INTRODUCTION. 



THE contents (with illustrations) of this pamphlet are 

 grouped into five parts, as follows : 



Part I is a free translation of Prof. Paul Wagner's 

 celebrated report on "The Rational Fertilization of Agri- 

 cultural Plants" ("Die Rationelle Duengung"). As this 

 valuable report, is in a foreign language and not accessible 

 to most readers, it is believed that a synopsis will prove to 

 be of much interest to the masses of American farmers. 

 Prof. Wagner is director of the Experiment Station at 

 Darmstadt, Germany, and his official experiments in plant 

 nutrition and in the use of artificial fertilizers, have given 

 him a world-wide reputation as an agricultural authority. 

 His experiments, which show that leguminous plants, such 

 as clover, peas and beans, have the power of assimilating 

 large amounts of nitrogen from the air, when sufficient 

 potash and phosphoric acid are present in the soil, and that this 

 element of plant food can bo used to fertilize succeeding 

 crops, are of exceedingly great value and make possible 

 a saving of millions of dollars to farmers. 



Part II gives the simplest way of testing the manure 

 or fertilizer needs of any soil. It explains the nature of 

 what are commonly known as plot experiments. 



Manures, fertilizers, crops for green manuring, or 

 whatever is successfully used as plant food for the purpose 



