the proportions which various crops store within their ^"^od for 

 substance of the three elements of plant food; in estimating ^"^^ 

 the composition of a fertilizer for any of these crops, the i°7 

 table serves as a suggestion. 



Suggestions for Top-Dressing Crops. 



It must be understood that fertilizers do not take the place 

 of tillage. However thoroughly a crop may he fertilized, with- 

 out proper preparation of the soil the result must be more or 

 less a failure. In< top-dressing it is very important that the 

 Nitrate of Soda be thoroughly ground, that an even distribu- 

 tion can be made; the fertilizer must go to the plant, not the 

 plant to the fertilizer. 



The Alfalfa, Cow Pea and Clover Question. 



This class of plants has the property of taking -g , 

 inert ammonia (Nitrogen) from the air and , 

 transforming it into combinations more or less 

 useful as plant food. This feature is of great value to 

 agriculture, but not so much from the plant food point of 

 view as from the fact that these plants are rich in that kind 

 of food substance commonly called "flesh formers." 

 Liberally fertilized, and not omitting Nitrate in the fertilizer, 

 we have a crop 'containing more Nitrogenous food (protein 

 or flesh formers) than the Nitrogen actually given as fertil- 

 izer could have made by itself. The most common plants of 

 this class are: alfalfa, alsike clover, crimson clover, red 

 clover, Japan clover, cow peas, lupines, Canadian field peas, 

 the vetches, etc. All these forage crops should be sown 

 after clean culture crops. The best method of fertilizing 

 is to apply from 300 to 500 pounds of fertilizer, in the early 

 autumn, and every autumn; in the spring, top-dress with 

 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, and repeat with about 

 100 pounds after each cutting. It is true that clovers may 

 supply their own ammoniate plant food, but this is an 

 experiment experienced farmers do not often repeat. A fair 

 green crop of clover, for example, removes from the soil 

 some 160 pounds of ammonia, while in 500 pounds of 

 Nitrate of Soda there are less than 100 pounds. Undoubtedly, 

 the ammonia taken from the air is a great aid, but we 



