124 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



l)rices commercially. It is the farmer's business to deter- 

 mine this relationship. 



All of the facts here related are, or should be, Avell known, 

 and are repeated mainly to refresh your minds, and get your 

 thoughts in the right channel, for I am sure you have already 

 questioned the necessity of such repetition of well-known 

 principles ; yet if we are to use commercial fertilizers 

 l^rofitably, they are but a few of the facts that should be 

 known. 



In addition to the importance of a knowledge of the 

 sources of supply and their relationships, we must take into 

 consideration, first, the soil itself. Soils vary widely in their 

 chemical composition; they differ in their absorptive and 

 retentive qualities ; they vary widely in their location, — all 

 of which conditions have a very important bearing upon the 

 commercial or profitable use of these materials. If we 

 roughly classify soils we find them grouped about as follows : 

 sandy soils, loamy soils, clay soils and peaty soils, — each 

 group possesses characteristics which should be a guide as to 

 the kind of fertilizer to use and method of using it. 



It can be safely assumed that most of the soils in ]S^ew 

 England have been derived from a mixture of various rock 

 particles, which are distributed in the valleys in a more or 

 less fine condition, and these, even on the hillsides that are 

 capable of being worked, are naturally rich in all of the 

 fertility elements, and when good crops cannot be secured 

 without the application of commercial fertilizers, it is not 

 because they are naturally poor, but because of their past 

 management and cropping; the available constituents have 

 been depleted to such an extent as to prevent the plant from 

 getting its normal supplies. The application of fertilizers, 

 therefore, becomes a necessity, more especially in the absence 

 of yard manures, or where quick-growing crops are desired. 

 That is, the natural methods for the improvement of these 

 soils cannot be accomplished so quickly, nor so successfully, 

 nor so profitably without as with the use of commercial 

 fertilizers. 



There are many soils, too, in this section of the country that 



