CHAPTER VIII. 



MANURES FOR THE GARDEN. 



III. NITRATES, WOOD ASHES, AND OTHER SPECIFIC FERTILIZERS. 

 " Cheapest is what serves its purpose best." 



'O other single manurial element gives to the 

 progressive gardener the opportunities and 

 possibilities that he finds in nitrates, especially 

 in the form of nitrate of soda or Chili saltpeter, 

 vast natural deposits of which exist in various 

 districts of South America. The effect of this 

 salt on many garden crops is often truly 

 wonderful, and can generally be observed within 

 a few days after its application in the darker foliage and remark- 

 ably thrifty growth. It is readily soluble, and its nitrogen in 

 the exact form best suited for immediate absorption by the roots 

 of plants. 



The body of gardeners move but slowly, and adopt new 

 things and means reluctantly. So while the merits and possibili- 

 ties of nitrate of soda have often been pointed out in the columns 

 of the agricultural press, the great public, fortunately for the 

 progressive few, knows nothing about it, a circumstance which 

 gives it into the hands of the shrewd manager to excel his slower 

 competitor with ease, and to beat him in every market. The 

 gardener who refuses to use nitrate of soda especially for his 

 early crops, neglects to take advantage of one of his very best 

 opportunities. 



We must bear in mind that the natural process of converting 

 unavailable nitrogenous matter into soluble nitrates is very slow 

 in early spring ; that, in order to furnish as much as early crops 

 require at this time, we were compelled to apply the enormous 

 quantities of stable compost with its excess of mineral elements 

 of plant food; and that the deficiency cannot be supplied by the 

 so-called complete concentrated fertilizers containing only lOO 

 lbs. of nitrogen to the ton, except when applied in large quanti- 

 ties. In nitrates we have just the element of plant- food needed, 

 and by applying it in small quantities about as fast as the plants 

 can utilize it, we have it in our power to stimulate a thrifty 

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