OS
13 25
18.50
15 00
16.00
14.60
16.80
80.80
12.09
11.50
11.07
15.00
14.30
28.70
.16.65
77.00
15.40
92.65
89.80
14.80
10.56
15.00
10.36
87.73
84.65
90.60
90.02
87.29
79.75
87.82
87.20
15.42
14.10
10. S8
10.00
12.20
11.80
13.80
13.00
20.80
19.10
14.90
18.83
14 00
14.75
15.40
Nitrogen
1.01
0.72
1.4S
0.80
1.30
0.24
0.18
0.51
0.50
0.23
2.53
0.80
64
0.29
1.36
2.29
1.04
0.49
0.24
0.35
0.30
0.91
1.01
54
0.82
0.24
0.25
0.19
0.14
0.19
0.21
0.21
0.22
2.06
4 10
1.44
1.82
1.46
2.62
3.20
5.52
2.40
1.75
4.26
1.76
5.30
1.48
2.36
2.83
Potash
99
1.16
1.38
0.30
2 41
1.71
3 49
37
0.60
24
1 99
15
1.04
88
1.38
2 32
1 01
07
0.76
0.16
0.24
42
14
0.44
0.32
0.44
0.29
0.46
54
0.38
0.29
0.50
0.41
73
1.20
21
40
0.4-1
0.97
1 04
1.14
0.47
0.41
1.23
0.54
1.99
0.42
61
0.50
Phos-
phoric
acid
27
15
0.55
0.24
0.61
75
1.06
0.21
0.06
02
1.75
34
0.20
11
55
0.68
o.a5
0.06
0.19
0.07
0.13
0.25
0.19
0.18
0.11
09
08
0.09
0.10
0.09
0.07
0.13
0.12
0.95
1.16
0.44
0.70
0.60
1.75
1.30
0.87
0.91
0.48
1.26
0.82
1.87
0.81
0.89
068
Food for Plants. 185
Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products. Cont'd
Name of Substance
Moisture
Nitrogen
Potash
Phos-
phoric
acid
VII. Flour and Meal
Corn meal
Ground barley
Hominy feed
Pea meal
Eye flour
Wheat flour
VIII. By-products and Refuse
Apple pomace .
Cotton hulls —
Cotton-seed meal
Glucose refuse
Gluten meal
Hop refuse
Linseed cake (new process)
Linseed cake (old process)
Malt sprouts
Oat bran
Rye middlings
Spent brewers' grains (dry)
Spent brewers' grains (wet)
Wheat bran
Wheat middlings
IX. Dairy Products
Milk
Cream
Skim-milk
Butter
Butter-milk
Cheese (from unskimmed milk) . . ,
Cheese (from half -skimmed milk) .
Cheese (from skimmed milk)
X. Flesh of Farm A uimals
Beef
Calf (whole animal)
Ox
Pig
Sheep
XI.
Asparagus. . .
Cabbage
Cucumbers . . .
Lettuce
Onions
Garden Products
13.52
13.43
8.93
8.85
14.20
9.83
80.50
10.63
8.10
8.53
8.98
6.12
7.79
10.28
8.19
12. 54
6.98
75.01
11.01
9 18
87.20
68.80
90.20
13.60
90.10
38.00
39.80
46.00
77.00
66 20
59.70
52.80
59.10
2.05
1 .55
1.63
3.08
1.68
2.21
23
0.75
6 52
2.62
5.43
98
5 40
6 02
3.67
2,25
1.84
3.05
0.89
2.88
2.63
0.58
0.58
0.58
12
64
4.05
4.75
5 45
3.60
2.50
2.66
2.00
2.24
0.32
0.30
0.16
0.20
27
0.44
0.34
0.49
0.99
0.65
0.54
13
1.08
1.89
0.15
0.05
0.11
1.16
1 16
1.60
0.66
0.81
1.55
0.05
1.62
0.63
0.17
0.09
0.19
0.09
0.29
0.29
0.20
0.52
24
0.17
0.90
0.15
0.12
0.43
0.24
0.25
0.25
0.71
66
0.98
0.82
85
0.57
0.02
0.18
2.78
0.29
0.43
20
1.42
1 65
1 40
1.11
1.26
1.26
31
2.87
0.95
0.30
0.15
34
0.15
0.80
0.80
0.80
0.43
1.38
1.86
0.44
1.23
09
0.11
0.12
11
13
1>T)
Food for Pt.axts.
