103 



In this discussion the barest outlines have been drawn. There are 

 many exceptions to the general rules. The farmer, with the general 

 principles well in mind, must use his intelligence in applying them to 

 his conditions. 



FERTILIZERS SHOULD BE APPLIED SYSTEMATICALLY. 



The suggestions already given lead to another of great importance, 

 viz, that the use of fertilizers should be systematic. In order that this 

 may be accomplished, a definite system of cropping should be adopted 

 and a definite scheme of manuring worked out that shall meet the con- 

 ditions of crop, season, and climate, and enable the farmer to utilize to 

 the best advantage home and local supplies of manure. While it is 

 impossible to give more than the merest outline of such methods, the 

 following suggestions are offered : 



In the first place, in nearly every State or even locality some one 

 system of cropping is better adapted to the conditions than another. 

 * It may be the extensive system, which includes large areas, and the 

 crops, grain cotton, tobacco, or sugar cane ; or the " intensive system," 

 with smaller areas and crops of quicker growth and higher value. For 

 the former a method of manuring should be adopted which is not too 

 expensive, but which provides for increased crops and gradual gain in 

 fertility. It would be impracticable in extensive farming, for example, 

 to attempt to increase the yield of a wheat crop from 12 to 30 bushels 

 per acre by the addition of fertilizers only, for. as already pointed out, 

 plant food is but one of the conditions of fertility, and if it wei'e prac- 

 ticable from the standpoint of yield, it would be folly from the stand- 

 point of profit. 



A study of the following common four-year rotations — Indian corn, 

 potatoes, wheat, and hay — will illustrate what is meant by rational and 

 systematic methods of manuring. On soils of medium fertility spread 

 the farm manure during the fall and winter, and after the land 

 is ploughed apply broadcast and harrow in, or harrow first and then drill 

 in, 400 pounds per acre of a mixture made of 100 pounds each of cotton- 

 seed meal, ground bone, acid phosphate, and muriate of potash, or 

 their equivalent in kind and form of other fertilizing constituents. 



This mixture would have approximately the following composition : 

 Nitrogen 2.5 per cent, phosphoric acid 10 per cent, and potash 12.5 

 per cent. If the land has not been previously manured, or if it is of 

 a light sandy character, the proportion of nitrogenous matter should 

 be increased and the application be heavier, say, from 600 to 800 

 pounds. 



Corn makes its most rapid growth and development during the hot 

 season, which is very favourable for rapid decay and consequent nitrifi- 

 cation of organic substances in the soil. The nitrogenous manures, 

 therefore, may be less in amount than for crops which develop rapidly 

 earlier in the season, and for the same reason may consist of organic 

 forms. The mineral constituents, particularly the phosphates, which 

 the crop acquires less rapidly, because of its comparatively short season 

 of growth, are applied in such forms and in such amounts as to provide 

 for a largely increased crop, even though the seasonal conditions are 

 not perfect. 



