Food for Plants. lOry 



witliout Nitrate, on the upland, to $23.04 with Nitrate, 

 on the lowland. It is to be expected from the preceding 

 discussion that the relative profits from the use of Ni- 

 trate on the two areas is changed, the net profit of $20.50 

 on the upland being reduced to $10.20, and that of $3.14 

 on the lowland being increased to $7.36 per acre. These 

 net results, secured under what would be regarded as 

 expensive methods, are certainlj^ satisfactory from a 

 financial standpoint, and indicate that on lands requiring 

 expensive treatment hay growing may be made profit- 

 able and warrant the following general suggestions as to 

 the growing of profitable crops : 



The essential conditions necessary for obtaining maxi- 

 mum crops of timothy are, first, a clean, thick stand of 

 healthy timothy plants; second, an abundance of avail- 

 able plant food is needed by the plants to make a normal 

 growth. 



It must not be overlooked that available plant food 

 at the right time implies that there shall be sufficient 

 moisture present in the soil to carry the plant food into 

 the roots of the plants in a soluble form; and just in 

 proportion as we fail to have a sufficient supply of mois- 

 ture present when needed, Ave render our supply of plant 

 food unavailable as far as plant growth is concerned. 

 Thus, it is well known that very frequently the limiting 

 factor in the growth of plants is a lack of sufficient 

 moisture in the soil at a critical time rather than a 

 deficiency of actual plant food in the soil. 



For this reason it is best to select those portions of a 

 farm for growdng timothy, in w4iich the soil is rather 

 heavy and retentive of moisture. A\Tien there is a supply 

 of stable manure available for use in hay growing, it 

 should, Avhenever possible, be plowed under or otherwise 

 worked into the soil before seeding, and not be used as 

 a top-dressing on meadows already seeded, for the rea- 

 son that the chief value of stable manure is that it adds 

 large quantities of humus-making material to our soils, 

 and the soils need their humus in them and not on them. 



