No. 4.] COMMKKCIAL FERTILIZERS. 133 



crop with that element which its characteristics of season 

 or time, or object of growth, show it to demand. 



As already pointed out, it is not so much a qucstidn of 

 (piantity and quality of the materials sui)})lied. Formulas 

 varying in respect to the elements may be, of course, varied 

 to suit specific conditions, when conditions are known, l)ut for 

 general conditions a formula carrying 5 per cent nitrogen, 

 5.5 per cent '' available " ])hosp]ioric acid and 7.5 per cent 

 potash is tyj)ical. This may be made up as follows, nitrate 

 of soda, 100 })ounds, sulphate of ammonia, 100 pounds, dried 

 blood, 150 pounds, ground bone, 100 pounds, acid phosphate, 

 400 pounds, and muriate or sulphate of jx»tash, 150 poimds, 

 and could be regarded as one of the best for crops of this 

 sort, because it contains large amounts of nitrogen derived 

 from the best sources of supply, enough organic substance to 

 make a good mechanical mixture, and phosi)horic acid and 

 potash from best sources. For such crops as beets, cabbage, 

 turnips and onions, large quantities of nitrate may be used 

 in addition, ranging from 200 to (500 pounds per acre, pref- 

 erably a})plied in fractional dressings. 



One of the most prominent potato growers in New Jersey 

 informed me that a formula given to him fifteen years ago, 

 when he first began growing potatoes, carrying 4 per cent 

 nitr<»gen, 8 per cent " available " phosphoric acid and 10 

 per cent potash, derived from best sources, and which he 

 had applied at the rate of 1,500 jwunds or more per acre, 

 had been more useful, more profitable and more generally 

 satisfactory than any other that he had used, in order to 

 reduce to some extent the cost of the materials. He had come 

 back to this formula, and the only variation that he has 

 made in all these years has been in the amounts applied, — 

 increasing it gradually from year to year. His farm is now 

 regarded as one of the best for all crops, and his returns 

 have been such as to enable him to live in the city part of 

 the year, at summer watering-places a part of the year, and 

 to spend his winters in Florida, all because he knew what 

 commercial fertilizer to use for potatoes. His land was orig- 

 inally no Ix^tter than thousands of others ; his methods were 

 no better; his business qualifications probably no better, but 



