PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 191 



available nitrogen, 8 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 1.22 per cent of 

 potash. If you want any more potash in a complete fertilizer you will 

 have to pay larger sums. If you want '5 per cent they will put it in 

 for you and you will pay for it at the rate of at least six or seven 

 cents a pound, the actual potash. Four per cent of nitrogen is 80 

 pounds to the acre, 80' pounds to the ton ; 400 pounds of nitrogen to ten 

 acres, five tons, as compared to over 2,400 pounds from the cover 

 crop. Of the phosphoric acid, 8 per cent is 160 pounds to the ton, or 

 800 pounds to the five tons. I think I said that from one variety of 

 cover crop we had 3,600 pounds of phosphoric acid to ten acres, as 

 against 800 pounds from a commercial fertilizer — four and one-half 

 times as much — not all available, but available enough. You do not 

 need to use as much phosphoric acid; you must use some. You can 

 easily get it by analyzing your crop; you can easily get it by going 

 to the authorities and asking them how much comes from a crop of rye 

 or potatoes or corn or cotton, and you ought to put back a little more 

 for waste, but it won't be much, and you get these through the cover 

 crop, to a great extent ; but the nitrogen is what you are after. It has 

 been said, and said truly, and I think the professors here will corrobo- 

 rate me when I say that the scientists will say to you that for the growth 

 of crops you can get enough nitrogen from the growing of cover crops, 

 the bacteria taking it from the air and laying it up in the crop that 

 you grow, and that you will not need to buy after your soil fertility 

 has been restored, if you have exhausted it, in commercial fertilizer. 

 In fact, it is true that if they had not found how to manufacture it 

 from the atmosphere, you would have to get along without it, because 

 the available sources in Chile and elsewhere would be used up at our 

 present rate of use of it. 



Now, I think I should close. There is a summary here that I 

 will have printed in the bulletin, if it is thought wise to print what 

 I have said, summing up just what I have said, and I will close. 

 I have talked an hour; I wish I might have a couple; but I wish 

 that you would think of this, that you would go to the authorities— 

 get Hilgard, get King, get Bailey, get Snyder, get Voorhees— study 

 them. The lawyer, when he is asked to give an opinion, goes to his 

 library and he will tell you what your legal rights are. But the 

 farmer, when he is up against a problem, stumbles along like his 

 forefathers and wonders what is the matter. The matter is he is 

 not "up to snuff"; he is not up to his business; he has not read. 

 Don't you know, ladies, don't you know, gentlemen, that you need 

 more brain power to farm right than any physician or minister or 

 lawyer needs to be a good physician, or good minister, or good lawyer? 

 (Applause.) Wake up ! Get your library. What are these men writ- 

 ing for us for? What are we paying them for? What are Stuben- 



