IDEAL FERTILIZERS 45 



few years ago there was much talk about iron; now it 

 is scarcely mentioned, but some of us are almost won- 

 dering how we ever grew any crops at all when so igno- 

 rant of magnesia and manganese ! The fact is, we do 

 not want manganese, and though our soils are low in 

 both lime and magnesia content, the low-grade sulphate 

 of potash which carries two-thirds as much sulphate of 

 magnesia as sulphate of potash, has supplied any needed 

 magnesia, while the sulphate of lime in superphosphate 

 and dissolved boneback has kept up the proper ratio 

 of lime for plant food. It is not necessary that the lime 

 for this purpose be basic. Properly mixed formulas 

 supply all such needs. When people study the sub- 

 ject thoroughly they appreciate what one man said : 

 "The man who knows enough to mix his own formulas 

 knows enough not to." 



Common Sense is as effective in the field as in the 

 home. Nature furnishes easy ways to preserve her bal- 

 ance and it is only when man interferes too much that 

 trouble comes. Did our plants have to depend upon our 

 supplying the exact amounts of everything necessary, 

 they would be in as bad a fix as the people who continu- 

 ally try so-called scientific diets. 



Practice has shown that on our table we should have 

 reasonable proportions of meat and vegetables, sweets 

 and fats, and that in our fields, crops prosper when 

 available ammonia, phosphoric acid and potash are added 

 in proper proportions. In the carriers of these essen- 

 tials and in the air and the soil are all other essentials, 



