40 GRASS GROWING FOR PROFIT 
SOME NOTES ABOUT SOIL EXHAUSTION 
In reference to the belief held by some farmers 
as to exhaustion of lands by the use of fertilizers, 
continuous use of Nitrate of Soda, acid phosphate 
and potash for twenty-five years in England by Sir 
J. B. Lawes on land showed no signs of exhaustion 
whatever. Crops at the end of the period were as 
big as at the beginning. 
As a matter of fact the use of fertilizers does not 
exhaust soils since a crop grown with fertilizer takes 
a less amount of vitality out of the soil than does a 
crop without fertilizer. What exhausts a soil most 
is the attempt to grow crops without fertilizers. It 
is without doubt better and more economical to feed 
the plant than the soil. 
Lawes concluded many years since that Nitrate 
was better for potatoes than salts of ammonia. 
According to Stutzer, Nitrate renders mineral 
plant foods more valuable. Nitrate without doubt 
promotes the best utilization of acid phosphate, and 
the presence of nitrate favors nitration. The organic 
matter of the soil is utilized more readily when 
Nitrate is present. All the mineral and nitrogenous 
substances required by crops must be present ina soil 
in order that a succession of crops may be grown at 
a profit. Nitrate of Soda really changes the raw 
material of the soil into a crop with the greatest 
amount of profit. Nitrate is also a means of pre- 
venting the growth of parasites and pests. Crops 
grown with it resist attacks of parasites better than 
without it. The soluble carbo-hydrate and the albu- 
minoids are also increased in crops by the use of 
