MANURES AND FERTILIZERS 99 



pecially beneficial in growing legumes such as Alfalfa or Clover, or 

 in the raising of Sugar Beets." 



Nitrate of Soda 



Nitrate of soda, which we obtain from Chili, is a great stimulant. 

 If you want to convince yourself of its value, take a flat of stunted 

 Tomato seedhngs, dissolve a level tablespoonful of nitrate of soda 

 in a five-gallon can of water and apply to the plants. Place another 

 flat al^ngisde, but do not treat it and in just ten days you will notice 

 the greatest difference. However, nitrate of soda is good only to 

 develop and encourage leaf growth. If used during the growing period 

 of Chrysanthemums or other plants, and used carefuUy, it is always 

 beneficial, but you cannot be too careful and must feel your way. 

 There is no better method of telling what is best for your soil than 

 to start in with weak doses. This much, however, is certain, that 

 by using fertilizers, you can increase the production of the soil. 

 The result of eighteen years of experimental work done by the 

 Ohio Experiment Station showed an increase of fourteen bushels of 

 Wheat per acre, and thirty-one years' of experiments carried on by 

 the Pennsylvania station, showed thirteen and six-tenths bushels 

 increase per acre as the result of the use of fertilizer. 



All so-caUed commercial fertilizers are now sold under different 

 state Hcenses, according to the amount of available nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid and actual potash they contain. For example, a 2-10-6 

 fertilizer contains 2 percent nitrogen, 10 per cent phosphoric acid, 

 and 6 per cent potash. 



What Kind op Plant Food to Use 



The next, and perhaps most important matter, we arrive at is 

 how are we to find out or know what is best to use for the crops we 

 are growing? When do we know we are using the right kind of 

 mixture to do our soil good, and when do we do more harm than 

 good? Well, as far as has been found out, a safe rule to go by is 

 this: Heavy sofls are usually richest in potash, but usually lack 

 nitrogen as a stimulant to promote growth, and also are apt to be 

 short on available phosphoric acid. Sandy soils are always benefited 

 by heavy doses of tankage which will improve the sofl and give it 

 more body. Whenever possible, stable manure should be apphed 

 to such soil; it benefits it more than any other food. Black soils 

 usually are benefited by a fertilizer sold as a 3-8-6 or 2-10-4 mixture. 



Next comes the question, how is one to ascertain exactly what a 

 certain soil lacks in the way of plant food? I can answer this no 

 better than by quoting an Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station 

 report: "Soil analysis is of little value in showing fertilizer require- 

 ments, for there is no chemical method known that will show reliably 



