NEED OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



have been sold for a long period of time develop 

 an urgent need of potash. Much muck land is 

 very deficient in this constituent. 



Fertilizer Tests. Every farmer should con- 

 duct some fertilizer tests for himself. It is only 

 the soil itself that can make an adequate reply to 

 a question regarding its needs. The test should 

 be made under conditions furnishing evenness in 

 the soil, and it should be continued for years. 

 There is pleasure to an intelligent farmer in such 

 questioning of his soil, and only in this way can 

 assurance be obtained that the investment in 

 fertilizers is the wisest that can be planned for 

 the farm. 



There are only three plant constituents to be 

 tested, but they must be used in combination as 

 well as singly. A soil that is deficient in the three 

 may not give any return from potash alone, and 

 usually does not, although it may give a marked 

 increase from use of phosphoric acid alone. The 

 plats may be 8 rods long and one rod wide, 

 containing each one twentieth of an acre, and 

 having strips two feet wide separating them. 

 The following chart suggests quantities of fer- 

 tilizers to be used on the one-twentieth acre plats, 

 10 in number : 



[1671 



