66 CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



necessary elements the soil may contain, 

 we can only treat the different soils intelli- 

 gently by grouping them under three general 

 heads and designating them rich, medium, 

 and poor. Even rich soil should have some 

 fertilizer applied to it at some time, as the 

 elements of plant food are constantly being 

 absorbed by the plants growing in them and 

 are being dissolved and carried away by 

 rains; or, as in the case of plants growing 

 in pots, being washed out by the daily 

 waterings. As rich soils are rarely to be 

 had, we will assume that the soil which has 

 been prepared for the general pottings is 

 of medium fertility. 



THE DIFFERENT FERTILIZERS 



What are the elements in which the soil 

 is likely to be deficient? From what sources 

 may we best procure those elements? The 

 practical experience of cultivators of the 

 soil, aided by the scientific research of 

 competent chemists, has demonstrated the 

 fact that, with rare exceptions, soils generally 

 contain sufficient of all the elements except 

 nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash. The 

 available sources of supply of these three 



