THE CULTURE OF FLUE-CURED TOBACCO. 13 
ammonia for the minimum amounts of phosphoric acid and potash 
mentioned above. The formula would be as follows: 
Pounds. 
Dried, blood, analyzing 16 per cent ammonia_~__—_—-— 150 
Acid phosphate, analyzing 16 per cent phosphoric acid_______ 400 
Sulphate of potash, analyzing 50 per cent potash (K20)______ 100 
HS Gy (ce etch teas a at Me a Se eee ee Sea eee 650 
Such a mixture, while weighing only 650 pounds for-an acre of 
land, would, in the quantities of plant food carried, be approxi- 
mately equivalent to an 800-pound application per acre of a fertilizer 
analyzing 3 per cent ammonia, 8 per cent phosphoric acid, and 6 per 
cent potash. If desired, cottonseed meal (analyzing 74 per cent 
ammonia) might be substituted for the blood, using twice the number 
ef pounds; or nitrate of soda (analyzing 18 to 19 per cent ammonia), 
at the rate of about two-thirds the number of pounds of blood, could 
be used. Generally speaking, however, cottonseed meal is somewhat 
less active than blood on the basis of equivalent quantities of am- 
monia, while there may be some question whether nitrate of soda 
does not affect unfavorably the quality of the leaf produced. 
The cost of the 650 pounds of fertilizer shown in the formula 
will vary somewhat from year to year, but will generally be about 
$10. In certain cases, of course, as when the soil had been consider- 
ably improved by the use of manure or leguminous crops, even a 
smaller quantity of ammonia than here mentioned might give better 
results. In extreme cases, especially when color is an important 
factor, the ammonia might be omitted altogether. On the other 
hand, in the case of the lighter types of soil in the Old Belt, particu- 
larly in the eastern part of that section, where the lighter types of 
soil predominate, the proportion of ammonia in the fertilizer gen- 
erally could be somewhat larger than that shown in the above 
formula. For these conditions 200 pounds of blood, or even more in 
some cases, might be a better balance and prove more profitable. 
In the New Belt section, with the combination of still lighter and 
weaker soils and early harvesting in warmer weather, a materially 
richer fertilizer could undoubtedly be used to advantage in most 
eases, and for that section a mixture may be recommended for 
average conditions composed about as follows: 
Pounds. 
Dried blood, analyzing 16 per cent ammonia_______________ 250 
Acid phosphate, analyzing 16 per cent phosphoric acid________ 500 
Sulphate of potash, analyzing 50 per cent potash (K.O)_____ 150 
EC Fa es BAS eB 2 Ee erate ee oe ieee. _leeieel a cemeg ae 900 
This mixture of 900 pounds for an acre of land would be equiva- 
lent in plant-food value te a 1,000 pound per acre application of a 
