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FERTILIZERS FOR VEGETABLES 



Question: What kind would you recommend and when 

 applied? 



Professor Van Slyke : The fall is a good time. Spring 

 is a good time if you have plenty of time to put it on and 

 work it in. A good plan is to distribute it over the soil and 

 harrow it in, although in some cases where one wants to work 

 it down deep into the soil, it may be desirable to plow it in. 

 As a rule, the best results are obtained by plowing and then 

 putting on the lime and harrowing it in as deeply as may be. 

 Use whatever lime is cheapest. Some say never put on the 

 slaked lime or the quick lime. The cheapest thing to buy is 

 rarely ever the slaked lime. It is a matter of price and con- 

 venience. You can get the ground limestone. That does not 

 act as rapidly as the slaked quick lime. 



Question: Is this Syracuse lime that is not ground very 

 fine as good? 



Professor Van Slyke : That of the Solvay Company is a 

 mixture of carbonate and slaked lime and quick lime. That 

 will slake and become fine. If you can get it at a fairly 

 reasonable price, it is a good material to use. On light soils 

 one must be careful about liming, especially if using quick 

 lime. The lime promotes the decomposition of organic mat- 

 ter, but usually that is what organic matter is there for. only 

 we do not want it to decompose too fast. On light soils the 

 application of slaked lime in amounts larger than five hun- 

 dred pounds or a thousand pounds at most may do harm, chew- 

 ing up the organic matter too rapidly, unless you take pains 

 to do something to keep the organic matter there. 



other Materials. 



Question: What is alphano humus? 



Professor Van Slyke : I do not know exactly what it is 

 made of. It is largely organic matter, and it contains a little 

 nitrogen, a little phosphoric acid, and a little potash. In 

 some greenhouse work it gives good results, especially for 

 furnishing organic matter. As a source of plant food for 

 field use, the prices that are charged for it are altogether too 

 great. 



