The Composition and Use of Fertilizers. 287 



purpose the following mixture may be used: One hundred pounds 

 nitrate of soda, 100 pounds dried blood, 150 pounds cotton seed 

 meal or fine ground fish scrap, 500 pounds dissolved rock and 175 

 pounds of muriate of potash. 



Beets. 



Per Pounds for Pounds of different materials for one 

 cent, one acre. acre. 



Nitrogen 4 20 to 40 125 to '250 pounds nitrate of soda. 



Available phosphoric acid. . 8 25 to 50 175 to 350 pounds dissolved rock. 

 Potash 10 50 to 100 100 to 200 pounds muriate of pot- 

 ash. 



Suggestions. — This application is intended to apply to beets 

 grown for early market for table purposes. The mixture given 

 above may be used at time of seeding, and this followed by appli- 

 cations of nitrate of soda as a top dressing once in 10 days at the 

 rate of 50 pounds an acre for three or four weeks after the plants 

 are well started. This insures rapid and constant growth, under 

 favorable weather conditions, and enables one to secure the 

 higher prices of the earliest product. 



In growing sugar heets, the aim is to secure the largest amount 

 of sugar possible, and this can be greatly influenced by the kind 

 of plant food given. The following mixture can be used for one 

 acre: One hundred and twenty -five pounds nitrate of soda, 100 

 pounds sulphate of ammonia, 400 pounds dissolved rock and 150. 

 pounds sulphate or muriate of potash. For best results it is well 

 to apply only about one-third of this mixture before sowing, then 

 another third after the plants are well up and the remainder v be- 

 fore the first or second cultivation. Excess of nitrogen tends to 

 produce rapid growth, with large roots and small proportions of 

 sugar of low purity. The foliage should have an early and rapid 

 growth, because the leaves are essential to the formation of sugar. 

 It is not desirable to use slow-acting forms of plant food and thus 

 prolong the growth after the plant should give itself largely to 

 sugar production. 



For fodder purposes, the aim is to grow as large a crop as pos- 

 sible. Hence, in growing beets for fodder, the plant food should 

 be so planned as to secure a continuous and prolonged growth, 

 rather than early and rapid growth. The following mixture may 

 be used for one acre: Sixty pounds nitrate of soda, 200 pounds 

 dried blood, 150 pounds fish scrap or cotton seed meal, 400 pounds 

 r.eid phosphate and 180 pounds muriate of potash. 



