Nitrate of Soda 



arising 



lugs, six cents per pound; tips, eight cents per pound 

 trash, two cents per pound. 



One hundred and sixty pounds Nitrate of Soda 

 costing about ^3.75, increased the value of the 

 crop $71.20 per acre! 



We recommend for tobacco a mixture of 

 200 pounds Nitrate of Soda, 300 pounds super- 

 phosphate and 200 pounds sulphate of potash 

 per acre. This mixture would cost about 

 ^28.00 per ton and would contain over 6 

 per cent, of Nitrogen (equal to nearly 8 per 

 cent, of ammonia). This is nearly twice as 

 much Nitrogen as would be obtained in a 

 "complete fertilizer" or "special tobacco 

 manure," costing $35.00 per ton. 



Milkmen, who sell milk in our cities, , ^ 

 ,1 • 11 for Forage Crops, 



know the great inconvenience and loss ^ ^ 



from a failure of green fodder from drouth. 



It is now known that the Nitrogen in organic matter of 

 soil or manure is slowly converted into the Nitrate form by 

 a minute organism. This cannot grow if the soil be too cold, 

 or too wet, or too dry, or in a s6ur soil. As a general rule, 

 soils must be kept sweet and the other conditions necessary 

 for the conversion of the Nitrogen into the Nitrate form are 

 warm weather and a moist soil in good physical condition. 



In the early spring the soil is too wet and too cold for 

 the change to take place. We must wait for warm weather. 

 But the gardener does not want to wait. He makes his 

 profits largely on his early crops. Guided only by experi- 

 ence and tradition, he fills his land with manure, and even 

 then he gets only a moderate crop the first year. He puts 

 on 75 tons more manure the next year, and gets a better 

 crop. And he may continue putting on manure till the soil 

 is as rich in Nitrogen as the manure itself, and even then 

 he must keep on manuring or he fails to get a good early 

 crop. Why ^ The Nitrogen of the soil, or of roots of 

 plants, or dung, is retained in the soil in a comparatively 

 inert condition. There is little or no loss. But when it 

 is slowly converted into Nitrate during warm weather, the 

 plants take it up and grow rapidly. 



How, then, is the market gardener to get the Nitrate 

 absolutely necessary for the growth of his early plants ? He 



Food for 

 Plants 



17 



