294 
THE : NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Immmi (lis(*(nitinu(Ml in chan^in^^ liie j)r(K*eKSs to nitric acid. 
1^)TASH 
l^)tash. as a |)lai»t food, is one of the important and es- 
.scnlials, ho\vcv(‘r. if our available supj)Iy of })liospbalcs 
and nilro^uMi was snflicient, we would suffer less from 
the loss of potash than we would fi'om either of the oHuu’ 
two. 
The potash in our soils is largely confined to the clay 
suh-soil, and, })y deej) ])lowing and the use of the wood 
ashes, that wo, can find we eaji get along with a much 
less (pianlity than formerly used, with equally satisfac¬ 
tory results. 
There ai-e certain crops, however, such as potatoes, 
tomatot's, strawl)erries, watermelons, and a few others 
that should he fertilized with a material eontainrng from 
3% to 6% potash, to get good yields. 
Cotton on low' lands should have from 2% to 3% po¬ 
tash to prevent rust and all cotton and coi’n on sandy 
lands should he feitilized w ith a goods carrying not less 
than 2% })otash. 
We ai-e all familiar w ith the fact that wo have draw n 
our potash materials from (lermany, up to the heginning 
of the wuir, and w e also know^ that the German potash on 
hand at the heginning of the war has been entirely used 
up; therefore, it has been necessary to turn to our home 
production, wdiich has heen very much stimulated by the 
increasing demand. 
Plants have heen put into operation in Nebraska, Utah 
and California, producing a very excellent grade of po¬ 
tash from the salt lakes of these states. 
In 1916 36,739 short tons were produced, having a 
mean content of about 27%. potash -K-2-0 and a total con¬ 
tent of 9,720 short tons of potash K-2-0. This is almost 
exactly ten times the production quoted for 1916. Prac¬ 
tically one-half of this quantity w as })roduced from na¬ 
tural salts, or brines, while about 16% was produced 
from Kell), sea-weed that i§ gathered on the coast of 
(California. Little of the latter, hownwer, goes into the 
(‘astern markets because of the fact that it is needed in 
(California. 
While our doniestic potash is equally good in plant 
lood value to the German potash, it is more expensive 
hotli to the manufacturer and consumer. 
When the potash deliveries from Germany were unin¬ 
terrupted, the manufacturer wnis enabled to sell potash 
in mixed fertilizers on a basis of -M-OO per unit. How¬ 
ever, the cost of production of the domestic potash is so 
much greater that it is necessary to obtain from i{i6.00 to 
-1?7.00 per unit, to avoid sustaining a loss. 
Much of the present production of potash is maintained 
by war ])rices, and cannot continue after these prices 
fall. Some of the ])rojects may he permanent hut, unfor¬ 
tunately, the output is yet small. 
Summary : 
In summing up the conditions that may he expech'd to 
obtain in the fertilizer industiy. it can he said wdth al¬ 
most certainty that there w ill he a great scarcity of ])lant 
foods, while the WYar lasts. 
There wdll he a scarcity of phosphate, because of the 
fact that th(> consumption of sulphui'ic acid is now reach¬ 
ing its maximum l)y the Government. 
fhere wTll he a scarcity of nitrogen, because of the 
fact that the mineral sources, such as sulj)hate of am¬ 
monia, cyanamid and nitrate of soda are being kept olf 
of the market by the Govrnment for use in making ex- 
j)losives. 
There w ill he a scarcity of animal ammoniates for rea¬ 
sons stated in the earlier part of this article. 
There will he a scarcity of cotton seed meal to supply 
anm)onia in fertilizers, because of the rapid deterioration 
of the cotton crop, within the last thirty days and the an- 
ticij)ated demand for that commodity for feeding pur- 
I)cses. 
The use of all other materials, such as substitutes for 
the materials enumerated above is limited to the very 
small quantities of these materials that are available — 
viz; such as velvet bean, soya bean and peanut meal sub¬ 
stitutes. These materials, also being food products for 
cattle and hogs, will he offered only in a limited way for 
fertilizing purposes and the chances are that the price per 
unit w ill he so high that they cannot he used in fertilizers. 
The fertilizer business is an essential industry and will 
he encouraged by the Government as much as possible. 
However, the outlook for the present is not bright, either 
lor the manufacturer or consumer, in getting these ma¬ 
terials in the quantities that may be desired, except at 
a i)rohibitive price. 
THE PLANTSMAN WHO KNEW 
A nurseryman looking over a fine collection of ever¬ 
greens very much surprised the owner by remarking— 
“that Nordman’s Fir is a very fine specimen it evidently 
did not get a set back when you transplanted it in 1910.” 
“Why that is so it was planted there in 1910, I re¬ 
member it because I added that strip of ground to my 
lawm the sj)ring of that year, but how did you know it?” 
“Oh that is simple enough, you see the growth it has 
made this year, about 10 inches, the year before about 
the same, the year before that the growth was shorter, in¬ 
dicating a dry summer or some such cause and if you 
will follow on down you w ill see the summer of 1910 the 
tiers of branches come very close together, the leader it 
made not being more than twm inches. It is very evident 
it was moved at that time as the year previous to that it 
made a good growth. By going on down you will see 
the indications of it having been transplanted twice pre¬ 
vious to that, once wdien it was five years old and again 
wdien it w^as eight. 
“All the coniferous evergreens carry their histories so 
they may be read very easily in fact all plants do to a 
greater or lesser extent, especially while they are young 
and branched to the ground. When they get older and 
lose their low er branches it is not so easy to tell iheir age 
except by counting the annual rings in a cross section 
of the trunk. 
“Most plants keep a diary of events that affect them 
wdiich is easily read by the close observer w ho under¬ 
stands their habits. 
While they are young the pages are open and may be 
read at a glance, as they get older the records are filed 
away in the archives of the trunk.” 