Table Showing- the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Phosphoric
Acid, and Potash Withdrawn Per Acre by an
Average Crop.
(From New York, Xkw Jersey axd Coxnecticut
ExPERaMEXT Statioxs' Reports.)
Name of Crop
Nitrogen
Phosphoric
Acid
Potash
Barley
Buckwheat
Cabbage (white)
Caviliflower
Cattle turnips
Carrots
Clover, grecMi (trifolium pratense) . . . .
Clover (trifolium pratense)
Clover, scarlet (trifolium incarnatum) .
Clover (trifolium repens)
Cow pea
Corn
Corn fodder (green)
Cotton
Cucumbers
Esparsette
Hops
Hemp
Lettuce
Lucern •
Lupine, green (for fodder)
Lupine, yellow (lupinus luteus) . .
Meadow hay
Oats
Onions
Peas (pisuni sativum)
Poppy
Potatoes
Rape
Rice
Rye
Seradella
Soja bean
Sugar cane
Sorghum (sorghum saccharatum) .
Sugar beet (beet -root)
Tobacco
Vetch (visia sativa)
Wheat
41
289
219
SO
16()
89
96
153
87
119
154
39
87
128
297
518
446
95
127
149
111
35
40
125
76
74
65
46
18
17
29
64
69
66
32
94
36
54
34
17
65
46
37
53
35
49
39
30
55
79
24
44
57
62
37
90
44
32
35
45
62
17
514
265
426
190
154
29
57
58
169
174
236
35
193
103
127
54
72
181
63
155
201
96
96
69
87
192
124
45
76
196
87
107
561
200
148
113
58
Food for Plants.
187
Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land.
(Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station
Bulletin, Xo. 23, February, 1890.)
On lo^v and decidedly ^vet land :
English Blue Grass.
Yield of
Amount Hay in
Per Acre Pounds
Fertilizers used per Acre in Pounds Per Acre
Sulphate of potash 160 3,000
Muriate of potash 160 2,950
Xitrate of Soda 160 3,100
Sulphate of ammonia 130 3,600
Xo fertilizer • • • 2,850
Stable manure 20 loads 2,970
Tobacco stems 4,000 4,700
Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land.
Ti moth II
Yield of
Amount Hay in
Per Acre Pounds
Kind of Fertilizer Used >n Pounds Per Acre
Sulphate of potash 160 1,900
Muriate of potash 160 2,320
Xitrate of Soda 160 2,670
Sulphate of ammonia 130 2,520
Xo fertilizer • • • 1'620
Stable manure -0 loads 2,200
Tobacco stems 4,000 3,350
Time Required for the Complete Exhaustion of Available Fer-
tilizing Materials and the Amounts of Each Remaining
in the Soil During a Period of Seven Years.
(From Scottish Estimates.)
0)1 U II cultivated Clay Loam.
Exhausted Per cent, remaining in soil unexhausted
Kind of Fertilizer Used (in years) at the end of each year
12 3 4 S ^ 7
Lime 12 80 65 55 45 35 25 20
BonemeaV:..: 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
Hii^h o-rade ammoniated fer-
tllizers, o-uano, etc 3 30 20 00 00 00 00 00
Cotton-seed meal 5 40 30 20 10 00 00
Barnvard manure 5 60 30 20 10 m on 00
}F'S
VooT) FOR Plants.
Ov Uvcnltivated lJ(/hl or Medium Soils.
Exhaiistod Per cent, rpmaining in soil une\haustrd
Kinil i)f F Ttilizor Used (in year.-") at the end of each year
T 2 3 4 s 6 7
Lime 10 75 (iO 40 30 20 15 ..
