220 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



or early cabbage or potatoes followed by late beans or corn, and 

 similar combinations, are more satisfactory. In the South as many 

 as three crops may be grown one after the other on the same land, 

 but at the extreme north, where the season is short, but one crop 

 can be grown, or possibly two by some such combination as early 

 peas followed by turnips. (F. B. 255.) 



FERTILIZERS. 



The kind of fertilizer employed has a marked influence upon 

 the character and quality of the vegetables produced. For the gar- 

 den only those fertilizers that have been carefully prepared should be 

 used. Fertilizers of organic composition, such as barnyard manure, 

 should have passed through the fermenting stage before being used. 

 The use of night soil generally is not to be recommended, as its 

 application, unless properly treated for the destruction of disease 

 germs, may prove dangerous to health. 



BARNYARD MANURE. 



For garden crops there is no fertilizer that will compare with 

 good, well-rotted barnyard manure. In localities where a supply 

 of such manure can not be secured it will be necessary to depend 

 upon commercial fertilizers, but the results are rarely so satisfactory. 

 In selecting manure for the garden, care should be taken that it 

 does not contain any element that will be injurious to the soil. 

 An excess of sawdust or shavings used as bedding will have a ten- 

 dency to produce sourness in the soil. Chicken, pigeon, and sheep 

 manures rank high as fertilizers, their value being somewhat greater 

 than ordinary barnyard manures, and almost as great as some of 

 the lower grades of commercial fertilizers. The manure from fowls 

 is especially adapted for dropping in the hills or rows of plants. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 



Commercial fertilizers are sold under a guaranteed analysis, 

 and generally at a price consistent with their fertilizing value. No 

 definite rule can be given for the kind or quantity of fertilizer to be 

 applied, as this varies with the crop and the land. At first the only 

 safe procedure is to use a good high-grade fertilizer at the rate of 

 from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds to the acre and note the results. Mar- 

 ket gardeners frequently apply as much as 2,500 pounds of high- 

 grade fertilizer per acre each year. Farmers who do not have 

 sufficient barnyard manure for their crops should begin gradually 

 to use the commercial fertilizers. (F. B. 255.) 



PROFITS FROM THE USE OF FERTILIZERS. 



The aim usually in the use of artificial fertilizers is to so supple- 

 ment soil supplies of plant-food as to obtain a profit, and, as already 

 intimated, the profits for the different crops will be in proportion to 

 their economical use of the desired constituent. Still, one should 

 not be deterred from the use of fertilizing materials, even if the 

 conditions should render the application apparently wasteful that 

 is, the farmer should estimate the increase that it is necessary for him 

 to obtain, in order to be regarded as profitable, and if only this is 

 obtained, he should not be discouraged. Many persons seem to 

 have gotten the impression that the use of fertilizers is a gamble 



