PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 115 



worthless fertilizers out of the market, saving many thousands of dollars 

 to Michigan farmers and horticulturists, and has brought most of the 

 remainder to a high standard. Do not buy an unlicensed fertilizer unless 

 you wish to be cheated. 



I do not know that the time has come in this state when the general 

 farmer can profitably expend much money for commercial fertilizers, bat 

 I am of the opinion that the fruitgrower and truck farmer can often secure 

 good profit by their use. 



Phosphates tend to restrain the formation of leaf and fibre, and promote 

 the formation of tiower and fruit. Many years ago, H. G-. Reynolds had 

 a pear orchard on his farm at Old Mission, which made a heavy growth of 

 wood but did not form fruit buds. Year after year he sought fruit but 

 found only leaves. He asked my advice and I told him to give the soil a 

 good dose of superphosphate alone. He made the application, but soon 

 after sold the place, and I never heard the result of the experiment. 



The tendency also of superphosphates to hasten the maturity of crops 

 is worth considering. In many cases it is the early crop that gives the 

 profit, especially of perishable products. The early strawberries, potatoes, 

 tomatoes, and grapes command the extra price. True, the railways often 

 out the ground from under the gardener's feet by bringing early fruits and 

 vegetables from the south, but the local products have the advantage in 

 freshness. Consider also the advantage of securing crops of tender plants 

 before the early frosts of September, such as tomatoes, squashes, and 

 grapes, with a profit, with a gain of 10 to 15 days in ripening, and the 

 dead loss without this leeway. 



Nitrogen. — For most farm crops, and some garden products, the great 

 want for large production is an increased supply of combined or active 

 nitrogen in the form of ammonia or nitrates. In exhausted lands it is a 

 pretty safe guess to say that active nitrogen is the missing link. In the 

 free form, nitrogen makes up the great bulk of our atmosphere, and it sur- 

 rounds and penetrates the plant every hour. Yet it is beyond the grasp 

 of ordinary plants, though they may be starving for it. How to link the 

 winds to plant growth, by giving them an unlimited supply of active nitro- 

 gen, is the great problem of agricultural chemistry, and the chemist who 

 will solve this problem will be greater than a Columbus to discover new 

 continents, for he will disclose new possibilities for all the old continents. 



Nitrogen Accumulators. — It was formerly supposed that no plants, 

 under any circumstances, could assimilate the free nitrogen of the air, but 

 could only use the nitrogen in combination, as ammonia, nitrates, or the 

 organic nitrogen of the remains of organic life. But it has lately been 

 found that certain plants, such as the clovers, peas, beans, etc., by means 

 of certain tubercles or warts on their roots, were capable of using free 

 nitrogen in building up their tissues. This explains why the growing of 

 clovers and peas, and plowing under their remains, have such enriching 

 influence upon the soil. It is well known that a clover sod makes an 

 excellent manure, and is a good preparation for setting out an orchard. 

 A crop of peas fed down by a drove of hogs, feeds the soil as well as the 

 swine. Green manuring is difficult on a fruit farm, and orchardists con- 

 sider clover a heavy draft upon the soil, but it is not so if the whole crop 

 is plowed under. The clover beetle is making the crop uncertain, in this 

 state, and we need some substitute as a fertilizer crop. I think the value- 

 of peas as a fertilizer has been underestimated by our people. 



