22 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



value, will always be a good source of fertility; partly because 

 of its plant food, and chiefly because of the humus it supplies; but 

 in market gardening and in general farm practice the best results 

 will usually be obtained when it is used in connection with chemical 

 manures. On the other hand chemical manures, while not supply- 

 ing humus, supply in a concentrated way, not only needed plant 

 food, but supply it in forms that anticipate, supplement, and in 

 some cases, promote bacterial action, without which stable manure, 

 and even the organic portion of the fertilizer, would be barren in 

 results. The progressive farmer, therefore, supplements and 

 improves his stable manure by the use of concentrated fertilizers, 

 in the same way as he supplements and improves his hay with the 

 use of concentrated grain foods in feeding his stock. 



While it is undoubtedly true that stable manure, all things con- 

 sidered, is a good source of fertility, yet it is by no means the 

 cheapest if one has to buy it, and neither is it absolutely essential 

 in the growing of many farm crops. This is sho'OTi by the enormous 

 and rapidly increasing areas which are planted annually to corn, 

 cotton, tobacco, wheat, potatoes, and vegetables, on commercial 

 fertilizers as the sole dependence in the matter of plant food. 



Incidentally, it should be noted that twenty years ago, manure 

 sold in Boston stables at about $10 a cord. Today, unless a stable 

 is very advantageously located, the market gardeners are getting it at 

 a nominal price, and in some cases, for the hauling. The intro- 

 duction of commercial manures has been one of the causes of the 

 reduction in the price of stable manure, for which the gardeners 

 should be thankful. The Germans have a phrase which expresses 

 "manure sick land." With cheap stable manure we are likely to 

 have such a condition around Boston. On such land, commercial 

 manures should be applied in part, and occasionally lime or wood 

 ashes, in order to promote the slightly alkaline condition of the soil 

 which is necessary for satisfactory bacterial growth. 



Finally, it seems to me the question, as between the purchase of 

 stable manure and commercial fertilizers, resolves itself into two 

 parts: First: Does one's soil and the character of the crops to be 

 grown require the excessive humus of stable manure for the most 

 profitable returns? Second: How much can one afford to pay for 

 this humus, knowing that it can often be obtained, or all that is 



