KS Food for Plants. 



A i;hc'ii (iiiantity ol' Nitrate will pro- 

 On What Crops duee a .^'iven aiiioniit of ])laiit substance. 

 Nitrate Should A ton of wheat, straw and grain to- 

 Be Used. gether, contain about 1, .")()() pounds of 



dry matter, of which 25 pounds is Nitro- 

 gen. To produce a ton of wheat and straw together 

 wouhl require, therefore, 170 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, 

 in which quantity there is 25 pounds of Nitrogen. 



A ton of cabbage, on the other hand, contains about 

 •ii/o pounds of Nitrogen. To produce a ton of cabbage, 

 therefore, would require 30 pounds of Nitrate of Soda. 



There are no crops on which it is more profitable to 

 use fertilizers than on vegetables and small fruits, pro- 

 vided thev are used rightlv. Failures with chemical 



fertilizers are caused usually by lack 

 Fertilizers for of knowledge. There is no doubt but 

 Vegetables and that stable manure is available as a fer- 

 Small Fruits. tilizer, and in some cases may be indis- 



pensable, but at the same time the quan- 

 tities necessary to produce good results could be greatly 

 reduced by using chemical fertilizers to supply plant 

 food and only enough manure to give lightness and add 

 humus to the soil. 



For crops like cabbage and beets, that 

 What Fertilizers it is desirable to force to rapid maturity, 

 to Use for Gar- the kind of plant food, especially of Ni- 

 den Crops. trogen, is of the greatest importance. 



Many fertilizers sold for this purpose 

 have all the Nitrogen they contain in insolu1)le and un- 

 available form, so that it requires a considerable time 

 for the plants to get it. Another fault is that they do not 

 contain nearly enough Nitrogen. Stable manure con- 

 tains on the average in one ton 10 pounds Nitrogen, 10 

 pounds potash, and only 5 pounds phosphoric acid, Avhile 

 the average " complete " fertilizer contains more than 

 trvice as much phosphoric acid as Nitrogen, a most un- 

 natural and unprofitable ration. A ratio of 2 Nitrogen, 

 2 potash, and 8 of phosphoric acid, is frequent in many 



