Pboceedings of Seventeenth !N"okmal Institute 129 



"Alphano has the remarkable property of taking nitrogen from 

 the atmosphere and absorbing it ready for the plant to take up." 

 " It is a natural carrier of atmospheric nitrogen to the plant." 

 " The air is four-fifths nitrogen, but no process has yet been de- 

 vised to take advantage in a commercial way of this vast store 

 of wealth." The price usually charged is $20 a ton, 



specials 



In this connection, attention is called to a new fertilizer 

 recently appearing called " Radium Fertilizer (plant-food)." 

 This contains nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, and in addi- 

 tion radium. It is put out by the Radium Fertilizer Co., Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa. It sells at $300 a ton and up, according td the amount 

 purchased. It requires over 800 pounds of fertilizer foT one acre. 

 Experiments recently made in Illinois show that radium has no 

 appreciable effect on plant growth. Prof. Ramsey, of the De- 

 partment of Physics, Indiana University, states that the average 

 soil already contains ten- times as much radium as would be found 

 in this radium fertilizer. To double the radium emanation in 

 the soil would require about 75 milligrams of radium at a cost 

 of $7,500 an acre. 



ADVICE FOR FARMERS 



In speaking to farmers at institutes about fertilizers, warn 

 them to be on their guard against new fertilizers or any fertilizers 

 that make remarkable and exclusive claims for results. When a 

 farmer is approached by an agent of one of these things, let him 

 write to one of the experiment stations before investing any 

 money. 



11 — 5 



