Vol. LXV. No. 2931. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 31, 1906. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
CHEMICALS AND WORN-OUT SOIL 
WILL SUCH FERTILIZERS FERTILIZE? 
The Plain Story of a Practical Farmer. 
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.—Some time since 
the president of a large educational institution located 
in my native village—himself the product of an Empire 
State farm—spent an entire evening with me, the 
time being occupied largely in reminiscences of early 
days on the old farm, and in anticipation also of the 
time when he could lay aside the cares and responsi¬ 
bilities of his office and again renew his earlier ex- 
la; was compelled to buy the entire farm. “Now,” said 
he, “it’s all run down; I can’t get any manure; that’s 
entirely out of the question, and I must make that 
place do more than pay expenses. How would fer¬ 
tilizers do? By the way, Garrahan, what are fertilizers, 
anyway? I know some things about my business, but 
now I realize that I have to know something about 
your business.” Only a few days since I received a 
letter from the head of a very large charitable institu¬ 
tion where many hundreds have to be fed asking for 
information along the same lines—a large area of land 
but productiveness was lacking. And in a recent num- 
entirely too much, considering its run-down condition, 
but I had no idea at the time that any possible sys¬ 
tem could so effectually rob a farm. It never occurred 
to me that ground could be as poor as that ground 
afterward showed itself to be. As an illustration of 
its resources, I said to the former owner (after every¬ 
thing had been settled to his satisfaction) : “Mr. S-, 
about what have you been receiving from this place, 
if you regard it as a fair question?” “Why, certainly, 
that’s a fair question, and I am glad I can answer 
somewhat intelligently, for I have given the farm credit 
for what I got from it at what I would have to pay 
“THERE’S NO 
PLACE LIKE 
HOME”—A WORN-OUT FARM IN NEW ENGLAND. 
Fig. 112. 
periences, but, said he: “Mr. Garrahan, the old farm 
is in a bad way; its fertility has largely disappeared, 
owing, I suppose, to wrong methods of treatment, and 
the stable manure to restore this wasted fertility can¬ 
not be obtained. Plow can this fertility be restored? 
W ill your fertilizers accomplish that result, profitably 
1 mean, and, if restored, can this productive capacity be 
sustained? In other words, as a practical farmer, in 
what way does a knowledge of agricultural chemistry 
help a man in my position to restore wasted fertility, 
and sustain that fertility, from the purely commercial 
standpoint ? ’ Still more recently a young man, a mem¬ 
ber of a large wholesale firm in a neighboring city, 
gave me to understand that in buying a Summer home 
her of The R. N.-Y. I noticed an inquiry from far¬ 
away Wisconsin, asking something about the possi¬ 
bilities of fertilizers. These inquiries, together with 
others that might be presented, incline me to think 
that the subject most of us regard as threadbare and 
shelf-worn, may possibly be of interest to a generation 
of new readers. 
SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.—About 10 or 
12 years ago I came into possession of a farm of perhaps 
85 acres in all, pretty badly used up; for at least 15 
years it had been farmed on the tenant system, which 
in this section means that the tenant robs the farm of 
all available fertility, and the owner is compelled to 
look on and see him do it. I paid $5,000 for this farm, 
for the same stuff in open market. If I had my books 
here I could tell you to the cent, but in round figures 
I can say with perfect safety that I formerly got about 
$150, but lately $125 would cover the amount, and, 
really I believe my tenant is about as good and honest 
as any of them.” Now, then, I had presented to me 
the statement of a farm of, say, SO acres, with house 
and buildings, returning the owner $125, the taxes on 
which amounted to $50, thus leaving the owner about 
a dollar an acre to keep up the insurance on his build¬ 
ings, fences around the fields and any repairs that 
were needed. Magnificent sum, wasn’t it? No wonder 
the owner wanted to sell. To look at that farm, many 
of the fields red with sorrel, where the fences should 
