In the case of such market-garden crops as tomatoes, cabbage, 

 turnips, beets, and others, earliness and quality are important con- 

 siderations. To be highly remunerative they must be harvested 

 early; in other words, they must be forced that is, their growth 

 hastened at a time of the year when the decomposition processes 

 in the soil are proceeding but slowly ; hence the value of such sub- 

 stances as nitrate of soda. The edible quality of these products is 

 likewise dependent in great measure upon uniform and rapid growth, 

 and for this reason a supply of plant food in reasonable excess of 

 ordinary demands is essential in order to counteract, so far as possi- 

 ble, the unfavorable conditions of season. This should not be con- 

 strued to mean, however, that the crops of lower commercial value 

 should be abandoned, but rather that our systems of practice shall 

 be changed so as to include in the rotation some high-priced crop, 

 to which shall be applied such an abundance of plant food as to 

 insure a yield, limited only by the season and climate, which will 

 under average conditions of soil and season return a profit besides 

 leaving a residue of plant food for the cereals, grasses, or catch crops 

 that follow. These, being capable of extracting their mineral food 

 from relatively insoluble sources, will yield a large increase of crop 

 without a direct outlay for fertilizers. Farming will thus be more 

 successful, because profitable crops are secured, while fertility is at 

 the same time increased. 



Definite rules can not be given as to quantities of commercial 

 fertilizers to be applied, as the amounts necessary to produce large 

 crops will vary with the character and the state of fertility of the 

 soil, the kind of crop to be grown, the time and manner of appli- 

 cation, and other conditions. For ordinary farm crops 500 pounds 

 per acre may be considered a heavy application ; applications of half 

 a ton or more will only give economical returns in the case of special 

 crops grown under an intensive system of farming. Farmers who 

 expect to use commercial fertilizers on their land are advised to make 

 applications on a small area at first, at the rate of about 200 pounds 

 per acre, or at different rates per acre, so that they may gain some 

 experience as to the best methods of applying the fertilizers and as to 

 the profitableness of the applications on their land, before they spend 

 much money for these. The poorer the soils on which commercial 

 fertilizers are used, the better returns may, in general, be expected. 

 Lime may be applied at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre on light 

 soils, and double this amount on heavy soils, in the sections where 

 this constituent is likely to produce an increase in production. 



THE PURCHASE OF FERTILIZERS. 



As a rule, farmers are inclined to purchase fertilizers on the 

 ton basis without sufficient regard to the amount or form of the 

 constituents contained in them. The direct value of a fertilizer is de- 

 termined by the percentage of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash 

 which it contains; hence, the buying of a fertilizer is virtually the 

 buying of one or more of these constituents. The more concen- 

 trated the material or the richer it is in plant food, the less will be 

 the proportionate expense of handling the constituent desired. The 



