Fertilizers 21 



of paper (blue and pink) in the break, then press tightly 

 together again. In the course of ten minutes examine, 

 and if the paper has been thoroughly wetted the condition 

 of the soil may be noted. If the blue litmus paper has 

 turned pink, the soil is acid. If the pink paper has 

 turned blue, the soil is alkaline. If no change in color 

 occurs, the soil is neutral. The degree of acidity can be 

 told in a general way by the degree of pinkness if the 

 paper was formerly blue. The subsoil as well as the 

 soil should be tested. 



HOW TO TEST A FIELD FOE FERTILIZER 



It is well known to all vegetable-growers that no two 

 fields are exactly alike in their fertilizer requirements. 

 Chemical analyses of the soil will not give sufficiently 

 accurate data to enable us to vary the fertilizer formula. 

 Fortunately the superabundance of any element in the 

 soil rarely proves harmful, but to apply an excess of any 

 element is wasteful and expensive. The only way at our 

 command at present is to ask the particular crop to analyze 

 the field for us. 



The sandy soil of Florida is unusually well adapted to 

 work of this kind, as so much of it is deficient in all of the 

 essential fertilizing elements. Any one raising vegetables 

 could withhold one of the three necessary fertilizers for a 

 series of years on three different plots, and thereby learn 

 the effect of such treatment, and then by noting the color 

 of the foliage, form of growth, and other characters, learn 

 to interpret these when observed in other fields. 



To test a field to learn whether it really needs all the 



