Nitrogen 
Nitrogen is considered by the 
modern farmer to be a very essen- 
tial fertilizer, and is usually applied 
in chemical form, but sometimes by 
the use of manure and turning under 
nitrogen gathering crops, the leg- 
umes. Our soil shows little benefit 
from the use of any of these, and 
they have sometimes proved a de- 
cided disadvantage. Nitrogen tends 
to produce luxurious vegetation of 
a@ very inferior quality. Plants will 
grow larger and to the casual ob- 
server more desirable with nitrogen, 
but they are far more subject to dis- 
ease and decay than those grown on 
2. properly handled soil. They con- 
tain appreciably less food value per 
pound when grown with an excess of 
nitrogen. This is especially true with 
plants where the fruit is eaten in- 
stead of the leaves or stems. Nitro- 
gen tends to produce a large growth 
of leaves and stems with less amount 
of fruit, of an inferior quality. On 
beans and tomatoes I have seen the 
yield almost Comp retely destroyed 