Moiic inciil 4 ()0 ;5(> ]() 00 00 00 ..
Phosphatic ^wnno 4 50 '10 10 00 (in (Hi ..
Dissolved bonos and jdaiii
superphosphates 3 20 10 5 00 00 00 00
High grade ainmoiiiates,
guanos 3 ;!0 'Jd (10 od (hi (mi (mi
Cotton-seed meal 4 40 'M) 20 10 (HI (H) 00
Barnyard manure 4 60 30 10 00 00 00 00
On I'vcidlivdlrd Pasture Land.
Per cent, remaining in the soil unexhausted
Kind of Fertilizer Used at the end of each year
12 3 4 5 '^ r
Lime 15 80 70 60 50 45 40 35
Bone meal 7 60 50 40 30 20 10 00
Phosphatie guano (i 50 40 30 20 10 00 80
Dissolved bone, ete 4 30 20 10 00 00 00 0€
JI i g h g r a d e ammoniatod
guanos 4 'M) 20 1 00 00 00 00
Cotton-seed meal 5 40 .30 20 10 00 00 00
Barnyard manure 7 GO 50 40 30 20 10 00
The figures given above are used in fixing the rental
for new tenants. In this country no such careful esti-
mates have heen made.
Amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash Found
Profitable for Different Crops Under Average
Conditions Per Acre.
{Taken Chiefly from Neic Jersey Experiment Stations Reports.)
Phosphoric
Nitrogen, Acid Potash
Pounds Pounds Pound.?
Wheat, rye, oats, corn 16 40 30
Potatoes and root cro])s 20 25 40
Clover, beans, ])eas and other leguminous
crops . . 40 (!0
Fruit trees and small fruits 25 40 75
General garden produce 30 40 (iO
Rotation in 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 us'e of
renovating crops farmers are no longer subject to rigid
Food for Plants. 189
rule, but may adapt rotations to the varying demands
of local market conditions.
Some American Rotations.
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. Boots. 1. Koots.
2. Wheat. 2. Wheat.
3. Clover. 3. Clover.
4. Clover. 4. Clover.
5. Corn, oats or rye. 5. Wheat.
6. Oats.
190
Food for Plants.
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.)
The Nitrogen Cost per lb.
!(gil^o'6ini flow |(Pi]d](i=
$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 of Soda, in 1903, cost 15 cents per lb.
The Available Phosphoric Acid Cost per lb.
n low grade.
■ in medium grade.
in high grade.
The Phosphoric Acid in Acid [Phosphate, in 1903, cost 4 '2 cents
per lb.
The! (Actual Potash Cost per lb.
in low grade,
in medium grade.
in high grade.
The Actual Potash in Sulphate of Potash, in 1903, cost 5 cents
per lb.
Food for Plants. 191
Table of Quantities Required Per Acre
Sow (if alone)
per Acre _j
Agrostis stoloiiifera — See Creeping Bent '-! busliels
Agrostis canina — See R. 1. Beut >^ busliels
Agrostis vulgaris — See Red Top ^ bushels
Agrostis vulgaris — Fancy -0 lbs.
Alopecurus pratensis — See Meadow Foxtail 3 to 4 bushels
Arrhenatherum avenaceum — See Tail Meadow Oat Grass 4 to 5 bushels
Avena elatior — See Tall Meadow Oat Grass 3 bushels
Arrhenatherum avenaceum — See Tall Meadow Oat Grass 4 to 5 busheds
Awnless Brome Grass l^O to 25 lbs.
Alsike or Hj-brid Clover 8 lbs.
Alfalfa Clover 2U to 25 lbs.
Artichokes « to 10 bushels
Australian .Salt Busli 2 lbs.
Barley Broadcast, 2 to 2V2 bushels ; Drilled, 1% to 2 bushels
Beet Sugar 6 to 8 lbs.
Bermuda Grass 6 lbs.
Bronuis inermis — See Awnless Brome tJrass 2U to 25 lbs.
Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.
Broom Corn 8 to 10 lbs.
