for the official lists. For the Middle 
Atlantic area, these are the same as 
for last spring, as the 1945 recom- 
mendations have not been received. 
Most of the state recommendations 
give an optional choice of grades. 
These tables, however, list only one 
grade that Eastern States is most 
likely to have for the crop. These 
maximum rates may not necessarily 
be the most profitable, but they repre- 
sent the rate considered most prac- 
tical for the less favorable conditions. 
Customary practices may, however,. 
permit larger applications to be used. 
III. How to Make the Supply of | 
Fertilizer Give the Greatest 
Production 
1. Get the most from the manure 
available. 
a. Conserve the liquid and pre- 
vent the heating. 
b. Reinforce the manure with 
superphosphate. 
c. Spread thinly over more 
acres. 
d. Use poultry manure for leafy 
crops and topdressing cover 
crops. 
2. Make certain soils and plants have 
enough calcium. 
a. 
Calcium in lime is both a soil 
conditioner AND plant nu- 
trient. 
. Soils can have a desirable 
pH reading and yet be low in 
calcium. Low calcium de- 
creases the efficiency of ni- 
trogen and phosphorus fer- 
tilizers. If asparagus, beets, 
cauliflower, spinach or le- 
gume cover crops do not 
grow well, get your soils — 
top and subsoil — tested for 
calcium. 
Small amounts of limestone 
— 300 to 500 pounds —drilled 
in before seeding, will often 
furnish enough calcium as a 
nutrient for the crops if the 
supply of lime or labor does 
not permit the usual broad- 
cast application. 
3. Put the fertilizer where the plants 
can get it. 
a. 
Get the plants off to a good 
start with some fertilizer in 
bands along the row in plant- 
ing or use a starter solution 
where earliness is important. 
For narrow row, leafy crops 
such as spinach, early cab- 
bage and beets, broadcast 
applications may be more 
practical. 
. Except for potatoes, when 
more than 400 to 500 pounds 
of fertilizer is to be used by 
band placement along the 
row, drill in the balance 
deeply. ; 
. In dry seasons the plowing 
down of part of the fertilizer 
is a method that is showing 
much promise and is recom- 
mended for trial. 
4. Keep a crop on the land all the 
a. 
time to conserve Nitrogen. 
It is decaying organic matter 
ot live plant roots that hold 
nitrate nitrogen against losses 
by leaching. Domestic rye 
grass seeded at the last culti- 
vation or before October will 
develop a very heavy root 
system and will conserve the 
nitrogen supply and prevent 
erosion. 
. If the vegetable crop was 
fertilized only in the row, 
provision for fertilizing the 
cover crop between the rows 
should be made. 
5. Chemical fertilizer and organic 
matter are the winning team. 
tilizer are most effective only 
when there is a good supply 
of organic matter from stable 
manure, green manure or 
sods in rotation. 
. The beneficial soil organisms 
must have plenty of organic 
matter, nutrients including 
lime, and air to do their 
work. 
6. See that there is sufficient boron. 
a. 
Cracked stem of celery, brown 
rot of cauliflower, and heart 
rot of turnips, indicate the 
need for boron. 
. Eastern States 0-10-20 with 
4% borax for New England 
and 0-19-19 with 5% borax 
for Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Delaware are mixtures 
to correct boron deficiency. 
. These mixtures with borax 
are recommended primarily 
for cover crops and legume 
sods that precede the vege- 
tables. For direct use on 
vegetables, determine, the 
fate per acte of borax for 
each crop. The 0-10-20 con- 
tains four pounds of borax 
per bag; the 0-19-19, five 
pounds of borax per bag. 
These mixtures must not be 
used in the row but should be 
thoroughly mixed with the 




a. Applications of chemical fer- soil well before planting. 
Table 5 
SUGGESTED GRADES AND MAXIMUM RATE 
Bags per Acre * 
Delaware and 
Crop Maryland Pennsylvania 
Beans, Peas ** 5-20-10 @ 6 * 5-20-10 @ 6 
Beets, Carrots, Onions 5-15-20 @ 6 8-16-16 @ 8 
Corn, Sweet 5-20-10 @ 5 5-20-10 @ 5 
Tomatoes 8-16-16 @ 8 5-20-10 @ 8 
Potatoes, Sweet 5-15-20 @ 8 5-15-20 @ 6 
Potatoes, White Early 10-10-10 @ 7 8-16-16 @ 8 
Potatoes, White Late 8-16-16 @ 8 8-16-16 @ 6 
6-18-18 @ 6 *** 
Victory Garden 5-10-5 @ 20 5-10-5 @ 20 
Other Vegetables — Leafy 10-10-10 @ 6 5-20-10 @ 8 
— Root 5-15-20 @ 6 8-16-16 @ 8 
— Vine 5-15-20 @ 8 5-20-10 @ 8 
Cover Crops — Grasses 10-10-10 @ 4 10-10-10 @ 3 
— Legumes 5-20-10 @ 3 0-20-20 @ 234 
— Mixed 8-16-16 @ 4 5-20-10 @ 3 

* Based on Eastern States 1944 Recommendations and for use without manure. With liberal use of 
manure, reduce the quantity of fertilizer. 
** The 8-24-8 may well be substituted for the 5-20-10 for any crop where a ratio with more nitro- 
gen to phosphorus and potash is wanted. Use the 8-24-8 at lower rates where manure has been liber- 
ally used. 
*** Use where excessive vine growth is a problem. 
