Food for t ne market garden group of crops shows a high market value 

 succulent vegetables will bring as much per ton and the 

 46 yield will be five to ten times as great. These relations of 

 cost of material applied to value of crop are exceedingly im- 

 portant, and should be carefully looked into before planning 

 for the purchase of materials. 



In the next place, the form of Nitro- 

 Certain Crops g en use( j j s verv important. Many crops, 

 are especially as ^ f or exam pi e) those grown for early 

 ited by spring forage, or for hay or grain, as rye, 

 Nitrate Nitrogen. wne at, timothy, orchard and other grasses, 

 are unable to obtain the Nitrogen from soil sources early 

 enough to permit of a rapid and maximum development; the 

 agencies which promote the activities which cause a change 

 of organic forms of Nitrogen into Nitrates are dormant, 

 hence an application of Nitrogen in a completely soluble and 

 immediately available form supplies the plant with what it 

 needs at the time of its greatest need, and great gains in yield 

 are made. In the culture of early market garden crops, too, 

 or such as are improved in quality, and thus increased in 

 value, by virtue of quickness of growth, the Nitrate is of the 

 greatest service. Such crops as tomatoes, cabbage, turnips, 

 beet and others, in order to be highly profitable, must be 

 grown and harvested early, as anyone can grow them in their 

 regular season; their growth must be promoted or forced as 

 much as possible in a season when the natural agencies are not 

 active in the change of soil Nitrogen into available forms, 

 and the plants must, therefore, be supplied artificially with 

 the active forms of Nitrogen, if a rapid and continuous 

 growth is to be maintained. Their edible quality is depend- 

 ent, to a marked degree, upon this rapidity of development; 

 hence a supply of plant-food in reasonable excess of ordinary 

 demands is essential, in order that unfavorable conditions of 

 season may, in part at least, be overcome. 



Owing to the fact that Nitrate of Soda is 

 Top-E -essings f reque ntly used after the seed has germin- 

 ated and the crop made a partial growth, 

 ^ oda - this method of use is referred to as "top- 



dressing" that is, broadcasting over the entire surface, or, 

 in the case of hoed crops, alongside the row. This form of 

 Nitrogen is peculiarly adapted for this method of applica- 

 tion, since it is so completely soluble that but a slight amount 