Buckwheat 1 bushel
Bean, Field Drilled, 1 bushel
Canada Blue Grass 3 bushels
Cynodon dactyloli — Sbe Bermuda Grass. 6 lbs.
Creeping Bent or Florin 2 bushels
Crested Dog's Tail IMi bushels
Cynosurus cristatus — See Crested Dog's Tail IV2 bushels
Cow Grass — See Mammoth Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
Crimson or Carnation — See ScarlK Clover 14 lbs.
Corn, Dent and Flint 8 to 10 qts.
Corn, Fodder Broadcast. 2 bushels ; Drilled, 1 bushel
Corn. Pop to 8 qts.
Carrots 4 lbs.
Cotton 15 lbs.
Dactylis glomerata — See Orchard Grass 3 bushels
Douras 8 to 10 lbs.
English Blue Grass — See Meadow Fescue ^Vz bushels
English or Perennial Rye Grass 21/2 to 3 bushels
Festuca elatior — See Tall Meadow Fescue 21/2 bushels
Festuca heterophylla — See Various Leaved Fescue 3 bushels
Festuca ovina — See Sheep's Fescue 21/2 bushels
Festuca ovina tenuifolia — See Fine Leaved Sheep's B^escue 3 bushels
Festuca pratensis — See Meadow Fescue 2V2 bushels
Festuca rubra — See Red Fescue 21/2 bushels
Festuca duriuscula — See Hard Fescue 21/2 bushels
Fine Leaved Sheep's Fescue 3 bushels
Flax Seed V2 to % bushels
Piorin — See Creeping Bent 2 bushels
Grasses, Permanent Pasture Mixtures 3 bushels
Grasses, Permanent Pasture Clover for above 10 lbs.
Grasses, Renovating Mixture 1 bushel
Grasses, Lawn 5 bushels
Herd's Grass (of the South) — See Red Top 3 bushels
Herd's Grass (of the North) — See Timothy V2 to 1 bushel
Hungarian Grass — See Hungarian Millet 1 bushel
Hard Fescue -V2 bushels
Italian Rye Grass 3 bushels
June Grass— See Kentucky Blue 2 to 3 bushels
.Tune Clover — See Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
•Japan Clover ^- 17 'P^-
.Johnson Grass 1 bjishel
Jerusalem Corn -J '"S.
192 Food for Plants.
Sow^(if alone)
per Acre
Kufflr Com 8 to 10 lbs.
Keutucky Ulue tirass 3 bushels
I-iipiiis 1> to 3 bushels
Liiliuiii italicuin — .See Iluliaii Kye (irass 3 bushela
Loliuin pcrcuiie — See English Rye Grass 2Vi' to 3 bushels
Lucerne — - See Alfalfa :.'0 to 25 lbs.
Lespedeza striata — See Japau Clover 14 lbs.
Meadow Foxtail 3 to 4 bushels
MciuldW Feseue 2% bushels
MiUiiniKth or Pea Vine Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
Medicago sativa — See Alfalfa 20 lbs.
Millo -Maize — See Douras 8 to 10 lbs.
Millet, German and Hungarian 1 bushel
Millet, Pearl, Egyptian, Cat-Tail or Horse Millet Drills. 5 to 6 lbs;
Broadcast, 8 lbs.
Millett, Japanese Drills, 10 lbs. per acre ; Broadcast, 15 lbs.
Mangels 6 to 8 lbs.
Melilotus alba — See Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.
Onobrychis sativa — See Sainfoin 3 to 4 bushels
Orchard Grass 3 bushels
Oats 3 bushels
Parsnip 6 lbs.
Poa uenioralis — See Wood Meadow Grass 2 bushels
Poa pratensis — See Kentucky Blue -.2 to 3 bushels
Poa trivialis — See Rough Stalked Meadow Grass 1% bushels
Poa arachnifera — See Texas Blue Grass 6 lbs.
Poa compressa 3 bushels
Phleum pratense — See Timothy V2 to 1 bushel
Potatoes 12 to 14 bushels
Peas, Field 3 bushels
Peas. Cow 2 bushels
Pea Vine Clover — See Mammoth Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
Perennial Red Clover — See Mammoth Clover 10 to> 12 lbs.
