116 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Niirificaiion. — Nitrification, or the natural formation of nitrates from 

 the vegetable matter containing organic nitrogen in the soil, is a matter 

 of growing importance to farmers and fruitgrowers alike. Under favorable 

 conditions of soil in regard to porosity, moisture, and temperature, in the 

 presence of the microscopic nitre plant, the vegetable matter of the soil, 

 which contains from one to two per cent, of nitrogen, is converted into 

 nitrates to feed plant life with its most stimulating food. Most of the 

 operations on the soil (draining, cultivating, mulching, etc.) have special 

 influence upon nitrification. In compact, or water-logged soil, or one 

 destitute of humus, nitrification does not take place; but in open, porous 

 soils, moist but not wet, with a good supply of vegetable mold, nitrification 

 takes place every year, and most of the year, when the soil is not frozen. 

 It is a process of greater importance to this state than all the nitre beds 

 and guano islands ever discovered. 



Niirate of Soda. — In the absence of a sufficient supply of stable manure, 

 where green manuring is impracticable, and where nitrification is too slow, 

 the next resource is nitrate of soda, or Chili saltpetre, and it will remain 

 such till the nitre beds, like the former guano deposits, are exhausted. 



A sample of this nitrate is before you. It is a very soluble salt, and the 

 soil has little power of retaining it, and it tends to rapidly escape from the 

 soil in drainage water. It should be applied at such times that the plant 

 can make immediate use of the salt. The nitrates are not stored up in the 

 soil from year to year, but are annually washed out of the soil by drainage 

 water and carried off by rivers to the all-devouring sea. Nature seems to 

 mix this stimulating draught for the plant, but throws it away if not 

 drunk upon the spot. 



The demands of plants for nitrates are somewhat unequal. Herbaceous 

 plants call for more than those of tree growth. More is needed for succu- 

 lent fruits, like berries, than for larger fruits, as apples, peaches, and pears. 



Muck and Marl. — There are two abundant and valuable materials of the 

 manurial class found in our state, muck and marl, but I need not stop to 

 discuss these materials, having given my views in bulletin 115, issued in 

 October. I will only detain you to examine these fresh specimens of 

 muck taken from the big marsh north of the college, December 13. 



1. Surface muck, fit for immediate use. 



2. Cheesy muck, taken from beneath No. 1. 



3. Slices of No. 2, dried in warm room without freezing. 



4. Same as No. 3, but frozen and thawed, alternately, for two weeks. 



5. Mossy muck, or undecomposed vegetable fibre — worthless. 



By treating as in No. 4, or weathering. No. 2 can be brought into the 

 condition of No. 1, and be a first-class material for immediate use. 



Dr. Kedzie exhibited samples of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, 

 and performed with them some interesting chemical experiments. 



Speaking of commercial fertilizers, in response to questions, he said he 

 once knew of a fertilizer selling for $22.50 per ton, to manufacture which 

 cost but twenty-four cents per ton. He published an analysis of it, expos- 

 ing the cheat, and was threatened with a $50,000 libel suit in consequence. 

 The sellers of the stuff said they had on hand $16,000 worth of the fertil- 

 izer, and in consequence of his publication they could not sell a pound. 



