HOW TO MAINTAIN FERTILITY 



The amount to apply varies with the crop 

 grown, but for ordinary garden crops as much as 

 twenty tons per acre, or about one two-horse load 

 to a 25 X 100-foot plot, can be used; one-half to 

 two-thirds of this amount will give fair results, 

 however, and larger amounts are often used by 

 " truck " growers. This must be thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil by ploughing under and harrowing 

 before the crop is planted. 



It is often the case that the soil does not need a 

 complete fertiliser, for only one of the three im- 

 portant plant foods nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 

 potash is lacking. If such is the case, it can be 

 easily supplied by one of the various chemical fer- 

 tilisers on the market. 



Before applying these highly concentrated 

 chemical fertilisers I would strongly advise your 

 testing the soil to find out just what is needed. To 

 do it divide the garden into strips, say ten feet 

 wide, and on every other strip apply these special 

 fertilisers, one to a strip, in various quantities and 

 watch the results. One test will probably be suffi- 

 cient to give the information desired. 



Nitrogen is the most expensive of the three es- 

 sential elements required by plants. It can be had 



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