300 Fertilizers 



usual broadcast application of the basic mixture at the 

 time of planting, together with a compost in the hill, 

 further applications of organic nitrogen should be made, 

 its character to be such as to promise a relatively rapid 

 change into nitrate. The basic mixture may be ree'n- 

 forced by any one of the following materials : 200 to 300 

 pounds to the acre of cotton-seed meal, 100 to 200 of 

 dried blood or 300 to 400 pounds of fine-ground tankage 

 or ground fish. Any organic substance whose greater part 

 will decay in one season will generally give better results 

 than the nitrate, unless the latter is applied in frequent 

 small top-dressings, because organic forms of nitrogen 

 provide for a continuous growth of vine and fruit, while 

 too great an abundance of immediately available nitrogen 

 as nitrate is liable to cause too rapid and large growth of 

 fruit of poor quality. This does not apply in the case of 

 cucumbers for pickling, where a large setting of immature 

 fruits is desired. In this case, nitrogen in the form of a 

 nitrate, if properly applied, will contribute to a large 

 setting and a rapid growth of the fruits. 



MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 



Asparagus is one of the very important vegetable crops, 

 and perhaps no other renders so profitable a return for 

 proper manuring and fertilizing. It differs from the 

 majority of the others in two essential particulars. First, 

 it is a perennial, the length of life of a bed depending 

 largely upon the treatment; and second, only one crop 

 can be obtained in a season it occupies the land to the 

 exclusion of other crops. Hence, special efforts should be 

 made to obtain as large a crop as the conditions of season 



