General Directions 



How to 

 Broadcast 



A Good 



Start 



Helps 



Hill or 

 Drill 

 Applica- 

 tion for 

 Small Root 

 Systems 



Broadcast: Where fertilizers are used liberally, say from 

 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. per acre, and without stable manure, 

 a broadcast application is usually safest. It should not 

 be plowed in or applied much in advance of seeding. It 

 should be worked in with a wheel harrow or horse cultivator, 

 and thoroughly mingled with the top surface of the soil. 

 Unless one has a broadcast sower, it is well to apply one-half 

 walking in one direction (north and south) , and the remainder 

 in the opposite direction (east and west). One who can sow 

 a few bushels of grass seed over an acre can easily broadcast 

 fertilizer. 



Some farmers mix the fertilizer with a quantity of dry 

 earth in order to increase the bulk. Still others mix it with 

 several loads of fine stable manure and then put it through an 

 ordinary manure spreader, the point being to get it applied 

 as evenly and cheaply as possible. 



Part broadcast and part in hill or drill: Where fertilizers are 

 used extensively and exclusively, probably more is used part 

 broadcast and the remainder in the hill or drill than in any other 

 way. This method gives the crop something to feed upon at the 

 start before it has developed an extensive root system. This 

 custom is quite generally followed in the case of Indian corn, 

 potatoes and some vegetables. Where part manure is applied 

 and part fertilizer, the manure is rarely composted, but is spread 

 broadcast as it comes from the yard, cellar or pit, and wheel- 

 harrowed into the soil, while the fertilizer is applied in the hill 

 or drill. 



Hill and drill application: The old way was to apply all 

 the fertilizer in the hill or drill, and this is still a good way if 

 it is being used on crops with small root systems such as the 

 small grains and some root crops possess, but care should be 

 exercised not to place it in contact with the seed or young roots. 

 A good fertilizer will burn unless it is mixed with the soil, and 

 if it did not burn, the expert user would condemn it with 

 some reason. 



The modern drills or planters are so fitted as to distribute 



36 



