ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 277 



Lime fertilizers are not, generally speaking, of the import- 

 ance to the agriculture of our state as they are under the con- 

 ditions prevailing in some Eastern states and in the old world. 

 It is possible, however, that the soil in some sections of our 

 state may be benefited by applications of lime (see p. 11). 



Lime is applied either as land plaster (sulfate), marl or 

 ground limestone (carbonate), as slaked lime (hydrate and car- 

 bonate). 



The methods of analysis followed in the chemical work of 

 our Station are those adopted by the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists ; the methods are revised from year to 

 year at tiie annual conventions of this Association. ^ 



Suggestions as to the Purchase and Use of Commercial Fertilizers. 



The farmers of our state have not found it necessary as yet 

 to purchase large quantities of commercial fertilizers, as must 

 be done by eastern and southern farmers, and by a wise system 

 of farming they will never, generally speaking, have to pay 

 out so much money for fertilizers in the future as is being done 

 each year in the older states. The diagram on the title page 

 of this bulletin shows the average annual expenditures for com- 

 mercial fertilizers per farm for the United States and for three 

 different states, according to the last census; it will be seen 

 that the farmers of Wisconsin pay out only $2.00 for artificial 

 fertilizers per year and per farm, against $20.00 for the state 

 of New York, $26,00 for Georgia, and $10.00 for the whole 

 Union. The farmers in the eastern and southern states are 

 paying a heavy penalty for the methods of agriculture prev- 

 iously followed in those states, and the conditions now pre- 

 vailing there in this respect furnish a warning example to our 

 farmers to so husband the resources of their land that they will 

 not reduce its fertility by faulty methods of agriculture, and 

 render it necessary for their children and grandchildren to de- 

 pend on artificial fertilizers for maintaining the productiveness 

 of the land. This can be easily avoided by keeping live stock 

 and taking good care of the barnyard manure, and by adcoting 

 systems of crop rotation which will prevent the exhaustion of 



