436 Repokt of Farmers' I institutes 



DOING WITHOUT POTASH 



This is a good year to emphasize the dependence of fertility 

 upon a favorable physical condition of the soil. However much 

 we may want potash this year, we cannot buy it. We must draw 

 upon the supply in the soil. By good tillage and selection of 

 crops we may do much to tide over the shortage, and to find out 

 how much we have overestimated the value of applications of 

 potash in most cases. Unfortunately, upon those soils where 

 response from potash has been most marked and profitable, what 

 we can do will count for least. It has been suggested that we use 

 two or three hundred pounds of salt this year for the release of 

 potash from the soil.* Upon clay soils and the heavier loams, this 

 will probably serve effectively ; but on such soils, well drained and 

 well tilled, the need for such amendment is not marked. On 

 the lighter soils and the reclaimed swamps it is hardly likely to he- 

 effective, and it may establish a precedent that is disastrous. It 

 has taken some time to get away from the practice of using land 

 plaster and salt, and I hope that we shall make no reversion that 

 is permanent. Nevertheless, for the infoi-med man, that is advice 

 worth heeding. 



CONCLUSIONS 



In summing up, we may say that the heading for this talk is 

 misleading. Manures do not stand against fertilizers. The one 

 is a supplement to the other. The addition of plant food after the 

 establishment of good tilth may be very profitable. Farm manures 

 promote good tilth. We cannot replace good tilth by the most 

 lavish use of plant food. Manuring is a part of, not apart from, 

 good farming. 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 

 Paul Work 



Superintendent, Department of Vegetable Gardening, Cornell University, 



Ithaca, N. Y. 



One of the most prominent features in the agTicultural develop- 

 ment of the past fifteen years has been the keen interest that city 

 people have manifested in rural affairs. This interest may be 

 traced to two fundamental reasons: 



* Since this was written, experience has indicated slight benefit from the use of salt. 



