FERTILIZERS 23 



tion and the wood-ashes or other form of potash 

 should not be appHed until later. 



Peruvian Guanos. — The Peruvian guanos are 

 especially desirable as fertilizers for celery land, 

 owing to their availability. The better grades of 

 the guanos, however, have become almost ex- 

 hausted and many of those now upon the market 

 are comparatively low in fertilizing values. 



Night Soil and Sewage as Fertilizers. — These 

 waste products have considerable value as fertil- 

 izers while fresh, but their use in this form is too 

 offensive to be permissible, especially on land 

 devoted to a salad crop like celery. When decom- 

 posed, night soil has very little fertilizing value, 

 unless it has been thoroughly composted with peat 

 or muck. At present a vigorous campaign is being 

 carried on in opposition to the use of objectionable 

 fertilizers in growing garden crops, as there is a 

 possibility of diseases being transmitted thereby. 

 It is reasonably safe to assume that the composi- 

 tion and flavor of such plants as celery may be 

 easily influenced by the character of the fertilizers. 

 All organic manures should be well decomposed 

 before applying and thoroughly incorporated with 

 the soil before planting time. The only safe course 

 is to abstain from the employment of night soil, sew- 

 age, and similar offensive fertilizers on celery land. 



The Application of Fertilizers. — As a rule the 

 higher grades of fertilizers are more economical to 

 use than the cheaper kinds, owing chiefly to the 

 saving in freight and subsequent handling. None 

 of the materials used in the preparation of fertil- 



