Food for interferes with the maturity of the crop, producing not only 

 a large crop of useless vines, but also few marketable roots, 

 ^2 and those of very poor keeping quality. 



On this account, the ammoniate plant food applied 

 should not be of the ordinary kind which becomes slowly 

 available, and continues to supply active Nitrated ammonia 

 later in the season, thus delaying maturity to such extent 

 that the crop is injured by cold weather. 

 Formula for Sweet Potatoes : 



Nitrate of Soda (after slips are rooted) Top-Dressing. . 200 lbs. 



Muriate of potash lOO 



Superphosphate 200 



Sugar-Cane. 



This is a typical crop of the West Indies, but is also 

 grown successfully in Louisiana and Florida. The Sand- 

 wich Islands are also very successful for cane growing. The 

 method of planting, by planting sections of cane, is pretty 

 generally practiced in all sugar cane countries. The soil is 

 generally selected for its natural fertility, but many cane 

 lands fail simply because the humus, ammonia supplying 

 substance, has been cropped out of the soil. The yields 

 per acre are very high, often reaching 100 tons of green 

 cane. With such heavy cropping, the plant food needs are 

 naturally very high — nearly 400 pounds of ammonia (Nitro- 

 gen) being actually required per acre. The fertilizer used 

 contains ammonia, phosphoric acid and potash. An excess 

 of phosphoric acid is apt to force an early maturity of the 

 crop, especially if ammonia is lacking. Evidences of a too 

 early maturity should be promptly treated with applications 

 along the rows of 400 to 800 pounds of Nitrated ammoniate 

 per acre — Nitrate of Soda. 



If the soil is very rich in organic matters, the crop 

 will fail to mature properly, and while the yield of cane 

 may be great, the actual sugar produced will be low. Ni- 

 trated ammoniates have the advantage of furnishing ammonia 

 when the plants need it most. If very rich soils must be used 

 it is best to grow a forage crop on the soil one or two years 

 before planting to cane. The proper care of stubble crops 

 is largely a matter of fertilizing; if fertilizers are freely used, 



