CHAPTER XII 

 FERTILIZERS 



"!T is generally recognized that the great practical 

 problem confronting the soil chemist is the proper use of 

 soil amendments or fertilizers. The farmers of the United 

 States now spend annually for fertilizers upwards of 

 $100,000,000. It is estimated by various authorities that 

 a large fraction, perhaps as much as three-fourths, of the 

 material represented by this expenditure is misapplied 

 for lack of intelligent direction. Yet all of this enormous 

 mass of fertilizers can be used to advantage." * 



Experiments have been carried on in various places 

 with fertilizers for bananas, and perhaps the most useful 

 account of these that has been published is of some 

 undertaken by the Government of Queensland. In Fiji 

 also manurial experiments with China bananas have been 

 carried on from 1907. The aim of the experiments has 

 been to test the effects of manures in general, and to see 

 if land on which bananas have been cultivated for spme 

 years can be made to give payable returns by the use of 

 manures. The results, according to Mr. C. H. Knowles, 

 Superintendent of Agriculture,*)" tend to show that the 

 application of nitrogenous manure and superphosphate 

 is beneficial, and that potash appears to increase the total 

 weight of the crop, but has little or no effect on the number 

 of hands of the bunches. 



With reference to the application of fertilizers in Queens - 



* " The Soil Solution." By F. K. Cameron, in charge Physical and 

 Chemical Investigations, Bureau of Soils, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

 1911. 



f Report on Agriculture for the year 1910, Fiji. 



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