Food for nar y commercial fertilizers. The fertilizer suggested above 



Plants should be applied in the spring, and at the same time broad- 



'4 1 cast along the rows Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 200 pounds 



per acre. If the plants lose color in spots late in the season, 



work into the soil about the vine an ounce or so of Nitrate, 



but this must not be done later than midsummer. 



Profitable Fertilization of Grapes. 



Summary of Experiments by Prof. Paul Wagner, Director of Darmstadt 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Darmstadt, Qermany. 



Systematic fertilizer experiments with grapes have been 

 conducted in this country so rarely that we must seek in- 

 formation in this line from foreign experimenters. The 

 experiment detailed below was conducted by Professor Paul 

 Wagner, of the Darmstadt Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Darmstadt, Germany. The vines were grown singly in pots. 

 The fertilizer application in the two pots illustrated herewith 

 were at the rate of 3.3 ounces of Nitrate of Soda, .6 of an 

 ounce muriate of potash and 2 ounces acid phosphate 

 per vine. At the rate of 907 vines per acre (vines 6 

 by 8 feet) this application is the equivalent of 189 pounds 

 Nitrate of Soda, 113 pounds acid phosphate and 34 pounds 

 muriate of potash per acre. The accompanying illustrations 

 show the growth of vine and also the production of fruit from 

 the two pots, and the excellent effect of Nitrate of Soda is 

 unmistakably shown. The actual yields of fruit were : 



Per Acre. 



Potash and acid phosphate without Nitrate of Soda 1,024 Ibs. 



Potash and acid phosphate with Nitrate of Soda 4*929 " 



A remarkable point in this experiment was data to show 

 the growth of leaf and wood for each 100 pounds of grapes, 

 as follows: 



Wood. Leaf. 



With Nitrate, for 100 Ibs. grapes 47 Ibs. 13 Ibs. 



Without Nitrate, for 100 Ibs. grapes 119 ' 34 " 



The evidence tends to confirm the belief that insufficient 

 or improperly balanced fertilizers produce wood and leaf 

 growth often at the expense of the fruit; that is, the mer- 

 chantable portion of the crop. In fertilizing grapes the 

 phosphate and potash should be applied early in the spring, 

 before the vines begin to grow; Nitrate of Soda should be 



