(T\oret-09 F arm > Rochester, f/. Y, 
61 
JfERTILIZERS FOR THE GARDEN. 
titrate of §oda apd Super¬ 
phosphate. 
We place these two fertilizers together, because, as a 
rule, nitrate of soda should not be used alone, or without 
superphosphate. 
Farmers and gardeners sometimes think that when they 
use nitrate of soda they need not use superphosphate, and 
when they use superphosphate they need not use nitrate 
of soda. This is a great mistake. They are entirely differ¬ 
ent. One furnishes soluble phosphoric acid and the other 
soluble nitrogen. Plants require both. Phosphoric acid 
is much cheaper than nitrogen, and our commercial fertil¬ 
izers, as a rule, contain, we will not say too much phospho¬ 
ric acid, but certainly too little nitrogen. In consequence 
of this defect gardeners when they use these fertilizers are 
obliged to sow a ton or more per acre, when if they con¬ 
tained twice as much nitrogen half a ton would produce 
the same effect. This is one reason why gardeners and 
fruit growers so seldom use commercial fertilizers. Many 
of our most popular “ complete fertilizers,” or “ nitrogen¬ 
ous superphosphates,” do not contain over 2 per cent of 
nitrogen. In other words a ton of them contains less ni¬ 
trogen than a ton of clover hay. 
Nitrate df Soda contains 10 per cent of nitrogen in the 
most available and best condition for the use of plants, so 
that one ton of nitrate of soda contains as much nitrogen 
as eight tons of many of the so-called “ nitrogenous 
superphosphates.” 
Stable M aI *hre ip G OI W c<> 
tiop With Fertilizers. 
A market gardener often uses 50 tons of horse manure 
per acre, containing 500 lbs. of nitrogen. To get this quan¬ 
tity of nitrogen in a “nitrogenous superphosphate,” con¬ 
taining 2 per cent of nitrogen, he would have to sow over 
twelve tons per acre. 
It is true that all the nitrogen in horse manure is not in a 
soluble condition. Probably not over one-third of it, or 
166 lbs., is converted into soluble nitrogen the first year. 
If the gardener uses a nitrogenous superphosphate con¬ 
taining 2 per cent of nitrogen as a substitute eor man¬ 
ure, he would have to use four tons of such a fertilizer to 
furnish the 166 lbs of nitrogen, while he can get this amount 
of nitrogen in about half a ton of nitrate of soda. 
There is another point to be observed. These nitrogen¬ 
ous superphosphates seldom, if ever, contain nitrogen in 
the form of nitrates. A small portion of the nitrogen is 
sometimes in the form of soluble salts of ammonia, but 
most of it is in the form of “ organic nitrogen,” such as 
flesh, fish, castor pomice, cotton seed cake, tankage, &c. 
This organic nitrogen must be decomposed in the soil and 
converted into nitrate before the plants can use it. 
If our gardeners and fruit growers would study this 
subject they would find that they can use superphosphate 
and nitrate of soda to great advantage, and can mix them 
in the proper proportions and get better returns for the 
money than if they buy nitrogenous superphosphate that 
contains little nitrogen. On this point there can be no 
doubt. 
When good stable manure can be placed on the land for 
less than $1.50 per ton market gardeners will find no com¬ 
mercial fertilizer that can profitably be used as a complete 
substitute. But they can still use superphosphate and 
nitrate of soda in connection with the manure, with very 
decided advantage. For instance, we find as a matter of 
experience, that no amount of well rotted manure that 
we can work into the soil will produce such early and such 
strong and vigorous celery plants as can be grown with a 
moderate use of manure m connection with a top dressing 
of SCO lbs. of nitrate of soda per acre. 
Our own practice is to make and use all the manure we 
can, and buy superphosphate and nitrate of soda in addi¬ 
tion. We could better dispense with manure, at least for 
a few years, than we could dispense with superphosphate 
and nitrate of soda. But if we depended on superphos¬ 
phate and nitrate of soda alone, there would come a time, 
sooner or later when the land would be too hard and sticky 
for garden crops from lack of humus or the organic mat¬ 
ter of manures, and the only way to avoid this will be to 
plow under green crops. 
Should M a Pdrc be F eiv 
ipepted or fJ S£ d F res h ? 
One of our customers asks us this question. We have not 
space here to discuss this matter, but we may say that on 
our own farm we apply it both ways. When we can fer¬ 
ment it without loss of time and labor we do so. There 
need be no loss of anything but carbon and water in fer¬ 
menting manure, and, as all gardeners know, well rotted 
manure acts quicker than raw manure. If raw manure is 
used for lightening up heavy land, it is very desirable to 
use superphosphate and nitrate of soda. This will furnish 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid in a,soluble condition, and 
produce as good crops as though the manure had been 
rotted, and in fact better. 
HoW to Feripeqt M a PUre 
Without Foss. 
Our own plan is to draw out the manure during the Win¬ 
ter into the field where we intend to use it in the Spring, 
and make it into heaps about five feet wide and five feet 
high, and treat it as we do manure intended for a hot-bed. 
Be specially careful to make the heap square on the sides, 
and not like the roof of a house. If thrown carelessly out 
of the wagon, and the weather is cold, and you only draw 
a load at a time, the manure will freeze and no fermenta¬ 
tion will take place. 
Sometimes gardeners can buy slaughter house refuse, or 
dried blood, or tankage, or some other rich nitrogenous 
material at a comparatively cheap rate, and when this is 
the case as much of the material as contains eight or tea 
pounds of nitrogen can be mixed with a ton of the man¬ 
ure in the heap to great advantage. It will induce rapid 
fermentation and both the manure and the ni.rogenous 
organic matter will be improved by the fermentation. But 
in this case the manure should be wetter than usual or it 
will be apt to fire-fang. And in any case it will be well to 
sow a little superphosphate on each layer of the manure 
and material in the heap as it is made, say 10 or 20 lbs. to 
the ton. This will make manure that is manure I As a 
rule, however, unless you know the composition of the 
material it is better to buy nitrate of soda. It is usually 
the best and cheapest source of available nitrogen. 
