12 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



on a small scale, and if the results are satisfactory it will then be well 

 enough to use them more largely. 



"For the ordinary farmer and for the horticulturist, except in the 

 special cases mentioned, the use of commercial fertilizers, so called, is not 

 advisable until he has exhausted every other method of keeping up and 

 increasing the fertility of his soil by carefully saving and applying his 

 stable manure, purchasing manure whenever it can be obtained at reason- 

 able rates, clovering and plowing under other green crops, rotation of 

 crops, and the use of all the wood ashes he can buy or beg from his 

 neighbors. 



"Most of the commercial fertilizers have their elements in a form that is 

 easily soluble ; and, if applied to soil which has no plants growing upon it, 

 they will be subjected to considerable loss from leaching. 



HOW BEST TO APPLY FERTILIZERS. 



" In order to get the best results from fertilizers, it is best to apply them, 

 whenever possible, in several rations. This is not always practicable, but 

 when it can be done the plan will be found to be an economical method of 

 using the soluble fertilizers. In the growing of cabbages, for instance, if 

 the full ration of fertilizers is ajjplied before the plants are set, it will be a 

 number of weeks before the plants can make use of it, and much of the 

 valuable material, especially the potash, will be carried down below the 

 reach of the plants by the spring rain. By applying a sufficient quantity 

 of fertilizers, rich in nitrogen, to give the plants a start, and then, as the 

 plants require, furnishing them the balance in one or two rations, much 

 better results will be obtained. 



" The same course can be pursued with fruits, in case the ground is cul- 

 tivated. The period of their growth when plants need the most food, is 

 when they are forming their fruit and storing up a supply for use the fol- 

 lowing spring. The fertilizer applied early in the spring will by this time 

 be exhausted, but in case a portion has been reserved for use at this critical 

 period, it can hardly fail to give good results. The last application, in the 

 case of fruit trees, should not be later than July. 



IN CONCLUSION. 



"While much can be learned from the analysis of a plant, regarding the 

 proper formula for a fertilizer for it, the varying composition of the soil 

 and the selective power of the plants will have to be taken into account, and 

 the only rational formulas are those based upon the results of carefully 

 conducted experiments upon the relative value of various combinations of 

 fertilizers. 



" The proper feeding of plants, like that of animals, is not only an art, 

 but also a science; and, everything else being equal, the man who adds to 

 sound common-sense, and a thorough knowledge of horticulture, an 

 acquaintance with the laws of vegetable nutrition, and the principles of 

 chemistry, will have greater success in feeding plants than one who is a 

 stranger to them." 



QUERIES AND EXPERIENCE OF OTHERS. 



Replying to questions by various persons. Prof. Taft said: Too rank 

 growth, at expense of fruit buds, may be made by barnyard manure, 



