DAIRY :v:EF/riNG. 139 



give us five hundred and thirty-three and one-third pounds 

 nitrate of soda. In muriate of potash there is about fifty per 

 cent potash so that one hundred and sixty pounds would be 

 secured in three hundred and twenty pounds of the muriate. 

 This would give us only one thousand eight hundred and fifty 

 pounds, but it has the same plant food, that is, in one ton of 

 8-4-8 goods. The dealer or mixer would simply add one hun- 

 dred fifty pounds of dirt as filler. You can do the same, but 

 this is unnecessary for the food is what you want, and the 

 dirt as filler would only add to the cost of handling. By buying 

 and mixing your own fertilizer you know what you are getting. 

 Dealers often use cheap materials to supply the elements. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



The soil should be plowed deep and thoroughly pulverized by 

 harrowing, disking and dragging. Nothing is more important 

 than a good seed bed and the only way to get it is thorough 

 preparation. By deep plowing the soil will hold more water 

 so that heavy rains will not do as much damage and the dry 

 weather will not have as bad eftect on the crops. The deeper 

 the soil the larger the water storage reservoir, and the longer 

 the crops can withstand dry weather. 



CULTIVATION. 



In cultivation we have in mind three objects^conservation 

 of moisture, killing weeds, and soil aeration. The first is prob- 

 ably the most important. The method that will best serve 

 these three objects is the one to use, and this is frequent 

 shallow cultivation. This leaves a fine dust mulch. By culti- 

 vating often the weeds are killed before they get a foothold 

 and hand labor is thereby reduced. Cultivation should be given 

 each crop after each rain or whenever the soil becomes packed. 

 Hand hoeing is necessary to some extent for most garden crops, 

 but this should be reduced to the minimum for hand work 

 adds greatly to the cost of production. 



