A Common Sense Explanation of Fertilizers 
BY Claude H. Miller 
M ost books on fertilizers are Greek to the amateur gardener. 
From them we gain the impression that all plant growth 
is made up of three chemical elements, nitrogen, phosphorous 
and potash, and that before we can hope for success in our gar¬ 
dens we must exercise certain functions somewhere between the 
duties of the prescription clerk in a drug store and the cook 
who puts together the ingredients for a batch of bread or cake. 
As a matter of fact plants take from the soil about a dozen ele¬ 
ments. The reason that the triumvirate, nitrogen, potash and 
phosphorous, are so often mentioned is because they are the 
ones in which as a rule a poor soil is deficient. Consequently 
they must be supplied artificially to obtain maximum yields. 
They are the ingredients of a complete or “balanced” fertilizer. 
In the books, we see big formulae devoted to the humble potato 
that make us feel that what we heretofore regarded as a simple 
tuber as a matter of fact requires as much care in feeding as 
a growing baby. We may think we “know beans,” but after 
reading a treatise on “the soil requirements of the leguminoids,” 
our favorite Saturday night dish becomes a composite photograph 
of the corner drug store dumped in a ten acre lot. 
You as a gardener in a small way need to know but little about 
fertilizers from a scientific standpoint. If you go to your farmer 
neighbor who always has the earliest 
STABLE sweet corn and the ripest, soundest to- 
MANURES matoes and ask him about nitrates and 
sulphates, he will consider that you are 
delving in educational mysteries that have no part in his life. All 
he knows is that to have a good garden, he must use lots of well 
rotted manure, and failing in that, to make up the shortage with 
fertilizer. 
The difference between success or failure in our garden de¬ 
pends upon a great many things beside soil fertility. Some of 
these are sufficient rainfall, physical condition of the soil, the kind 
of seed we plant—both as to its germinating qualities and the 
proper variety—whether we have planted at the proper time, the 
care we give the seedlings after they appear, and the extent to 
which we wage war upon their natural enemies, the weeds and 
the bugs. But more than anything else a successful garden is 
dependent upon a good soil. It is the sine qua non of the 
whole affair, the major premise, the foundation stone upon 
which we shall build our structure. No amount of weeding or 
rainfall or good seeds or government bulletins or neighborly 
advice will take the place of this. 
Practically no garden spots are rich enough in themselves. 
Something must be added. “Well, then,” you ask, “what shall 
I add?” You may feel that unless you employ the services of an 
agricultural expert, you are rushing in where angels fear to 
tread. You need have no misgivings on this score. If you can 
get it, the thing to add is stable manure. “How much?” Just as 
much as you can get conveniently—and then some. If you keep 
a horse, the best practice is to haul the accumulation out on the 
garden every few days during the fall and winter, so that when 
the rains come, the soluble salts which it contains will be washed 
into the ground and not run off into the drain or sewer where 
they will do no good. During the growing season this cannot be 
done. In that case, the manure pile should be turned over about 
once in two weeks to hasten decomposition and to prevent it from 
overheating—which is technically called “burning.” The white 
spots we often see in stable manure are due to burning, and in 
such cases practically all the plant food has been destroyed. 
As horse manure is naturally dry, it will ferment rapidly unless 
it is kept worked up. By rapid fermentation it loses its most 
valuable fertilizing element, nitrogen, which is converted into 
ammonium carbonate, a volatile gas. In addition to working over 
the pile, our manure pit should have a roof to keep off the rains, 
or better still waterproof sides and bottom of concrete to hold 
the moisture. Cow manure according to analysis is less valuable 
than horse manure, but it ferments more slowly, and under the 
ordinary conditions of neglect that exist on the average farm 
will probably be just as desirable if it can be bought. Pig manure 
is in the same class as cow manure owing to the diversity of feed 
that pigs get. The two that are the most valuable are sheep 
and poultry manure. Where possible these should be mixed with 
stable manure, as the excess straw in the bedding used will act 
as an absorbent and hold in the soluble chemicals. 
The beginner should appreciate one essential fact: that any 
manure is superior in most cases to a commercial fertilizer be¬ 
cause in addition to the chemicals it contains it also is largely 
made up of humus. This is simply vegetable fiber of some sort. 
Rotted straw or leaf mold is largely humus. The chief function 
of humus is to improve the texture of the soil. A heavy clay 
may be rich enough in itself to grow a garden successfully, but 
it must also be friable or workable, and not compact like putty. 
When we consider that the delicate hair-like rootlets of a grow¬ 
ing plant must work their way through the soil and seek out the 
elements that go to make plant growth, we can easily see how 
much better the chances of success are in a loose crumbly soil 
than in one that is packed or so “clayey” that it is either water- 
soaked or sun-baked on the surface so that it will shed water like 
a tin roof instead of permitting it to soak into the ground. This 
naturally leads also into a discussion of cultivation, which is be¬ 
yond the province of this article. The point is that manure is 
preferable to fertilizer because it contains humus. The book 
farmer will dispute this and tell you that with a fertilizer we can 
know exactly how much nitrogen or potash we are adding, but 
with stable manure it is all guesswork. He is right in this, but 
he assumes that we know in advance just how much we should 
add. I regretfully dispute this contention. 
We are now brought up to the subject of artificial fertilization. 
First of all we must ascertain whether our garden needs lime. 
It is an important element in the suc- 
ARTIFICIAL cessful growing of crops. The principal 
FERTILIZERS function of lime is to correct acidity or 
to “sweeten” or make alkaline an acid 
soil. We can easily tell whether our gardens are acid by procur¬ 
ing a piece of litmus paper from the druggist. Litmus paper 
has the peculiar property in the presence of an acid of turning 
a pinkish red. In alkaline or neutral solutions it turns or remains 
blue. The practical test is made in this way. Stick a spade 
into the ground and work a slot into the top soil. Then moisten 
a piece of the litmus paper with clean water and press it against 
the side of the hole. If the paper turns pink your soil is slightly 
acid and needs some lime — say a bag of air-slaked lime to each 
square rod. This is better applied in the fall and plowed or 
spaded in when you ifiake the garden in the spring. Lime also 
acts the same as humus and not only improves the texture of the 
soil, but also makes available the elements of plant growth and 
unlocks the fertility of the soil. This fact has long been recog¬ 
nized by farmers in the saying “lime makes the father rich and 
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