4o8 State Horticultural Society. 



aiiioiii;- these qualities is the ease with whicii the elements of plant f(j()d 

 contained therein are available. Under some conditions a very readily 

 available ]:)lant food is required ; under others, one that acts more slowly 

 is much to be preferred. 



For example, it would perhaps be dangerous to use very much of 

 a very quick acting fertilizer, especially if it contained very much nitro- 

 gen, on pears, for it is quite likely to leave the tissue in such a condition 

 as to fall easy prey to blight. Likewise, it is as a rule not advisable to 

 apply large quantities of a readily available plant food to apples. 



On the other hand, a peach orchard, located on comparatively thin 

 land, and loaded with fruit, would be greatly benefited by a liberal quan- 

 tity of a very readily available food. The same would be true of all 

 the small fruits. 



A safe rule in all cases would be in making up a commercial fertil- 

 izer to supply a small quantity of immediately available material and 

 furnish the remainder in a slow acting form, so that a uniform supply of 

 food may be provided and a steady and uniform growth promoted. This 

 is more particularly true of nitrogen than of the mineral elements. To 

 secure this condition with nitrogen the readily available material may be 

 supplied in the form of nitrate of soda, or preferably dried blood, or 

 cottonseed meal, and for the slow acting material, barnyard manure, 

 tankage or a pure raw bone meal, or cheaper than any of these, cow- 

 peas or clover. 



In the case of the phosphorous, a small quantity of acidulated rock 

 would furnish the material required for immediate use, and the re- 

 mainder could be more advantageously supplied in steamed bone, or 

 much cheaper and probably quite as well in the long run, in finely ground 

 raw phosphate rock. In this case it will always be necessary to plow 

 under vegetable matter frequently to facilitate the unlocking of this 

 phosphorus. 



1 



DANGERS THAT MAY FOL,U>W THE USE OF FERTHvIZERS. 



If care and judgment be exercised in the amount of nitrogen ap- 

 plied and the season of the year in which the application is made,, 

 whether it be commercial fertilizer, barnyard manure, or a leguminous, 

 crop turned under, there wnll be no unfortunate results to follow. The 

 only disadvantage in applying too much potash and phosphoric acid 

 comes from the expense of buying an unnecessarily large amount of 

 these ingredients. They will not cause too riiuch wood growth, as will 

 an excessive amount of nitrogen, and will not, so far as we knoWj di- 



