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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 191 2 



What Tests of Fertilizers Have Shown 



Prof. R. Harcourt, O. A. C Guefph, Ont. 



IT is the first business of the farmer, 

 gardener, and fruit grower to strive 

 to produce maximum crops of good 

 quality. To accomplish this year after 

 year, it is not only essential that the 

 land be in a high state of fertility, but 

 that the farmer understand the f)eculiar 

 needs of the crops he is growing and 

 strive to make the soil, which is the 

 home of the plant, as congenial for it 

 as is possible. It is a well recognized 

 fact that an abundance of suitable food 

 and water and comfortable surroundings 

 are of vital importance to the develop- 

 ment of a strong healthy animal, but it 

 is not so fully realized that the same con- 

 ditions are as essential for the produc- 

 tion of vigorous productive pinnts. 



soils are abundantly supplied with all 

 these essential food materials, and, fur- 

 thermore, nearly all of them are held in 

 such a form that they are not readily 

 leached from the soil. Plants, however, 

 take up comparatively large quantities of 

 nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and 

 calcium, and as they are removed with 

 the crop the supply must become smaller. 

 Then, too, as nitrogen is finally made 

 available to the plant as nitrates, which 

 are very soluble and not held by any 

 chemical combination with the mineral 

 constituents of the soil, loss of nitrogen 

 by leaching may occur. Lime, also, as a 

 result of many chemical changes taking 

 place in the soil, is continually being 

 rnrried nway in the soil water. Evi- 







This lllnttration Shows the Effect of the Use of a Mixture of Nitrogenons, Phosphatic and Potassic Manures. — No. 2 



A plant not only requires that its 

 leaves be bathed in pure air and bright 

 sunshine, but the soil must furnish a 

 warm, airy and roomy place in which 

 its roots may spread themselves and 

 collect an abundant supply of food and 

 water. The air and sunshine are free 

 and an abundant supply always avail- 

 able, but the condition of the soil and the 

 availability of the plant food is largely 

 dependent upon the skill and intelligence 

 with which it is handled. 



Experiments have demonstrated that 

 our common domestic plants require at 

 least ten elements in their food. The 

 absence of any one of these elements, 

 or the inability of the plants to secure 

 the minimum quantity required of any 

 of them, must, consequently, be a limit- 

 ing factor in the proper development of 

 the plant. Fortunately, most of our 



dence of this is seen in the fact that 

 water leached through the soil is always 

 hard, owing to the large amount of lime 

 it contains. For these and other rea- 

 sons the four above named elements are 

 the ones which must receive the most 

 attention. 



MTT8T BE AVAILABLE 



But ! the presence of the chemical ele- 

 ments of fertility in themselves is not 

 sufficient to insure good crops. To serve 

 as food they must be in a form that the 

 plant can take them up, i.e., they must 

 be soluble in the water of the soil. Water 

 is, consequently, absolutely essential 

 both for the solution of the food elements 

 in the soil and for their distribution in 

 the plant. In well drained land this 

 water is held on the surface of the soil 

 particles and the interspaces are open, 

 thus making it possible for the air to 



penetrate into the soil and supply the 

 air essential to the life of the various 

 types of organisms engaged in break- 

 ing down the organic matter and bring- 

 ing its nitrogen into a form suitable for 

 the growing plant. 



The acids formed in this decomposi- 

 tion process help to render the mineral 

 constituents available. Thus, while it 

 may be correct to speak of the soil as a 

 reservoir of plant food, it is equally true 

 that it may be considered a manufactur- 

 ing establishment in which all the vari- 

 ous factors work together to produce 

 the best results. We cultivate soils, 

 then, not only to produce a good seed 

 bed, but also to open it up that air and 

 warmth may more readily penetrate to 

 supply the wants of the roots and the 

 myriads of organisms that are directly 

 and indirectly engaged in preparing the 

 food for the plants, and at the same time 

 we conserve the moisture which is also 

 essential to the well being of the life in 

 the soil. 



It is evident, then, that while a good 

 soil may have abundance of plant food 

 constituents, it is only as we cultivate 

 thoroughly that we can bring about the 

 condition essential for the rapid decay 

 of the organic matter, which in turn 

 supplies the nitrogen, increases the avail- 

 ability of the potash and phosphoric acid 

 and conserves the moisture. Good man- 

 agement will also include careful handl- 

 ing of the farmyard manure and the 

 judicious use of legumes to gather nitro- 

 gen from the vast supply in the atmo- 

 sphere. It is only after the most careful 

 attention has been given to all these 

 points that fertilizers should be intro- 

 duced. 



THE trSE OF FERTILIZERS 



In the case of light feeding, deep 

 rooted crops, as, for instance, some of 

 our cereals, good cultivation and pro- 

 per rotation will render it unnecessary 

 to stimulate growth by the use of fer- 

 tilizers. But with heavy feeding crops 

 like mangels, turnips and many of the 

 garden crops, even the best of cultiva- 

 tion may fail to render sufficient plant 

 food available to produce a maximum 

 crop, .^gain, if farmyard manure is sup- 

 plied in large enough quantities to fur- 

 nish the required amount of mineral 

 matter for such crops as tomatoes or 

 fruit trees, especially if legumes are 

 used as cover crops, there is very apt 

 to be too large a growth of leaf and stem 

 with imperfect development and ripen- 

 ing of the fruit. This is due to the fact 

 that farmyard manure is richer in nitro- 

 gen than in the minerals. For this and 

 other reasons it is generally considered 

 better practice to combine the use of 

 stable manure and fertilizers for garden 

 and orchard crops. 



(To he- continued) 



