252 TOBACCO 



are frequently injured by certain coarse animal forms of 

 nitrogenous fertilizers, and the presence of chlorine in 

 fertilizers is to be avoided. Objections have been raised 

 against such coarse animal matters as slaughter-house 

 waste, coarse meat scraps, and the like. 



In humid weather very active fermentation and 

 putrefaction will sometimes accompany the nitration 

 of the coarser forms of nitrogen, and hence the desira- 

 bility of having a nitrogenous fertilizer which is under 

 perfect control. Many materials are in a coarse con- 

 dition and cannot be properly used. 



Tobacco is a very strong feeder and requires heavy 

 fertilization. The most important of all fertilizers for 

 tobacco is nitrogen, and the choice and management of 

 this particular fertilizer frequently will determine, more 

 than any other single factor, the final quality of the leaf. 



Success, the art of taking pains, always means doing 

 things the best way. We know that tobacco needs a 

 steady supply of available nitrogen. Nitrate of soda 

 will supply this, but many other forms of plant food 

 nitrogen will not, except indirectly and with irregularity. 



Unquestioned authorities in experimental agriculture 

 have shown that i Ib. of nitrogen in various forms has 

 also a varying power of ability to make vegetable growth. 

 On the basis of scientific plant feeding, it takes, for 

 example, 312 Ib. of barnyard manure nitrogen, or 185 Ib. 

 of coarse tankage nitrogen, or 149 Ib. of nitrogen of 

 cotton-seed meal, or 145 Ib. of nitrogen of dried blood, 

 or 114 Ib. of sulphate of ammonia nitrogen, to equal 

 loo Ib. of nitrate of soda nitrogen. These figures have 

 been substantially confirmed by different leading experi- 

 ment authorities in North America and Europe. 



Chilean nitrate is the form in which plants make the 

 best use of nitrogen. None of the other commercial 

 fertilizer materials in America holds its nitrogen in 

 this form. The other nitrogens, however, are converted 

 into the nitrate form in the soil, through the action 

 of certain soil micro-organisms. Now there are certain 

 soil and weather conditions favourable to this change 

 of form, others distinctly unfavourable, and conditions 

 under which soil organisms cause the actual loss of 



