No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 'iH 



cause il < oiiservcs soil liioisLurc, and wvy lew lia\e aUacbed sulTI 

 cieut impoitauee to tillage as a means to augment chemical ac- 

 tivites by favoring the work of various bacteria. If thorough aera- 

 tion is so essential to the work of nitrifying ferments, is it not 

 highly probable that farmers would find it prolitable to cultivate 

 hoed crops even more frequently than is deemed necessary to simply 

 conserve soil moisture. In this connection the fact should be made 

 prominent, that a reasonable amount of moisture is essential to the 

 greatest activity of bacteria, so that in cultivating, a double pur- 

 pose is accomplished in conserving the moisture needed by the 

 ferments, and also by the growing crops. When the soil becomes 

 very dry, bacteria cease to increase in number and many of them 

 die. 



Barnyard manure, when properly cared for, contains large num- 

 bers of nitrifying organisms, and this is one of the reasons why 

 barnyard manure is so valuable as a fertilizer. It not only supplies 

 food elements and improAes the mechanical condition of the soil, 

 but it also inoculates the soil with bacteria, which liberate food 

 from unavailable forms. 



NITRATE OF SODA. 



It is not disputed, that of the three elements, of fertility fre- 

 quentlj'' delicieut in the soil, and hence necessary to be applied 

 in an artificial way, nitrogen is the- most imijortant, so far as ac- 

 tual plant growth is concerned. Therefore, in the feeding of 

 plants, we must consider nitrogen as the most important element, 

 just as corn is the most important factor in the production of beef 

 or pork. It is, also, an indisputable fact that the quantities avail- 

 able as plant food in most soils are very limited and that nitrogen is 

 usually the first element to become exhausted. As sodium nitrate 

 is available as plant food without the intervention of nitrifj'ing 

 organisms, which few soils contain in sufficient number, the high 

 value of this fertilizer is readily seen; but there is no doubt that 

 the great mass of cultivators of the soil do not appreciate its full 

 value. 



If we are seeking the production of fruits or cereals, there must 

 be a vigorous growth of leaf and wood to insure a satisfactory 

 yield, and, if we are working for distinctively a leaf product, such as 

 lettuce or cabbage, the plants will use, economically, enormous sup- 

 plies of nitrogen in the form of nitrates. As nitrate of soda is a 

 very powerful and quickly acting fertilizer, it must be used with 

 care, and its properties fully understood. If applied at the usual 

 time of the ripening of any crop the effect will be to stimulate new 

 growth and to retard maturity. Applications should, therefore, 

 be made when the croj) is in ;iii a<-tive. growing condition, and when 



