CHAPTER III 



Fertilizers and Fertilizing 



Most plants thrive best on three-course meats : potash, phos- 

 phoric acid, and nitrogen. — All Authorities. 



In gardening two factors are essential: First, a 

 soil that is capable of absorbing and holding water 

 without being so compact and tight as to prevent 

 free movement of water in all directions, and, 

 second, plant food. " Probably a typical garden 

 soil would be a sandy loam," writes Dr. E. B. 

 Voorhees, director of the New Jersey Experiment 

 Station. " This kind, however, would be largely 

 regarded as a good place for the plants to grow, 

 rather than as a source of the food required. Hence 

 the second factor, an abundant supply of all kinds 

 and forms of plant food needed. 



" This latter may be accomplished by the use of 

 the manures, preferably well rotted, which contain 

 plant food in more or less soluble forms, but which 

 possess, in addition, decaying vegetable matter, 

 so important in contributing to the physical 

 character of soils, more especially in the matter of 

 holding moisture. Hence, any soil well adapted 

 naturally for gardening should either be heavily 

 manured or should have been subjected to green 

 manuring for a sufficient period of time to build it 

 up in vegetable matter. 



" Owing to the cost, both in money and labor, of 

 supplying the food requirements through the use 

 of manures only, nowadays resort is made to com- 

 mercial fertilizers. These not only supply the total 



