HINTS ON SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 25 
stance, remove different proportions of the 
plant food elements. 
In some parts of the country, lime is an im¬ 
portant factor in crop production. In such 
cases, this factor can be determined in the 
same plot, by applying some form of commer¬ 
cial lime to the lower half of the plot, the en¬ 
tire width of the plot. Thus the liming results 
can be noted as well as the fertilizer needs. If 
the lower part of the plot produces a much more 
vigorous growth of plants than the upper half 
of the plot, it may well be concluded that lime 
is needed. This is especially true when some 
form of leguminous plant is raised, such as cow 
peas, soy beans, alfalfa, clover, etc. 
Just one word more about how this fertilizer 
is to be applied. For a small plot, such as just 
described, it is not necessary that a fertilizer 
spreader be secured, although one would be very 
acceptable. In this case the different elements 
can be applied by hand. First mark off the 
plots, having each separate plot marked off, 
one rod wide, and four rods long. Then spread 
this by hand, being careful that this is not done 
on a windy day, so that none of the nitrate of 
soda, for instance, is blown over on to plot 2, 
where the acid phosphate is to be applied. It 
is understood, of course, that this land is al¬ 
ready plowed, at least. Then when this is all 
spread, it should be immediately disced in with 
a disc harrow, so that it is thoroughly incor¬ 
porated in the soil. Then the crop can be 
planted as usual. This method is being used 
successfully all over the country in discovering 
