Food for tubers of the character demanded by our northern markets 



Plants a smai^ r ound tuber, which cooks dry and has a nutty flavor. 



These characteristics of quality cannqt be secured in crops 



grown on heavy soils, nor on sandy soils too liberally supplied 



with Nitrogen. 



The fertilizer may be applied at the 

 Methods of , . , , ., 



p . time or making up the rows, in order that 



it may be evenly distributed before the slips 

 are planted. This will encourage immediate growth of 

 plant, and the small quantity of Nitrate which is applied 

 early in the season will not militate against the proper de- 

 velopment of the tuber, as an absence of Nitrogen in the 

 soil after the Nitrate has been taken up will discourage 

 the formation of the rooty form of tuber, which is market- 

 able at a lower price. 



Experiments have also demonstrated the necessity in the 

 soils of an abundance of minerals, and a fertilizer containing 

 2.5 per cent. Nitrogen, 7 per cent, available phosphoric acid 

 and 10 per cent, potash, one-half the Nitrogen to be drawn 

 from Nitrate, seems to meet the requirements better than 

 one containing a larger amount of Nitrogen. 



II. For Crops of Low Commercial Value. 



. ^ The growth of hay and the cereals, wheat 



Hay and Grain. . ' 



and rye, forms a very important part or 



the farming interests of the Eastern, Middle and Southern 

 Coast States. The areas of these crops in eighteen States, in- 

 cluding Tennessee and Kentucky, are, in round numbers, as 

 follows : 



Hay 15,000,000 acres. 



Wheat 8,000,000 " 



Rye 772,000 



In most of these States large quantities of commercial 

 fertilizers are used, either because the soils are naturally 

 poor or because they have been depleted of their original 

 constituents by continuous cropping, and, even with added 

 fertilizers, the yields are not large enough to make the crops 

 in themselves highly profitable. In many States the yield 

 in particular districts is large, but the average yield of hay 

 is but 1.25 tons per acre, of wheat, but 13 bushels per acre, 

 and but 15 bushels of rye. The aggregate production of 



