CHAPTER XXV 

 USING CHEMICAL MANURES INTELLIGENTLY 



The use of chemical manures has greatly increased 

 within the last twenty-five years. This has been due to 

 the fact that large areas of land have become exhausted 

 in productive power, and, without the intelligent aid they 

 ought to receive, they are unable to gather strength 

 enough to produce crops with profit unless they are sup- 

 plied with artificial fertilizers. 



Here are reasons that this is so : little thought in main- 

 taining fertility has been given ; small quantities of home- 

 made manures have been made and preserved; raw ma 



DEMANDS ON THE SOIL BY FOUR LEADING FIELD CROPS 

 (average yields) 



terials, like corn and cotton seed, have been sold from the 

 farm, instead of being fed there; poor tillage has been 

 rendered ; leguminous crops have been grown in a 

 limited way only; systems of farming have been ill 

 planned; and crop rotation has been ignored and neg- 

 lected. Just at these points you will find the reasons why 

 the business of making and selling and buying chemical 



