AGRICULTURE OF JACKSON COUNTY. 75 
plant food per acre, while such crops as corn, sugar beets, cab¬ 
bage, onions, and potatoes, require much larger quantities. 
The yields of crops are affected not only by the quantity of 
plant food available, but by the moisture supply which the 
climate provides and the portion of it which the soils on which 
the crops are grown will retain until absorbed by the growing 
plants. 
In working out our ideas of the proper fertilizers to use in 
Wisconsin, therefore, we must take all of these factors into 
consideration and should use commercial fertilizers only to 
supplement the natural fertility of our soils and system of 
farming. Roughly this means that on any particular kind of 
soil and for the growing of any one of the groups of crops men¬ 
tioned, the fertilizer best to use would depend on : first, whether 
stable manure had been used or not; second, whether legumes, 
which would supply nitrogen but no other element, have been 
grown; or third, if the soil is unfertilized in either of these 
ways. 
Acid phosphate should be used on the heavier soils in the 
general system of farming where a sufficient amount of manure 
is produced to cover the cultivated land every fourth year. 
This phosphate fertilizer should be used at rates of 125 to 350 
lbs. per acre (depending upon the grade) and should be broad¬ 
casted or applied with a fertilizer grain drill at the time of 
seeding to small grain and clover. 
Mixed fertilizers high in phosphate (such as 2 - 12 - 2 ) may be 
used on lighter soils where there is a limited supply of organic 
matter. For small grain these fertilizers may be applied at 
rates of 200 to 400 lbs. per acre depending upon conditions. 
This fertilizer may also be used 011 corn at rates of 75 to 
125 lbs. per acre and should be applied with fertilizer attach¬ 
ments on the corn planter. Fertilizer applied in this manner 
for corn should be used only as a supplement to the usual 
manurial treatment and in conjunction with a practice as pre¬ 
viously outlined. 
Mixed fertilizers high in potash may be used for truck crops 
where it is impossible to secure a sufficient amount of barnyard 
manure. It is imperative that some legume such as clover or 
soybeans be grown under this system in order to supply the nec¬ 
essary amounts of organic matter and partly supply the nitrogen. 
For potatoes the fertilizer should be applied with fertilizer 
