370 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Dor, 



upon by him who would realize most. A few days' time in 

 perfecting the crop may determine its profit or loss. Then, 

 too, buyers are critical, and their fancy forms the one stand- 

 ard which must control the grower. To tit the market most 

 completely, and not fight it in the least, calls for a sharp and 

 discriminating appreciation of the changing tastes of con- 

 sumers. The universal appreciation of this condition and 

 its liability to changes form one of the difficult problems the 

 grower is obliged to face ; yet he who keeps in closest touch 

 with the palates of his customers and best pleases their epi- 

 curean tastes will be the one to realize most out of his grow- 

 ing crops. Last, but by no means least, in the consideration 

 of this question, must be reckoned the fertilizer item ; and, 

 whether one purchases the elements to combine himself or 

 obtains his supply in the open market, the labors of the 

 manufacturer must be recognized. Dependent as we so 

 largely are upon the market for the supply of plant food, 

 the services of the scientist in fixing values and determining 

 what single or combined fertilizer promises to give the best 

 results with any given crop must be relied upon more and 

 more by him who studies the economics of the question and 

 seeks to feed for most complete results. The day has passed 

 for blunderbuss methods of fertilization, and skill and care 

 are demanded in the selection of the elements wanted for any 

 given crop. 



Right here may well be enforced the old lesson of saving 

 and utilizing the natural accumulations about the barns, 

 yards, cesspools and sink spouts. Thousands upon thou- 

 sands of dollars are lost yearly by the farmers of every State 

 through failure to properly save the solids, and especially the 

 liquids, from the stock, protect from leaching under the 

 eaves, and hold by the free use of absorbents the accumula- 

 tions everywhere, that out of all these we very largely in- 

 crease the crop-producing power of the land. The most 

 intelligent use of the combined fertilizer on the market will 

 be secured by him who, through skill and economy, utilizes 

 to the utmost the wastes about the farm. 



One of the growing industries in New England, and one 

 to be fostered in every way, is that of poultry culture ; yet 



