EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 



119 



A more specific table, giving tlie amount of nitrogen, pliosphoric acid and potash 

 In farm products in tlieir natural state, was prepared by Prof. Voorliees of New 

 .Jersey and published in Farmers' Bulletin No. 44 of the Department of Agriculture. 



This table is quoted entire because it sets in clear light the relative impoverish- 

 ing influence of different products of the farm and gives a hint of the materials 

 adapted to malve good the loss in the soil of some crops. 



The fact that potatoes in their natural state contain 75 per cent of water and milk 

 contains S7 per cent of water, will explain the small proportion of the manurial 

 .elements found in a ton of these materials. 



Pounds of manurial constituents in a ton of various farm products. 



* Farmei.s' Bulletin Nu, 44, Department of Agriculture. 



If all the manurial materials contained in the farm products are returned to the 

 soil, the fertility will be maintained, or even increased; but if the crops, especially 

 the coarser portions containing the greater part of manurial matter, are removed 

 from the farm or allowed to go to waste, improvement of the soil will naturally 

 follow. The intelligent farmer will seek to prevent the waste of this floating 

 capital of the farm by changing these cheap materials (rich in ash elements) into 

 high-priced products, which contain less of potash and phosphoric acid. Compare 

 cheese with wheat bran in the table, and then consider the price of the same, 

 pound for pound. 



Fortunately for the farmer, the three costly manurial elements are wasted to the 

 smallest extent in feeding to stock, because the largest part reappears in the 

 manure, which can again contribute to plant growth. One most important condi- 

 tion of keeping up the farm is the conversion of coarse products of the farm into 

 manure, thus restoring the materials temporarily removed in the crop. 



SOURCES OF THE FERTILIZING ELEMENTS. 



A brief notice of tlie sources from which these fertilizing elements are derived 

 may be of interest. 



jV'if'j-nn, ,. — In the form of organic nitrogen, this material is derived from animal 

 and vegetable matter containing nitrogen, such as dried blood, meat and bones, 

 and the complex substance "tanlcage" — the residues of the slaughter house, the 

 garbage of cities, etc. The sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda are rich in 

 nitrogen and contain it in a soluble form, readily taken up by the plant. A small 

 difference in estimation of value is placed upon .ne nitrogen according to the 

 material with which it is combined and the readiness with whicli the organic 

 materials containing the nitrogen will decompose and become sohible in water. In 

 the table of analyses the percentage of available nitrogen is given as if it existed 

 in the form of ammonia. 



The price of available nitrogen is placed at 14 cents a pound. It is the most 

 costly of all the manurial elements, and the farmer should seek to raise a home 

 supply by crops of red clover, of field peas, etc. The value of red clover as a 

 manurial crop is well known, but "the catch" is sometimes uncertain. A crop of 



