430 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FERTILIZERS FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 



PROF. HARRY SNYDER, ST. ANTHONY PARK. 



In some localities a good quality of stable manure is difficult to 

 obtain for horticultural purposes. When stable manure cannot be 

 obtained in liberal amounts, what is to be done? Supplement the 

 stable manure with commercial fertilizers ? This is done in Eastern 

 and Southern states, and when commercial fertilizers are intelli- 

 gently used they often give excellent results. 



As yet commercial fertilizers have not been used extensively in 

 Minnesota, and without the necessary experimental data it is diffi- 

 cult to say what their true value would be in Minnesota horticul- 

 ture. In their absence only a few general suggestions based upon 

 the results of experiences in other states are offered. 



Perfect nutrition of plants is necessary in order to secure the 

 largest yield and best quality of product. A half starved plant, like 

 a half starved animal, is always working at a disadvantage. There 

 is no question but what better results would be secured in horti- 

 culture if more attention were given to fertilizers. There is a 

 large amount of reserve plant food in many of our soils, and it re- 

 quires only a small additional amount to supplement that which is al- 

 ready in the soil but too frequently in an inactive form. 



I do not advise the use of commercial fertilizers for general farm- 

 ing purposes on Western soils, but I do believe that they can 

 often be advantageously used on horticultural crops, where a large 

 amount of labor is expended on a small area, and be found bene- 

 ficial and economical. A commercial fertilizer cannot take the place 

 of tillage. Good, clean, thorough cultivation of the soil is just as 

 necessary with commercial fertilizers as when farm manures are 

 used. At first it is better to use ,3 complete fertilizer — one contain- 

 ing nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash^until the special fertilizer 

 needed is found by trial. A complete fertilizer is more liable to pro- 

 duce a balanced growth than is just one ingredient of plant food. 

 Plants like animals do best on a balanced ration. A commercial 

 fertilizer should not be used in excessive amounts ; a dressing of 

 two to four hundred pounds per acre will be sufficient for ordinary 

 purposes. A fertilizer of good quality, one containing 4 per cent of 

 nitrogen, 8 per cent of phosphoric acid and 10 per cent of potash 

 costs about $38.00 per ton, making an application of two hundred 

 pounds to the acre cost $3.80 for materials. The raw materials for 

 such a fertilizer cost about $31.00. 



A commercial fertilizer can be applied as a top dressing or scat- 

 tered in drills near to but not in contact with the seed. The best 



