30 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, 1913 



iiils wilii ii .siiiiii Kill ((uaiitily of inor- 

 prmic salts, to make the effect of the 

 whole equally as immediate. 



The reader knows that the nitrogenous 

 materials such as blood, tankage and 

 lionc are not so readily a^■ailable as the 

 nitrogenous chemicals, owing to the fact 

 that they must necessarily decompose 

 to varying extents in order that their 

 contained plant food may be liberated in 

 forms that may fx: readily assimilated 

 by the plant. 



Hearing the foregoing points in mind, 

 the reader will appreciate at once the eco- 

 nomic and permanent value '>f a mixed 

 fertilizer in which an essential 'plant 

 food' element is derived from different 

 materials which liberates same gradu- 

 ally and at all times needed, which 

 ceases to lilxjrate it when not re- 

 quired by the plant and which carries the 

 natural surplus, that is what is not tak- 

 en up by the crop to which it is ap- 

 plied, safely over till the next season 

 for the benefit of crops which are to fol- 

 low : 



In brief, the process is as follows: 

 The nitrate of soda owing to its immed- 

 iate effect, gives the plant a good start 

 and, during the time it is exerting its 

 teneficial influence, the blood goes 

 through the necessary stages of decom- 

 position, whereby its plant food is lib- 

 erated and when the effect of the nitrate 

 is about over, assumes the responsibil- 

 ity and carries the plant through the 

 second period of its growth, abundantjy 

 supplied with essential food until the time 

 when the tankage present is reiidy to 

 continue the good work and eventually 

 place the plant safely in the hands of 

 the bone, which gives it the finishing 

 touches and ensures it giving the boun- 

 tiful harvest we farmers so greatly ap- 

 preciate. The small amount of nitro- 

 gen in the bone while sufficient to furnish 

 the maturing plants full requirements 

 is not in excess and will not retard ma- 

 turity. Owing to the cessation of de- 

 composing processes in the soil the lib- 

 eration of the plant food in the mixture 

 is discontinued until the next season. 



The reader will see that by making a 

 number of applications of a mixture con- 

 taining the above materials you will year 

 by year gradually raise the level of the 

 excess fertility that is carried over to the 

 next season and thus eventually restore 

 your soil to the original high state of fer- 

 tility, and only small applications of 

 fertilizer will be required to ensure the 

 constant production of maximum crops, 

 where soil fertility is a deciding factor. 



The writer is aware of at least one 

 brand of ready-mixed fertilizers pre- 

 piired from materials such as the above, 

 which is manufactured in Ontario, and 

 for sale at very reasonable prices to 

 farmers in all parts of Canada. The re- 

 -^m'' . f-.rmers are reporting from their 



ii^c i,.. \u |)rovc tlie truth of the forego- 

 ing assertions regarding their superior- 

 ity over the home-mixtures which as 

 stated above are advocated mostly by 

 those who are only in a position to offer 

 the farmers raw materials. 



The mechanical condition of any fer- 

 tilizing material simple or compound de- 

 serves the serious consideration of 

 farmers when articles of a similar chemi- 

 cal character arc offered for their choice 

 or when they contemplate "trying" to do 

 their own mixing. The degree of pul- 

 \erizalion controls almost without ex- 



A Well Sprayed Tree— Not Much Chance for 

 Insects Here 



ception under similar conditions the rate 

 ;«id solubility and the more or less rapid 

 diffusion of the different articles of plant 

 food throughout the soil. The poor me- 

 chanical condition a farmer obtains with 

 a shovel and a sand screen is without a 

 doubt a great deal to do with the poor 

 results obtained by home-mixing. The 

 fertilizer manufacture is a necessity the 

 farmer cannot do without, and let me say 

 here that it is not necessary for the farm- 

 ers of Ontario or other parts of Canada 

 to go outside of their own province to 

 obtain their fertilizers. Conserve the 

 fertility of Canadian farms by using fer- 

 tilizers prepared from materials which 

 have come direct from the farms them- 

 selves, including pork packing house by- 

 products, and so forth. 



•Some of the statements made by Dr. 

 ]").indeno deserve special attention. For 

 instance, "the value (of a commercial 

 fertilizer) depends chiefly upon whether 



llic oiiginai bacterial life lias beci. pre- 

 served and whether the constituents of 

 the fertilizer are favorable to the devel- 

 opment of nitrifying bacteria of the soil 

 and to those organisms which prey upon 

 plant excretion." 



To the writer this seems a very rash 

 statement. Materials that are recom- 

 mended for use in home mixing certainly 

 ha\e no bacterial content, but it would 

 be hardly fair to say that the short- 

 comings of this practice are altogether 

 due to this fact. In the manufacture of 

 high grade mixtures such as indicated 

 in the illustration here published, tnc 

 raw materials have necessarily to be 

 heated to high temperatures in order to 

 extract the fat, which would be a decid- 

 edly harmful ingredient in a fertilizer, 

 and are then dried in such a state that 

 insures them from spoiling due to bac- 

 terial action. When the mixture is ap- 

 plied to the .soil, however, it Ijecomes 

 subject to bacterial action, depending 

 upon the bacterial content of the soil, 

 and these organisms render the es.sen- 

 tial elements in the fertilizer available 

 as plant food. Other than the method 

 of supplying cultures of bacteria for in- 

 oculating the seeds of legumes there is 

 no practical process at present in use 

 for providing the right kind of bacteria 

 lor soil inoculation. It is questionable 

 whether the 'original bacterial life,' even 

 though it were preserved, would have 

 any beneficial effect in a fertilizer, and 

 most certainly the value of a fertilizer 

 which is primarily a source of 'plant 

 food,' does not depend upon its own 

 biological characteristics. 



"The use of commercial fertilizers has 

 been one of the most baffling questions 

 with which the farmer and fruit grower 

 has had to contend." The writer thor- 

 oughly agrees that it is a 'has been.' 

 The farmers of Ontario particularly have 

 been slow to realize the advantages to 

 l>e derived from the use of such mater- 

 ials, but it is evident that they are 

 awakening in this regard as more and 

 more commercial fertilizer is being used 

 each and every year. We need to bear 

 in mind when placing our orders for 

 fertilizer that it is the analysis of the 

 material offered that should be taken into 

 consideration and not the brand name 

 or so many dollars and cents. The 

 brand names, "Potato Special," Early 

 Vegetable, etc., do not amount to any- 

 thing and the amount of dollars and 

 cents will vary according to the amounts 

 of plant food in the mixture. For in- 

 stance, a three-eight-six (meaning three 

 per cent, ammonia, eight per cent, avail- 

 able phosphoric acid, and six per cent, 

 potash) will not cost as much as a four- 

 eight-six or a three-eight-ten, but more 

 than a three-eigli'-Rv.. or a three-six- 

 six. 



iT., I '' 



