Chapter IV 



FERTILIZATIOX. CULTIVATION 

 IRRIGATION 



Spare the zcccds and spoil fJie crop; 

 Stint the food and groz^'tJi zcill stop. 



HERE are many kinds of fertiliz- 

 ing materials, and all are useful in 

 some way and in some degree ; 

 only experience and observation 

 can show which are best for your 

 soil and your crops. In a general 

 way, however, I will say that 

 there is no better all-purpose fer- 

 tilizer than stable manure — all you 

 can get of it, say from ten to twenty tons to the acre. 

 Haul it on the ground in winter and early spring, 

 and spread it as it is hauled ; plow it under, and 

 then broadcast (to each acre) about 400 pounds of 

 kainit (a commercial form of potash), and about 

 600 pounds of finely ground bone meal ; harrow this 

 in, and you have a very good, complete mixture which 

 contains all essential elements of plant food. Or, 

 if you desire, you can substitute muriate or sulphate 

 of potash for the kainit, or twenty-five bushels of 

 unleached hardwood ashes ; or phosphates or super- 

 phosphates may be substituted for the bone. 



If stable manure can not be obtained, and if 

 there is sufficient humus in the soil, buy a high-grade, 

 complete, ready-mixed, commercial fertilizer — the 

 best you can get, not the cheapest — and broadcast it 



