THE FLOWER GARDEN 313 



Now that the fertilizer manufacturers are 

 under government supervision it is safe to use 

 any good standard fertilizer on the market. 

 Many experiments have been conducted to de- 

 termine the right element in which the soil is 

 lacking and supply that alone. 



The analysis of soils has often proven of value, 

 especially in scientific researches, but it is not 

 practical for the average farmer to have a chem- 

 ical analysis made of his soil to determine what 

 kind of fertilizer should be used. 



In practically every case good barnyard 

 manure gives excellent results. In the same 

 way a fertilizer purchased in the market usu-. 

 ally gives the results desired. Because of the 

 complexity of the soil and the complexity of the 

 requirements of the plants so far as different 

 elements are concerned, it is plain to see that 

 it seldom or never happens that any one 

 element is wholly eliminated from the soil 

 at a time. 



Sometimes an element which appears to be 

 exhausted from the soil is merely in an unavail- 

 able form. The addition of other elements in 

 such a case, although they do not seem to be 

 needed, may produce the required results be- 

 cause they assist in changing the unavailable 

 elements to an available form. 



