PREFACE. 



It has been found necessary to issue another edition of the pam- 

 phlet, "Potash IN Agriculture." The present edition contains all 

 the good points of the former one, together with many new and valu- 

 able additions, which bring the subject down to date. 



One feature of this pamphlet is the careful collection of extracts 

 from the official reports and bulletins of the Experiment Stations of 

 the United States. The practical value of the results obtained by the 

 Stations in field experiments with fertilizers, reported herein, cannot 

 be overestimated. The farmers of the various States, whose soils 

 have been exhausted by continuous croppings, now realize the neces- 

 sity of a liberal supply of Potash on their lands for the wants of their 

 crops, as a result of information obtained through these experiments. 



The Station investigations and the experiences of practical farmers 

 all show that most commercial fertilizers have been and are yet, to 

 some extent, not entirely adapted to the production of the highest 

 yields and of the best quality of crops. The reason for this is, that 

 some of these old-style comm 'rcial fertilizers contain an insufficient 

 amount of potash. The old brands of fertilizers rarely contained 

 more than 2 or 3 per cent, of potash. Nowadays, some of the leading 

 fertilizer manufacturers advertise and sell brands of fertilizer which 

 contain 10 per cent, of actual potash. It is a favorable sign, that such 

 fertilizers are becoming more common on the market. 



In addition, there is a brief account of the general principles of 

 potash fertilization, which will no doubt prove valuable to farmers. 



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