UNIVlk:SITY i 



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largest profit from the use of Nitrate and other fertilizers. Food for 

 The most important of these crops are beets, carrots, cabbage, ^'^"^^_ 

 cauliflower, celery, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and other ^ 

 vegetables and fruits. 



After these the Nitrate produces the most profit when 

 used on tobacco, grain crops, cotton and grass (excepting 

 clover). 



There are no crops on which it is more p^j^jjij^ers for 

 profitable to use fertilizers than on vege- ygget^bles and ' 



tables and small fruits, provided they are ^ ,, ^ . ^^ 



, . , . , ' ^ , . , -' bmall rruits. 



used in the right way and in the proper 



forms. Many failures with chemical fertilizers are caused 

 by lack of knowledge on these points. Stable manure, when 

 used in sufficient quantities, almost invariably produces good 

 results, while the unintelligent use of chemical fertilizers 

 did not do as well. In this way many gardeners were 

 persuaded that there was nothing equal to stable manure, 

 which they continued to use in large quantities, paying in 

 many cases fully twice as much for it as the plant food it 

 contained was worth. There is no doubt but that stable 

 manure is verv valuable as a fertilizer, and is in many cases 

 indispensable, but at the same time the quantities necessary 

 to produce the results now obtained could be greatly re- 

 duced by using fertilizers to supply the plant food and only 

 enough manure to give lightness and add humus to the soil. 



For crops like cabbage, beets, etc., that .^r, ^^ ... 



. . , • A r ° -J • what Fertilizers 



It IS desirable to rorce to rapid maturity, .it c r^ 



, ^ . , • , , , r^ , • 11 to Use for Gar- 



th^ form in which the plant rood, especially , rrons 



Nitrogen, is applied is of the greatest im- 

 portance. Many fertilizers sold for this purpose have all 

 the Nitrogen thev contain in insoluble and only slowly 

 available form, so that it requires a considerable time for 

 the plants to get hold of it. Another fault is that they do 

 not contain enough Nitrogen or "ammonia." Stable manure 

 contains on the average in one ton, lo pounds Nitrogen, 

 lO. pounds potash, and only 5 pounds phosphoric acid, 

 while the average "complete" fertilizer or "guano" contains 

 more than twice as much phosphoric acid as Nitrogen. A 

 fertilizer for quick-growing vegetables should contain as 

 much Nitrogen as phosphoric acid, and at least half this 

 Nitrogen should be in the form of Nitrate, which is the 

 only form in which it is immediately available to plants. 



