FERTILIZERS. 91 



trouble can be proved by using manures rich in potash, 

 when fertility will return. My farms, four of them, -are 

 made up of land ranging from sandy loam to strong loam 

 and reclaimed meadow. They have been under cultiva- 

 tion from one to ten years. During the first five years 

 they were dressed with various manures, and more or less 

 with commercial fertilizers ; during the last five years I 

 have depended more and more on commercial fertilizers, 

 using, of the three ingredients which compose these, from 

 thirty-five to forty-five tons annually. Much of this I 

 have used in connection with barnyard manure, using the 

 latter broadcast, and the fertilizer in the drills. I say 

 drills, for I have not planted corn, beans, or potatoes in 

 hills for the past dozen years ; neither do I believe that 

 any of my farmer friends, after once giving the drill 

 system a fair trial, will ever go back to the old way. 



FORMULAS FOR VARIOUS CROPS. 



The following table of formulas for various crops are 

 such as are used by fertilizer dealers of good repute. I 

 present them as good starting-points, to be followed or 

 varied as the characteristics of each field, as developed by 

 the soil-tests, may indicate. The figures in the first three 

 columns indicate the per cent of ammonia, etc., needed. 

 In the next they indicate how many pounds of the mixture 

 to apply. 



