Food for Plants. 95 



forms by the action of the soil hacteria during the warm 

 summer months of the previous year was utilized by the 

 plants occupying the ground at that time or has been 

 carried down just below^ the reach of the roots of the 

 young plants by the melting snow and the heavy rains of 

 late winter and early spring, and does not come up in 

 early spring in time to be of use. 



When we consider the fact that most plants require 

 and take up about 75 per cent, of their total Nitrate 

 Nitrogen during the earlier stages of their growth and 

 that Nitrogen is the element most largely entering into 

 the building up of the life principle (or protoplasm) of 

 all plants, it is plain that we cannot afford to jeopardize 

 the chances of growing crops by having only an insuffi- 

 cient supply of immediately available Nitrogen when it 

 is most needed. 



WHAT PERCENTAGE OF WATER DOES HAY LOSE 



DURING STORAGE? 



Result of Rhode Island Official Experiment. 



Hay w^hich had been stored during the summer 

 was removed from the mow the following February, and 

 found to contain 12.21 per cent, of water. A careful com- 

 parison of other moisture determinations of hay leads to 

 the conclusion that 12.21 is a fair general average of the 

 percentage of water in the best quality of barn-cured 

 hay. When hay is first stored it usually contains from 

 20 to 28 per cent, of moisture. The loss in storage may 

 be said to be about 12 to 16 per cent. 



Growing hay for market is a subject that is receiving 

 much attention from progressive farmers of late for 

 several reasons, viz. : 



First, growing hay for market on a portion of the farm 

 is a partial solution of the serious labor problem ; since 

 it is much easier to get several hands during the rush 

 of the short haying season than to get good, efficient labor 

 for eight or more months of the year ; 



