192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



that the assumption of Hahnemann does not seem to be 

 altogether unreasonable or impracticable. It is known that 

 one drop of certain poisons or a whiff of certain gases will 

 kill a healthy man. The drop can be measured, — the whiff 

 it is impossible to represent. As extraordinary as the action 

 of these infinitesimal quantities may seem, it is no more 

 wonderful than the phenomena we witness every day in the 

 growth of crops, especially where concentrated fertilizers 

 are applied. 



I have hero upon the platform a bag representing the 

 bulk of 100 pounds of fertilizer, containinij the averaore 

 amount of plant food which is found in some of the most 

 concentrated fertilizers in the market; namely, 4 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, 12 per cent, of total phosphoric acid and 4 per 

 cent, of potash, or 20 pounds of actual plant food to every 

 100-pound bag of fertilizer. The smaller bag represents 

 the bulk of the actual plant food contained in the larger. 



Now it is proposed by way of illustration to plant a crop 

 of corn, and to apply 1,000 pounds of this fertilizer to the 

 acre, or, in other words, ten of these 100-pound bags. The 

 actual plant food, if we could extract it, would amount to 

 200 pounds, which two men could easily carry on their backs 

 into the field. 



And right here you may ask why we are obliged to 

 handle so much bulk for so little plant food. You have been 

 told that fertilizers are concentrated plant food, while stable 

 manure is bulky plant food, which is quite true ; these 

 statements being only relative. Fertilizers are more con- 

 centrated than manure, but are not as concentrated as can 

 be made in the chemist's laboratory. As you have seen, in 

 applying even the concentrated fertilizer, we are handling 

 five times more weight than seems necessary ; but it is impos- 

 sible to extract the actual elements of plant food in a com- 

 mercial way. All actual nourishment, whether for plants or 

 animals, is enveloped in or combined with organic matter, 

 which holds and carries it ; so when we are feeding our 

 crops, we are compelled to handle more or less of this 

 organic matter, — a vast amount when applying manure, at 

 least 100 pounds to 1 pound of nourishment ; while in 

 fertilizers it is much less, — about 5 to 1. 



