SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 395 



It seems entirely probable that in the future we will require to 

 know in buying commercial fertilizers not only the percentage com- 

 position of plant-food constituents, but the nature of the substances 

 containing them. This would presuppose that the farmer knew 

 whether nitrate of soda, cotton-seed meal, or dried blood would give 

 the better results on his soil and for the crop he proposes to grow 

 a fact which it is not difficult to imagine he could determine for 

 himself within limits with the wire-pot method devised and described 

 by the Bureau of Soils. 



Lack of Knowledge. Everyone who has given any thought to 

 the matter realizes the woeful confusion and lack of intelligent con- 

 trol there is in our fertilizer practice. This is due solely to our lack 

 of knowledge of the real functions of fertilizers. We buy what is 

 offered to us on a basis of the percentage of potash, nitrogen, and 

 phosphoric acid, without a knowledge of the character of the in- 

 gredients. The manufacturer and dealer offer us the best they can, 

 and their goods are nearly always up to the guaranty so far as plant- 

 food elements are concerned, but neither the manufacturer knows, 

 nor do those who make the purchase know, what carrier the element 

 should be in to suit their particular needs. 



The experience of farmers and the results of scientific investiga- 

 tion show that both the material and the proportion of the different 

 materials in a mixed fertilizer may have an important influence on 

 the results for any particular soil, so that it would seem highly im- 

 portant that each brand of fertilizer should have a guarantee as to 

 the kind and amount of each ingredient in which the desirable 

 plant-food ingredient is carried. 



That it is the material rather than the elements contained 

 which determines the possible agricultural value of the fertilizer 

 is becoming more and more evident every day. It is not believed by 

 any competent person that nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, and 

 the various organic forms of nitrogen commonly used in fertilizers 

 are equally effective on all soils, crops, and in all seasons. Indeed, 

 there is undoubted evidence that they may differ widely, and yet 

 they are applied more or less indiscriminately and without certain 

 knowledge of what is being used in commercial fertilizers. 



Want of System. There is no rational system of fertilization 

 in general use in this country, and in this respect the United States 

 appears to be far behind some of the European countries. We have 

 indeed a general idea of the form of fertilizer material adapted to 

 some of our soils and crops, and some idea of the relation of soil con- 

 ditions and climatic conditions to fertilizer action, but these ideas are 

 very seldom based upon any exact data, and practically are not ap- 

 plied by fertilizer manufacturers or farmers. The advice of agri- 

 cultural chemists and agronomists is almost always that the farmers 

 should test their soils by plat experiments to determine the most 

 efficient forms and combinations of fertilizers. Such experiments 

 are costly and take time, and results vary with different seasons. 

 Such experiment stations as have carried on these fertilizer tests 



