254 GARDEN GUIDE 



them to form prongy, inferior roots. These crops should go on land 

 that was manured the season previously or else be fertilized with com- 

 mercial fertilizer. The green manures can be sown on pieces of land 

 which would otherwise lay bare in Winter. Rye is the latest crop 

 of these that is worth while to plant; this can be sown after the final 

 crops come off, just before freezing weather. The clovers and Vetch 

 must be sown earlier. Frequently, this is done at the last cultivation 

 that is given to the later Summer crops; such as Tomatoes and Sugar 

 Corn. Any plants that are planted for green manures should be plowed 

 or spaded into the soil early in the season while they are soft and suc- 

 culent for much of the v alue of the green manures is in the decayed vege- 

 table matter it supplies to the soil. The process of decay is very much 

 ' more rapid if the material is turned under when the plant is quite tender. 

 This is especially true of Rye. If the R ye gets tall and woody it will not 

 decay rapidly enough to be of any benefit to the crop following it. 



Commercial fertilizers should always be applied just a little before 

 planting or shortly after the crop gets started. The elements they con- 

 tain are very soluble in water and the nitrogen is quite easily leached 

 out through the drainage. On account of this solubility care should 

 always be observed in applying them. Only a very slight amount 

 •should come in contact with the germinating seeds so it is always best 

 to thoroughly mix them with the soil. The fertilizing of the garden 

 with commercial fertilizers is not so complex a proposition as it often 

 appears to the novice. The confusion in the matter has come about 

 largely through there being such a multitude of brands with such vary- 

 ing percentages of nitrogen, phoshporic acid and potash. There are 

 a few essentials that must be known about commercial fertilizers; after 

 these are understood the rest is easy. 



Manufacturers of fertilizers use as a basis for most of their goods 

 the phosphate rock which has been dissolved by being mixed with 

 sulphuric acid. To this is added tankage, nitrate of soda, muriate or 

 sulphate of potash, dried garbage, or any other material that has high 

 fertihzing value. It is then all ground and mixed by machinery, after 

 which it'is analyzed by the chemist. 



All fertilizer manufacturers have certain brands that are put out 

 for some special purpose; such as, * 'special corn grower," or * 'potato fer- 

 tilizer,'' or "special truck crop grower." The name is not important 

 but the percentage of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash is very 

 much so. 



