56 Home Vegetable Gardening 



price per ton — usually the more you pay per bag, 

 the cheaper you are really buying your actual plant 

 food. Send to the Experiment Station in your State 

 and ask for the last bulletin on fertilizer values. It 

 will give a list of the brands sold throughout the 

 State, the retail price per ton, and the actual value 

 of plant foods contained in a ton. Then buy the 

 brand in which you will apparently get the greatest 

 value. 



For garden crops the mixed fertilizer you use 

 should contain (about) : 



Nitrogen, 4 per cent. ^ Basic formula 



Phosphoric acid, 8 per cent. V = for 

 Potash, 10 per cent J Garden crops 



If applied alone, use at the rate of 1000 to 1500 

 pounds per acre. If with manure, less, in propor- 

 tion to the amount of the latter used. 



By ''basic formula" (see above) is meant one 

 which contains the plant foods in the proportion 

 which all garden crops must have. Particular crops 

 may need additional amounts of one or more of the 

 three elements, in order to attain their maximum 

 growth. Such extra feeding is usually supplied by 

 top dressings, during the season of growth. The 

 extra food beneficial to the different vegetables will 

 be mentioned in the cultural directions in Part Two. 



