FERTILIZERS FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 43 1 



conditions exist when the fertiUzer is appHed a few days in ad- 

 vance of seeding. 



There are a great many different kinds of fertiHzers, made from 

 a variety of materials : as dried blood, nitrate of soda, sulfate of 

 ammonia and seed residues containing nitrogen ; treated bones and 

 tankage, containing nitrogen and phosphoric acid ; dissolved phos- 

 phate rock, containing phosphoric acid ; and kainite, and muriate 

 and sulfate of potash, containing potash. By combining these dif- 

 ferent materials a great variety of fertilizers can be made. 



In buying a fertilizer, the horticulturist should insist upon know- 

 ing its composition, otherwise he will have no means of knowing its 

 probable value. For general garden purposes there should be a 

 liberal supply of plant food. Well composted farjn manure can ad- 

 vantageously be reinforced with commercial fertilizers, as a liberal 

 use of manures insures not only maximum yields but crops of the 

 best quality. 



Voorhees recommends as a general garden fertilizer one con- 

 taining : Nitrogen, 4.00 per cent ; phosphoric acid, 8.00 per cent ; pot- 

 ash, 10.00 per cent. To meet the requirements of special crops, as 

 spinach and cabbage, an additional dressing of nitrate of soda may 

 be used. 



The maturity of a crop can be influenced by fertilizers — an ex- 

 cess of nitrate of soda, particularly during a wet season, causes pro- 

 longed growth and retards maturity. A good supply of phosphoric 

 acid and a medium supply of nitrogen generally hastens maturity, 

 particularly if the water supply is a little scant and the growing 

 season is favorable. An unbalanced growth is caused in some cases 

 by an over-abundant supply of one element and a scant supply of 

 others. For example, in a black loam soil of limestone origin con- 

 taining an abundance of nitrogen and heavily manured there will 

 frequently be an excess of available nitrogen in proportion to the 

 available mineral food, because the conditions are unusually favor- 

 able for nitrification. The plants then produce a good growth of 

 leaves healthy in appearance, but fail to fruit well. Such cases are 

 presumably due to a lack of available phosphoric acid. Hardiness 

 also, it is believed, can be increased by a judicious use of fertilizers. 

 Asparagus is a crop which responds to liberal manuring. Fre- 

 quently the manures are applied too late. Asparagus preferably 

 should be fertilized soon after harvesting, so as to encourage new 

 growth and storage of reserve building materials in the roots for 

 next year's crop. A liberal manuring with both commercial fer- 

 tilizers and farm manures is desirable in the case of asparagus. 



For early maturing garden crops, a fair but not excessive 

 amount of nitrogen should be applied ; for such purposes a more 



