32 



CANADIAN FARM YEAR BOOK. 



Fertilizers — Need and Application 



Most soils when analyzed show 

 enough potential or latent fertility- 

 enough potash, enough phosphorus, 

 and oftentimes enough nitrogen, for 

 long years of cropping and yet many 

 of them are practically barren. Why? 

 All crops require that their food shall 

 be available, that is, soluble in water, 

 liquid, and if not liquid or capable of 

 soon becoming so, crops fail and the 

 soil is said to be barren. 



The liquid assets of business are 

 those forms of property which are 

 available — which can be turned into 

 cash at once. The liquid assets of the 

 soil are those elements of fertility 

 which can be taken up and absorbed 

 as fast as needed by growing crops, 



What Fertilizers can be Mixed 



SUPSfiPHOSPMATE 



UHE 

 HARL 



THOMAS f.iAL 



'CHILI SALTPETER 



MATERIALS MUST NEVER BE MIXED 

 MIXED JUST BEFORE USING 

 MIXEO ANYTIME 



which do their principal feeding in 

 sixty days in northern latitudes. 

 Therefore it would seem wise for the 

 farmer to keep a good balance of avail- 

 able fertility to his credit in the soil; 

 not alone to feed the crop in order to 

 increase yield but to improve quality 

 and to hasten maturity. 



That is just what Europeans do, and 

 is one of the reasons why they are so 

 successful as farmers. They are the 

 best farmers in the world because they 

 never reach the limit of available fer- 

 tility — the limit of their liquid assets 

 as it were. They believe in making a 

 fertile soil still more fertile. That is 

 why some are able to produce 88% of 

 their food requirements in the shape 

 of staple crops, such as potatoes, rye. 

 barley, oats, wheat, etc. 



A reserve of ready money in the 

 bank is the very best form of "liquid 

 assets" in business. A reserve of solu- 

 ble plant food in the soil is the best 

 form of crop insurance. Usually they 

 are present in some degree and the 

 farmer has to supply only a snaall bal- 

 ance to produce maximum crops. 



Those who have applied from season 

 to season this little balance of liquid 

 or available plant food which the crop 

 must have during its growing season 

 of sixty to one hundred and twenty 

 days have insured the crop as far as 

 fertility will insure it. The crop says : 

 "Feed me when I need food and I will 

 feed you when you need food." Com- 

 mercial fertilizers supplement the lat- 

 ent fertility in the soil, in stable man- 

 ure and in ploughed in green crops, 

 with some quickly available plant food 

 when the crop needs it. 



Fertilizers — What They Are — How to 

 Apply Them. 



Fertilizers are carriers of plant food 

 In an available and concentrated form. 

 They contain the three elements of 

 plant food most needed in crop pro- 

 duction — nitrogen, usually referred to 

 as ammonia, phosphorus, known to the 

 buyer as available phosphoric acid, 

 and potassium, known as potash. Each 

 of these elements performs definite 

 functions in plant growth. 



There is no mystery about the action 

 of fertilizers in plant growth. Nitro- 

 gen, or ammonia, causes quick and 

 vigorous growth of stalk or stem. 



Available phosphoric acid helps fill 

 the grain or fruit and hastens ripen- 

 ing. Potash strengthens the straw or 

 stalk and helps to plump and fill the 

 grain and fruit. 



Hay is grown for the stalk or stem, 

 hence needs a larger proportion of 

 ammonia than grain crops. Wheat is 

 grown for the grain, therefore needs 

 larger amounts of available phosphoric 

 acid and potash than does hay. On 

 the other hand, potatoes and other 

 root crops require a larger proportion 

 of potash. 



Speaking generally, it has been 

 proven that the use of a fertilizer con- 

 ( Continued on page 35.) 