Rape, English 2 to 4 lbs.
Red Top 3 bushels
Red Top. Fancy 20 lbs.
Rhode Island Bent 3 bushels
Red or Creeping Fescue 2^^ bushels
Rough Stalked Meadow Grass 1% bushels
Red Clover (Common or June Clover t 10 to 12 lbs.
Reaua hixurians — See Teosinte 6 to S lbs.
Rye 1% bushels
Ruta Baga 2 to 3 lbs.
Sorghum Halapense — See Johnson Grass 1 bushel
Sweet Vernal — true perennial 3% bushels
Sheep's Fescue 2V4 bushels
Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass — See Kentucky Blue 2 to 3 bushels
Sweet Clover — See Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.
Scarlet Clover 14 lbs.
Sainfoin 3 to 4 bushels
Sorghums 8 to 10 lbs.
Sugar Beet 6 to 8 lbs.
Sugar Canes 8 to 10 lbs.
Sunflower 4 qts.
Swedish Clover • — - See Alsike 8 lbs.
Soja Bean % bushel
Tex.is Blue Grass 6 lbs
Tall McnildW Oat Grass 4 to 5 bushels
Tall Moadow Fescue 2^ bushels
Timothy or Herd's Grass of the North i>2 to 1 bushel
Trifoliuni pratense — See Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
Trif(diiim pratense perenne — See Mammoth Clover 10 to 12 lbs.
Trifolinm repens — See White Clover 8 lbs.
Trifolium incarnatum — ■ See Scarlet Clover 14 lbs.
Trifolinm hvbridum — See Alsike Clover 8 lbs.
Tf'osinte 6 to 8 lbs.
Turnips 2 to 3 lbs.
Turnips, Ruta Baga, Russian or Swedish 2 to 3 U»»
Food foe Plants. 193
Sow (if alone)
per Acre
Vetoh, Spring (Tares) 2 bushels
Vetch, Sand or Winter 1 bushel
Various Leaved Fescue 3 bushels
Wood Meadow Grass 2 bushels
White or Dutch Clover 8 lbs.
Wheat 1% bushels
194
Food for Plants.
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INDEX
PAGE
Alabama Cotton Prize Experiments •• • 32
Alfalfa, Cow Pea and Clover Question 113
Alfalfa, Grades of 113
Ammonium Sulfate, Availability of Nitrogen in 149
Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials 181
Analyses of Farm Manures 182
Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products 183
Annual Rainfall in the United States 163
Appearance of Nitrate of Soda 10
Asparagus "'^
Asparagus, Instructions for Using Nitrate on 63
Availability of Nitrogen in Ammonium Sulfate 149
Availability of Nitrogen in Dried Blood 149
Availability of Nitrogen in Farm Manures 149
Availability of Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda 149
Barbed Wire, Amount Required for Fences 164
Barometers, Farmers' 170
Beets 64
Beets, Table 64
Boll Weevil, Fighting with Nitrate 38
Brick Reqiiired to Construct Any Building, Number of 174
Buckwheat 121
Builders, Facts for 173
Burbank, What He Says 128
Business Laws in Brief 168
Business Rules for Farmers 167
Buy Fertilizing Materials, How and Where to 21
Cabbage 65
Cabbage, Early 65
Cabbage, Instructions for Using Nitrate on 69
California, Oi-ange Groves in 122
Carrots 69
Carrots, Instructions for Using Nitrate on 69
Catch Crops 22
Cauliflower 65, 67
Celery 62
Celery, Instructions for Using Nitrate on 63
Chemical Composition of Soils 23
Chemical Fertilizers, Alabama Cotton Prize Experiments 32
Chemical Fertilizers, How to Use to Advantage 22
Chemical Fertilizers, Materials Used 7
11951
1 9C) Index.
PAGE
Chemical Properties of Nitrate of Soda 10
Citrus (rrowinjj in California 126
Citr\is in California, Tnstrurtions for l'sin