'26 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
THE CHEMICAL VALUES OF FERTILIZERS 
The subject of fertilizers is one 
which every park or cemetery super- 
intendent ought to understand thor- 
oughly, in order to obtain the best re- 
sults at the least cost. 
The experiment stations of the sev- 
eral states have done a tremendous 
amount of work along these lines, 
and any one is welcome to all the in- 
formation they can give. 
According to chemistry, all matter 
is composed of about 70 elements. Of 
these there are only 13 of any impor- 
tance to vegetable life. These are 
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, 
sulphur, phosphorus, potassium as 
potash, calcium as lime, iron, chlo- 
rine, sodium and silicon. These ele- 
ments are found in plants in combi- 
nation. These compounds may be 
divided into three classes: water, or- 
ganic and inorganic. . The amount of 
water is easily found by weighing be- 
fore and after being thoroughly dried. 
The amount of organic matter is found 
by weighing dry matter, burning, 
then weighing the ashes and finding 
the difference. The inorganic matter 
is the ash or material left after burn- 
ing. The organic matter is made 
up of albuminoids, starch, sugar, fats 
and cellulose. These are compounds 
of carbon. 
Anything that is capable of con- 
tributing something to the growth or 
functional activity of plants is called 
a plant food. The food a plant takes 
up through the roots must be in solu- 
tion. 
Carbon constitutes nearly one-half 
of the dry matter of plants. Plants 
breathe through breathing pores in the 
surface of the leaves. Under the in- 
fluence of sunlight they take in car- 
bon-dioxide from the air through 
these breathing pores and change it 
into other compounds. It has been 
proven that plants can grow without 
any carbon in the soil, although they 
do take up carbon compounds from 
the soil in large quantities for the 
other elements which they need and 
are in combination with the carbon. 
All our soils contain carbonic acid 
and carbonaceous material, and these 
are useful. The carbonaceous mate- 
rial is the humus of the soil spoken 
of in the article on soils. Carbonic 
acid is useful in dissolving the ele- 
ments of plant food. 
Hydrogen is found in a much 
smaller proportion by weight because 
of its lightness. It is derived from 
the water, this being decomposed in 
the plant by the influence of sunlight. 
It has been found that some hydro- 
gen is taken up by the roots in the 
form of ammonia, but the quantity 
must be quite small. 
Oxygen is present in the humus of 
which it constitutes a large propor- 
tion. It enters the plant in the form 
of water, carbonic-dioxide and in 
soluble salts. It is taken up in larger 
quantities than the other elements, 
but much is given off by the leaves. 
Nitrogen is a vital part of plants. 
The proportion by weight is small. It 
is furnished through the roots in the 
form of nitric acid or ammonia. The 
air contains a vast amount of free 
nitrogen, but it is not available for 
plants, except those which belong to 
the order Leguminoseae as clovers, 
beans, peas, etc. This is one of the 
elements which must be supplied to 
nearly all soils and costs the most to 
buy. It is found in all organic refuse, 
barnyard manure, sulphate of am- 
monia, and nitrate of soda. 
Sulphur is found in plants in small 
quantities, but is present in all soils 
and is usually taken up as sulphate 
of lime through the roots. 
Iron is necessary to the formation 
of the green matter in plants called 
chlorophyl. Experiments have proven 
that if no iron is present in the soil 
the foliage will be white and the 
plants will die. It is found in suf- 
ficient quantities in practically all 
soils and is taken up by the roots. 
Potash is another element that 
most soils are deficient in and must 
be supplied. It has been found that 
if this element is absent plants seem 
to have no power to take up other 
foods. The most important sources 
are animal excrements, wood ashes, 
muriate of potash, sulphate of potash. 
and refuse organic matter, both ani- 
mal and vegetable. Sometimes nitrate 
of potash can be bought at a price 
which will make it profitable. 
The exact use of phosphorous is 
not definitely known, but it is known 
that no plant can grow without it, 
and also that nearly all soils lack 
phosphorous in sufficient quantities. 
This is the third element which must 
be supplied to help out the soil. The 
plant takes it up in. the form of phos- 
phoric acid and it is usually in com- 
bination with lime. The sources of 
supply are animal excrements, bones, 
bone charcoal, dissolved bone black, 
fish, Florida rock and guanoes. 
Lime is very abundant in the ash 
of plants and a great quantity is re- 
quired. It is quite abundant in most 
soils; but many soils are benefited by 
the use of it, especially if it is de- 
sired to break up insoluble compounds 
already in the soil, or if the soil is 
sour or acid. If we suspect the soil 
to be acid by the abundant growth of 
sorrel, red top or other acid loving 
plants, test it by the use of blue lit- 
mus paper, which may be purchased 
at the drug store, and if it turns the 
paper red we know the soil needs 
lime. It is also good to help clear a 
lawn of moss. 
The other elements required by 
plants are usually found in large 
enough quantities to supply all needs. 
They are all taken up by the roots and 
it is not necessary to think of them. 
Barnyard manure is a very variable 
quantity. Much depends upon the 
way the animals are fed, the kind of 
animals kept, the care taken of the 
manure, the amount of bedding used, 
and the quantity of moisture it con- 
tains. One analysis which I have 
chanced to find, said to be the average 
result of many analyses, gives moist- 
ure 67 per cent, phosphoric acid 
24/100 per cent, potash 4/10 per cent, 
and nitrogen 41/100 per cent. Home- 
made manures are also valuable for 
the humus which they contain. The 
cost of handling is great because of 
the bulk and amount of moisture in 
them; but I believe in saving all you 
