LUTHER BURBANK 



And the third is by applying fertilizers which 

 supply the plant foods needed, in an available 

 form. 



It does not always follow that when the yield 

 of a certain piece of land is small, that land needs 

 fertilizers. It is very often the case that the poor 

 yield is due to poor seed or shallow culture, or 

 other cause. If great care is taken in selecting seed 

 from the highest yielding fields year after year, one 

 will then know that when the small yield comes it 

 is due to something else. 



I do not mean to say that it is not necessary to 

 fertilize, but I do mean to say that very often 

 expensive fertilizers are added when a thorough 

 stirring of the soil, drainage, or irrigation would 

 accomplish the same result. 



Soil that is producing fruit crops needs less 

 fertilizing than that producing grain crops. The 

 fruits contain such a large percentage of water 

 that the essential elements of fertility are 

 exhausted from the soil very slowly. 



On the other hand, the grain contains a large 

 percentage of the essential elements of soil fer- 

 tility and it is necessary to add fertilizers to grain 

 fields much more often than to orchards. 



Now that the fertilizer manufacturers are 

 under government supervision it is safe to use any 

 good standard fertilizer on the market. Many ex- 



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