CHAPTER VIII. 



FERTILIZERS. 

 BY M. G. ELLZEY, M.D. 



THE chapter on fertilizers has been assigned to me by the 

 editor-in-chief. I shall endeavor to make it simple, practical, 

 and useful. The value of a fertilizer depends upon the use 

 which is made of it. The fertilization of land must be regarded, 

 not merely as a science, but as both a science and a practical 

 art. The attempt to reduce the deductions of science strictly 

 to practice may result in pecuniary disaster. Practice which 

 does violence to the principles of the science may be tempora- 

 rily successful, but the final result will be inevitable loss. 



It is universally known that land cannot be continuously 

 cropped without deterioration, unless, by some means, the ele- 

 ments of its fertility, removed by the crops, are restored to the 

 soil. This cannot be fully accomplished by hap-hazard and ran- 

 dom methods. Systematic practice, based upon scientific princi- 

 ples, is absolutely essential to anything like, complete success. 

 Let us not forget our responsibility as temporary occupiers and 

 users of the national domain. We are bound to acquit our- 

 selves of the charge of spoliation of the natural inheritance of 

 posterity. With a great scientific establishment under control 

 of a department of the national government ; with endowed col- 

 leges and experiment stations in almost every- State, the knowl- 

 edge of the scientific principles upon which the art of culture 

 must be based is not beyond the reach of any. 



The systematic and scientific use of fertilizers is necessarily 

 based on a scientific and systematic farm practice. At the 

 foundation of this lies a systematic, scientific, and judicious 

 rotation of crops. Such a rotation of crops is the foundation of 

 all systematic farming. The rotation must depend upon climate, 

 soil, and access to market. One crop in the rotation, every- 

 where, should be a resting, or fallow crop, for the recuperation 

 and benefit of the soil ; but the fallow-crop may also be of great 

 value for feeding or depasturing, the resulting manure to be 

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