CHAPTER X. 



MISCELLANEOUS FERTILIZER MATERIALS. 



The fertilizer materials discussed in the previous chapters are 

 those products most commonly used and constitute the main 

 sources of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. There are, how- 

 ever, other substances that are occasionally utilized that have 

 some value. Some of these materials are used at times by ferti- 

 lizer manufacturers v^hile others are employed directly by farm- 

 ers. Some of them furnish one or more of the essential ele- 

 ments in amounts sufficient to warrant their use, when they can 

 be obtained cheaply, while others are not applied for their fer- 

 tilizer value but to improve the condition or texture of the soil, 

 to increase the available plant food supply or to conserve moisture. 

 There are some products discussed in this chapter that have 

 no particular value as fertilizer but are taken up to set clear 

 impressions that are prevalent among some who feel that these 

 products can be used to replace to a certain extent the more 

 important fertilizer materials. It should be remembered that 

 many of these materials we are about to discuss do not contain 

 sufficient amounts of the essential elements to produce paying 

 crops but they may be used to partially replace commercial fer- 

 tilizers. 



Compost. — A compost is usually made up of layers of manure 

 and vegetable matter. Sometimes lime, acid phosphate, ground 

 raw rock phosphate, cotton-seed, gypsum, and similar fertilizer 

 materials are added to it. A compost can be made in the fol- 

 lowing manner. First select a shady place and provide a good 

 drainage. Then make a foundation with a layer of earth. On 

 top of this place a layer of leaves or manure then a layer of 

 earth, another layer of leaves, cotton-seed and manure, a layer 

 of earth, etc. The top of the compost should be covered with 

 earth and it should be shaped to shed water. The compost should 

 be kept moist to prevent the loss of nitrogen as ammonia. The 

 manure, leaves, cotton-seed, raw rock phosphate, etc., will de- 

 cay or undergo changes due to the action of organisms similar 



