46 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



rainfall and the minerals rendered more available by natural processes 

 that are always in progress in the soil. 



On most farms grain is sold and carries with it considerable plant 

 food. The straw and corn stalks are only partially utilized, and the 

 manures are not handled to the best advantage. About one-half of the 

 plant food in the feeding stuff is contained in the liquid portion of the 

 manure and this is seldom utilized. Fermentation of the manure re- 

 sults in a loss of nitrogen and leaching in a loss of all ingredients, 

 Hence, it happens that even on farms where most of the crops are fed 

 there is a great waste of plant food. Actual investigations conducted 

 on farms that were considered to be well managed', showed that there 

 was a loss of from twenty to fifty per cent of the plant food in the solid 

 part of the manure before it was actually applied to the land. Even 

 where the use of maimres is supplemented by clover and other legumes 

 there is still a loss of mineral ingredients. The question then arises 

 whether it is best to purchase plant food after utilizing as completely 

 as possible the manurial resources of the farm. 



In most of the territory west of the Mississippi the opinion is 

 frequently expressed that commercial fertilizers are not necessary to 

 supplement the home supply. The progressive farmer does not deal 

 with the other problems of the farm on this basis. If he did he would 

 have no improved live stock, no self-binder, no thrashing machine, and 

 in fact he would have only the simplest implements of agriculture. All 

 these improvements are not necessary. The world got along very well 

 without them until about fifty years ago. They have come into general 

 use because they were found to be profitable. It is not any matter of 

 theory or "it stands to reason" talk. It is a matter of experience. Yet 

 when the farmer is asked to apply to his soil problem, exactly the same 

 principle that he has applied in all other departments of farm work, he 

 shifts his base and thinks it is not necessary, instead of asking "will it 

 pay?" 



It certainly will pay you to find out whether you can profitably 

 supplement your farm manures and leguminous crops with commercial 

 plant foods. Why? Because even virgin soils differ greatly in pro- 

 ductiveness owing to difterences in both physical and chemical condition. 

 The kind and amount of plant food in any soil depends on the origin of 

 the soil and the original growth upon it. A lime stone soil is vastly 

 different from either a drift soil or a peat formation. Starting with a 

 clay soil in its virgin state and utilizing manures and legumes to the ut- 

 most would never correct the deficiency of phosphoric acid, which is 



