Top-Dressings. 



Food for 

 Plants 



Top-Dressme, as commonly understood, -^ , ^ ^, ^°i 



^ . , ,^ ,..-'-, ,, ' Early Growth 



means simply the application oi plant food , p, 



after seeding, and after the crop has made 



some growth. It has various objects, but chief among 



them is the fact that fall sown crops should make an early 



start in the spring in order to establish an extensive root 



system (foraging both for food and water), and to protect 



the soil by shading before the hot, dry days come. The 



earlier growth of crops is largely a matter of Nitrate plant 



food, but in the spring the soil is usually wet and cold, both 



conditions unfavorable for the action of organisms which 



convert the stored ammoniate plant food into the Nitrates. 



A very late spring may prevent the natural and usual 



Nitration of this kind of plant food, though „ tvt-.. ^ 

 , . . , ^ , ' . & How Nitrate 



large quantities may have been applied in o q,. 



the form of organic ammoniates and other ,, ,' ., 



, ° , , , Money, and the 



crude manures, so that the warm weather ^ 



finds the crop very backward and a full 



crop cannot be made. An application of Nitrate of Soda, • 



the most quickly available form of ammoniate plant food 



in commercial use as a fertilizer, as soon as the crop shows 



the fresh green color of new groiuth in the spring, prevents 



this loss of time and establishes the crop so as to resist drouth 



and reach and make use of the plant food necessary for the 



maturity of its stalk and the ripening of its seed. 



Top-Dressings are also made to advan- 



tage on fruits and vegetables from wliich the 



proportion of valuable produce to stalk or 



vine is so great. With these crops there must be no check 



in the regular growth of the plants, and Nitrate of Soda 



alone insures this. With other forms of ammoniate plant 



food, rains or cool weather interfere with jj ,. 



the regular supply of Nitrate, by checking . . . 



, o. r 1 • 1-1 1 Ammoniates are, 



the action or the organisms which cause the r -^ .. 



Nitration of crude ammoniate substances. Tr,-. , , ', 

 rj^ , . , , ... Nitrated, and 



1 op-dressings are also used on very rolling o, c 



lands, in which case the hill tops show ,, p 



lighter colored foliage in prolonged periods 



of dry weather, and light applications of Nitrate of Soda 



are found to be profitable. 



