ABOUT PLANT FOOD. 



THE need of artificial manures in this 

 country has already been demon- 

 strated ; unfortunately, the proper 

 manner of applying them is not as 

 yet as well understood as it should be. 

 Ignorance in this respect frequently 

 causes complaints to be made that com- 

 mercial manures are unprofitable. Some 

 even go so far as to say that they are 

 simply " stimulants " and act upon the 

 soil very much in the same way as al- 

 cohol acts upon the human body, "brac- 

 ing" it up for a time, and after the effects 

 begin to wear off leaving it in a worse 

 state than before. Such a statement 

 is easily made off-hand, but a little in- 

 vestigation will prove how inaccurate 

 it is. 



The commercial fertilizers on the 

 market are compounded for the purpose 

 of supplying three plant food ingredients; 

 these are phosphoric acid, nitrogen and 

 potash. The mixture contains a num- 

 ber of other ingredients like soda, mag- 

 nesia, etc., but no attention is paid to 

 them for the simple reason that they 

 exist in sufficient quantities in any soil 

 to meet the demands of the crop. The 

 purchaser therefore has only to concern 

 himself about the phosphoric acid, ni- 

 trogen and potash in his fertilizer, but 

 often the entire success or failure of his 

 crop is to a great extent dependent upon 

 the proportions in which these three 

 important constituents are applied. 



Before deciding how to apply fertili- 

 zers, the farmer should learn which fer- 

 tilizer to apply. The best way to gain 

 this information is by practical field 

 tests. Apply different fertilizer com- 

 binations to different parts of the field 

 and then compare results. This is ac- 

 tually putting the question to the soil 

 itself, and the answer is received in the 

 shape of yields of varying proportions. 



24 



After having found the combination 

 of fertilizers best suited to any particular 

 soil, the next thing is to study the best 

 manner of applying the same. The aim 

 should be to give the food at such a 

 time and in such a way that the plants 

 can absorb and assimilate it to the best 

 advantage possible. We all know that 

 the plant food in the soil must first be- 

 come dissolved before it can be taken 

 up by the plants ; hence we should see 

 that the soil condition? are favorable for 

 the transformation of the fertilizing ma- 

 terials from the solid to the liquid state. 

 This means that the soil should be re- 

 duced to the finest possible physical 

 condition, as free from lumps as possi- 

 ble, and so well cultivated that it will 

 afford an easy passage for air and water. 

 After having brought a soil to this state, 

 the next important point is to put on 

 the fertilizers in such a way as to ensure 

 conditions that will be favorable for the 

 change from the solid to the liquid state, 

 and also to allow a sufficient time for 

 the transformation to take place. The 

 great mistake so many make is in apply- 

 ing their fertilizers just at the time of 

 sowing their seed, and as the fertili- 

 zers do not then have sufficient time to 

 become dissolved and disseminated, the 

 results are apt to be disappointing, es- 

 pecially during a season of drouth when 

 there is but little moisture in the soil. 



If the fertilizing materials are put into 

 the soil some weeks before planting, 

 they have a better opportunity to get 

 into proper condition. Some attention, 

 however, must be given to the special 

 action of certain fertilizer materials ; for 

 example, nitrogenous fertilizers like Ni- 

 trate of Soda and Sulphate of Ammonia 

 are quite soluble, and if they were put 

 into the soil too long before planting 

 there would be a loss from leaching; 



