yal MORE ABOUT 
FERTILIZERS 
first applied. But sulphate of ammonia, although 
it will dissolve, must be changed into a nitrate, in 
the soil, before the plants can use it, and this 
probably takes several days, hence, it is not 
quite so quick acting. 
The organic forms of nitrogen vary much in 
their usefulness. The nitrogen of dried blood 
or tankage is the most easily absorbed. These 
substances are sometimes sown at seeding- 
time, and become useful later in the season 
when the soil becomes warm. Other forms, 
however, as muck, leather parings, etc., are used 
considerably in making some low-grade fertil- 
izers. Notwithstanding the tradition that you 
must bury an old shoe at the foot of the vine, 
the nitrogen in these may never be of very 
much value. 
The phosphorus is found in fertilizers both in 
forms that will dissolve and in forms that won’t. 
Acid phosphate and dissolved bone contain a 
large portion of phosphorus in the form of a 
soluble phosphate of lime; this is often marked 
on the bag as being equal to 12, 14, or 16 per 
cent. of phosphoric acid. Ground phosphatic 
rock, also called “ floats,’’ and raw bone-meal 
contain phosphorus combined with lime in the 
form of an insoluble phosphate. 
Basic slag is still another form of phosphate 
