USE OF PHOSPHORUS IN DIFFERENT FORMS 293 



ABLE FERTILIZER EFFECT, APART FROM THOSE OF ACID SOIL. IN CONSEQUENCE 

 THEREOF THE ASSOCIATION FEELS IT SHOULD DISCOURAGE THE USE OF RAW 

 PHOSPHATE ON OTHER SOILS." 



See 6;th Volume (5-6), page 329, " LANDWIRTSCHAFTLICHER VERSUCHS 



STATION." 



The Association of German Agricultural Experiment Stations represents the 

 highest authority on agricultural matters in Germany, and undoubtedly the best 

 in the world. 



German investigators, particularly Dr. Von Liebig, were the authors of most 

 of the fundamental principles underlying fertilization and agriculture, and 

 it is to them that we largely owe the progress made in this direction. 



In view of the well-known thoroughness of German agricultural investigators, 

 and the fact that the Association of German Agricultural Experiment Stations 

 is universally regarded as the world's highest authority on such matters, their 

 opinion on the use of RAW PHOSPHATE as a fertilizer is of great importance to 

 the American farmer. 



On account of the high price of land in Germany intensive farming is every- 

 where practiced. The farmers must, of necessity, use fertilizer containing 

 plant food in available condition. Their selection of fertilizers is based on in- 

 numerable experiments covering over a hundred years. 



The difference in crop yields per acre in Germany as compared with the 

 United States is conclusive evidence of the soundness of their methods of 

 fertilization. The average wheat yield per acre in Germany for the ten years 

 1895 to 1904, inclusive, was 27.2 bushels, as compared with 13.4 bushels in the 

 United States for the same period. On oats the yield per acre in Germany was 

 46.0 bushels, as compared with 29.2 bushels in the United States for the same 

 period. (See pages 671 and 678, "Statistical Matter," reprint from Year Book 

 of Department of Agriculture for 1905.) 1 



The soils of Germany have been cropped for hundreds of years, while a large 

 portion of those in this country are virgin or comparatively fresh. Proper 

 fertilization is the secret of the higher yield per acre in Germany. If the United 

 States is to maintain its supremacy in agriculture, farmers in this country will 

 have to properly fertilize their crops, and they can well take heed to the 

 experience of their German brothers in this respect. 



Before using raw rock, therefore, you would do well to ascertain its true 

 fertilizing value the availability of the plant food it is supposed to contain 

 and especially to consider the decision of the German experimenters after years 

 of careful testing. 



From the standpoint of furnishing available plant food, RAW ROCK PHOS- 

 PHATE is not a fertilizer. The report of the twenty-fourth annual meeting of 

 the Association of German Agricultural Experiment Stations, at which the 



1 The ten-year average yield of corn in the great state of Georgia, where more 

 manufactured acidulated commercial fertilizers are used than in any other state, 

 is ii bushels per acre. C. G. H. 



