over one-half is paid for Nitrogen, which is the only 

 one of the three essential elements that is likely to 

 suffer any considerable loss. Thus a little less than 

 half of the total expenditure is made for these two ele- 

 ments phosphoric acid and potash. The remainder 

 is paid for a constituent which in organic form is likely 

 not to be available. 



Experiments in Germany, England and the United 

 States, conducted along this line for years, show that, 



39 



Quick and Luxuriant Growth of Shrubbery, Produced in Two 

 Seasons by the Use of Nitrate. New Jersey. 



on the average, not more than 70 per cent, of the 

 quantities of Nitrogen applied, even in the best forms, 

 is recovered in the crops. 



From the standpoint of crop, it is evident that the 

 utilization of Nitrogen is a much more important matter 

 than the use of either phosphoric acid or potash. Al- 

 though the further fact that a pound of any kind of 

 Nitrogen, capable of being used in a commercial fer- 

 tilizer, costs from four to five times as much as a pound 



