fertilizer for all should be the rule rather than heavy manuring without fer- 

 tilizer for some and exclusively fertilizer for others. * 



Refuse Organic Materials. All refuse vegetable matter has a manu- 

 rial value and many kinds are particularly rich in potash. A ton of dry 

 corn stover, at the present prices for potash salts, contains nearly ten dollars' 

 worth of that element. Tobacco stems are still richer, while the stems and 

 tops of all crops and weeds of many kinds are also rich in that element. 

 Under existing conditions it will pay unusually well to gather and utilize all 

 materials of this class, weeds carrying ripe seeds perhaps excepted. Such weeds 

 may be burned and their ashes utilized. Many of them can be used as bed- 

 ding in stables and pens where animals are kept. If, as in the case of corn 

 stover, they have a food value, the potash they contain may be practically 

 all recovered in the animal excrements, provided the urine is carefully saved. 

 Vegetable materials not fitted for use as bedding or the feed of live stock 

 may be plowed or otherwise worked into the soil, or may be first made into 

 compost. 



Wood Ashes. These will be unusually valuable this year. They will 

 help sweeten sour soils as they contain a large proportion of carbonate of 

 lime and other alkalies, and they supply potash. Save all that are made 

 upon the farm or in the house and buy wherever possible at a reasonable 

 price. House to house purchase in one's own neighborhood may be advis- 

 able in localities where wood is much used as fuel. Remember that leaching 

 removes most of the potash of ashes. Local lime and brick kilns should not 

 be forgotten. Ashes from these are lower in potash than house ashes, but 

 are well worth looking for. 



Green Manuring. Green manuring may to some extent reduce the 

 necessity for the application of fertilizers. It is sometimes valuable in 

 preventing erosion; it may reduce the loss of soluble plant food by leaching; 

 it may increase the availability of soil constituents by direct action of the 

 feeding roots and by the fermentation of the crop when incorporated with 

 the soil; and if a legume is selected, it may increase the stock of soil nitro- 

 gen by acquisition from the air. It is now too late to undertake green 

 manuring for hoed crops of next year, but its advantages should be kept in 

 mind. 



Kelp and Seaweed. These are particularly valuable as sources of 

 nitrogen and potash, and under existing conditions those living near the sea- 

 board can well afford to incur a heavier expense in collecting and applying 

 these materials than in years when fertilizers can be more cheaply obtained. 



FERTILIZER SOURCES OF PLANT FOOD 

 1. Nitrogen 



Nitrate of soda is the most immediately available source of nitrogen and 

 is especially important for crops whose early growth is chiefly at low temper- 

 atures and on soils deficient in potash, since the soda it contains will some- 

 what reduce the amount of potash taken by the plant. 



On soils not deficient in lime sulfate of ammonia is a good source of ni- 

 trogen, although its action is not quite so immediate as that of nitrate. 



Cyanamid, at present prices one of the cheapest quick-acting nitrogen 

 fertilizers, is also a good source of that element. Because it contains lime it 

 may be especially adapted for use on acid soils ; but for the same reason it is 

 likely to cause loss of ammonia if mixed with sulfate of ammonia or organic 



'Farmers' Bulletin 192 on "Barn Yard Manures" can be obtained Ot the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



