THE USE OF MANURES. 



5 1 



lands in the far West tends to produce the same re- 

 sult. 



no. It is a narrow-sighted policy that opposes 

 thorough cultivation and the use of fertilizers, on 

 the ground that this may be the last crop, and such 

 investments of labor and capital can not be remu- 

 nerative the first year. Thorough, cultivation is 

 always proper. Whether fertilizers should be used, 

 as well as what kinds, depends upon circumstances, 

 which will be discussed in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE USE OF MANURES, OR FERTILIZERS. 



in. THE chemical improvement of soils em- 

 braces the use of fertilizers, or manures, the applica- 

 tion of which depends on the following well-estab- 

 lished principles : 



1. Plants derive an essential part of their food 

 from the soil. This includes all the inorganic ele- 

 ments found in the ash, and a variable quantity of 

 those organic elements which volatilize when the 

 plant is burned. 



2. Different plants require a special supply of 

 different kinds of inorganic food, or the same kinds 

 in different proportions, which must be contained in 

 the soil. 



3. Some soils have a deficiency of plant-food 



