No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 97 



they should be, then the lower grades are all wrong. If we 

 consider that a good, general vegetable fertilizer should con- 

 tain ammonia, 4 to 5 per cent ; available phosphoric acid, 7 

 to 8 per cent; potash, K.,0, 7 to 8 per cent, — what are we 

 to think of the low-grade fertilizer that is guaranteed to con- 

 tain ammonia, 1 to 2 per cent ; available phosphoric acid, 9 

 to 10 per cent; potash, K2O, 1 to 2 per cent? Neither of 

 the analyses are the extremes of most of the large fertilizer 

 manufacturers, and one or the other is very much out of 

 proportion. The first of these we consider a safe fertilizer 

 to invest in for use in the vegetable garden, while we think 

 that the latter would be very expensive. It seems to be 

 almost a universal practice with fertilizer manufacturers to 

 reduce the amount of ammonia and potash and increase the 

 amount of phosphoric acid as they reduce the price. It 

 would seem as though the phosphoric acid were the body of 

 the fertilizers, and the ammonia and potash the soul. If that 

 is so, there is not usually much soul in fertilizers that sell 

 below twenty-five dollars per ton. Phosphoric acid is prob- 

 ably needed on most soils, and if we know to what extent, very 

 w^ell ; if not, it is safer to use a more evenly balanced fertilizer. 



We will consider the vegetaljle garden in a general way. 

 Land that is to be used for the very early crops of spinach, 

 beets and the more hardy vegetables, if ploughed in narrow 

 ridges in the late fall, can often be planted in the spring, be- 

 fore the frost is all out. It will not work so well during the 

 summer as land left until in good condition before working 

 it, but will, sometimes, give an earlier crop. It is well to 

 use a good fertilizer liberally, on these beds, even when ten 

 or more cords of good manure were ploughed in, per acre, 

 in the fall. We sow celery seed at this season, often with 

 our beets, and sometimes get a good stand. When sowing- 

 celery in the open field we mix a little lettuce seed with it, 

 so as to ])e able to see the rows as soon as possible. The 

 celery comes slowly. 



We find the Crosby Improved Egyptian beet the best extra 

 early, but it is difficult to get true seed. We fail to get any 

 that is satisfactory for less than one dollar per pound. The 

 Detroit Dark Red, while not so early as the Egyptian, and 

 making a much heavier top, is a good second early. 



