omposition of fertilizers. In an examination of the 



e .f. i i i i Plants 



fertilizer requirements or plants by studying their 



analysis, we must keep in mind the fact that the whole 37 

 plant must be considered not only the grain, straw, 

 etc., but also the stubble and roots. 



The Storrs Experiment Station of Connecticut 

 reported on an experiment with timothy hay, with 

 results as follows: 



Yield 

 per acre. Nitrogen. Potash. Phos. Acid. 



Hay ............. 3,980 Ibs. 39.0 Ibs. 51.5 Ibs. 13.9 Ibs. 



Stubble and roots. 8,223 " 90.1 " 55.8 " 25.2 



Total 12,203 Ibs. 129 . 1 Ibs. 107 . 3 Ibs. 39 . 1 Ibs. 



The quantities of plant food actually 

 contained in the crop, computed on the 

 best known fertilizer materials, are Nitrate Food 

 represented by 807 pounds of Nitrate 

 of Soda, 215 pounds of muriate of potash, and 280 

 pounds of acid phosphate. This illustration is interest- 

 ing as showing the really heavy consumption of plant 

 food by ordinary farm crops. While the yield in this 

 case is a large one, it is precisely such yields all farmers 

 are striving for. It is probably true that an acre appli- 

 cation of 800 pounds of Nitrate of Soda would not give 

 profitable returns with this crop; but such crops actu- 

 ally make use of soil Nitrogen and the roughage of the 

 farm, and to do this most effectively top-dressings of 

 Nitrate are advised to "start the crop off " in the spring. 



In actual farming operations, the greater part of 

 the timothy crop will be returned to the soil in the form 

 of farmyard manure, much of which will be applied in 

 the fall. A considerable portion of the Nitrogen con- 

 tained in this manure will be converted into Nitrate 

 during the fall and winter, but there is always a great 

 lack of Nitrate in the early spring, when the plants most 

 need it, and this shortage continues until the soil warms 

 and becomes less charged with water, when the organ- 

 isms of the soil are enabled to convert the vegetable 

 substance containing Nitrogen into the form suitable for 

 the uses of the plants. Until this action, the plants 



