228 



THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



roots as soon as they are capable of foraging in the soil for 

 their food. It is also used as a special fertilizer for turnips, 

 cabbages, and mangels; upon which it has a most beneficial 

 action. It is used for these crops at the rate of from 300 to 

 800 Ibs. per acre, according to the necessities of the soil. 

 As a top dressing for meadows and pastures it is of the 

 greatest use. 



This is readily seen when it is remembered that young 

 animals are fed chiefly on grass and hay, and that from 

 this food they must build up the solid frame upon which 

 the fleshy form is built up. As more than half the sub- 

 stance of bone consists of phosphate of lime, it is then very 

 necessary that the young growing animal, as well as the 

 cow which is yielding milk which is rich in this compound 

 as is requisite for the nourishment of young animals should 

 be supplied with food that contains this bone-making ma- 

 terial in abundance, hence the necessity for supplying grass 

 lands with this indispensable fertilizer. 



COMPLETE OR SPECIAL MANURES are mixed fertilizers, 

 which contain every element of barn yard manure except 

 the carbon, which is supposed unnecessary, as the soil con- 

 tains an abundance of it. The principal elements of plant 

 food, the nitrogen; phosphoric acid; and potash; are pro- 

 vided in about the some proportions in which they exist in 

 good stable manure. A comparison of a complete fertilizer, 

 according to Prof. Villes formula, with barn yard manure, 

 is given in the following table. 



Stable Complete 



Composition of Manure, Manure, 



2000 Ibs. 100 Ibs. 



Nitrogen 7 to 10 Ibs. 7% Ibs. 



Phosphoric acid 4 to 9 Ibs. 5 to 7 Ibs. 



Potash 9 to 15 Ibs. 7 to 8 Ibs. 



Thus 100 Ibs. of the complete manufactured manure at a 

 cost of about $2. contains about as much fertilizing matter 

 as one ton of the best stable manure, and in an immediately 

 available condition for crops. 



SULPHATE OF AMMONIA, is a refuse of the gas manu- 

 facture and is a distillation from mineral coal. It has been 

 made at times by the addition of sulphuric acid to stale 



