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to investigate, but until we knew more about it the practical farmer, 

 who had his living to make and bills to pay, should not tinker with 

 it. To Stockbridge it meant, in the end, improvident farming. At 

 best, the farmer had to take great chances, especially with the 

 weather — the largest factor in crop raising, over which he had no 

 control ; but he should take no chances with the things which he 

 could control. Among these were the amount and kind of manure 

 which he applied to his crops. Thus, if he hoped for a stated crop 

 he should at least fertilize intelligently for that crop. For the man 

 who was dependent on his crops any other course was unwise. 

 Moreover, any other course would leave the soil machine in a poorer 

 condition than he found it. Broadly speaking, to encourage him to 

 take out more than he put back was not only bad economy, but bad 

 morals, and should be discouraged, for in the end it would lead to 

 crop bankruptcy. 



It is needless to say that the farmers appreciated this bold course. 

 As Stockbridge put it, they jumped on his wagon before he was 

 ready to start. He was indeed their prophet, who led them out of 

 the wilderness of speculation into the light of practical methods. 

 As might be expected, this new conception of the use of chemical 

 manures — or plant food, as he liked to call it — not only revolution- 

 ized all our notions of fertilization, but the entire fertilizer business 

 as well. It immediately raised the standard of commercial manures 

 from ordinary superphosphates, containing no potash, to "complete 

 manures," many of them rich in potash. Special fertilizers for 

 special crops or classes of crops were brought out by various makers, 

 and the business received a new impetus and a new recognition in 

 the community. It was put on a sound footing, from which it can 

 never be displaced. 



As in stock feeding we chiefly concern ourselves with the study of 

 the animal and its needs, so in plant feeding we must make an in- 

 telligent study of the needs of the living crop. As we know how to 

 feed the cow for milk or beef, so we must know how to feed the plant 

 for leaf or seed. Not only must we know the amount of plant food 

 to be supplied, based on crop requirements, but the form and asso- 

 ciation of the different elements must be considered ; and in the 

 study of this problem we must also continue to study the soil, its 

 potential fertility, its physical and chemical characteristics, and par- 

 ticularly the lower orders of life which it contains, the bacteria and 



