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Mi\R 1 6 1983

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FOOD FOR PLANTS

Fifteenth Edition

CHILEAN NITRATE OF SODA EDUCAIIONAL BUREAU

57 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK

PREFACE

This is the fifteenth edition of "Food for Plants." The work
has come to have a standard place in American Farm litera-
ture. It includes results of experiments on Highlands Experi-
mental Farms, under the personal direction of the late Pro-
fessor E. B. Voorhees, of the New Jersey Experimental
Station.

Crop utilization and relative agricultural efficiency of nitro-
gen in various commercial materials were outstanding points
of his New Jersey work. The record of the first twenty years'
work on the availability of nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda is re-
produced in this volume. It includes the work of Professor
Voorhees up to the time of his death. It is regarded as one of
the most important contributions to Soil Science which has
been made in this country.

Results of experiments also set forth field work intended
as demonstrations in farm practice of what may be accom-
plished by the rational use of Nitrate of Soda under average
farm conditions in a typical hay and dairy section of New York
State.

The results were also published in "Grass Growing for
Profit" and "Growing Timothy Hay for Market." These prac-
tical contributions were based on actual scientific data. Re-
sults of studies of methods of crop growing, from the prepara-
tion of the land to handling and marketing, also appeared in
these bulletins.

The Corn for Ensilage Experiments recorded are regarded
as of first value. The United States Government made studies
of the ensilage grown with Nitrate which was regarded as of
high feeding quality.

Apple growing, which is at present our most important
money crop in the northern states, is treated in an up-to-date
manner in a chapter by itself.

The use of Nitrate on Sugar Cane is set forth briefly.

292«o

a

Blasting a Test Hole.

Caliche Ready for Transport to Oficina,

FOOD FOR PLANTS

The Food of Plants consists of a number of ele-
ments, including Nitrate, phosphate, lime and potash.
Nearly always two of these are lacking in adequate
quantities to produce crops, especially is Nitrate
wanting in the vast majority of instances. In this
case the normal growth and yield of the crop will be
limited only by the quantity of Nitrate it can properly
assimilate. There might be an abundant supply of
all the other elements, but plants can never use other
kinds of food without Nitrate.

Nitrate Nitrogen is the food that is nearly always
deficient. The question that presents itself to the
farmer, gardener and fruit grower is, How can I
supply my plants with Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and
potash, in the best forms and at the least expense?
We will try to throw some light upon this question
in the following pages. We will take first, phos-
phoric acid.

There are several sources of phosphoric acid, the
principal being bones and rock phosphate. Of these,
the rock phosphate is the cheapest source. A pre-
vailing impression exists that super-phosphate made
from rock phosphate is not as good as that made from
bones. It has been shown by many experiments that
this idea is entirely without foundation. What the
plants want is available phosphoric acid, and it makes
little or no difference from what source it is derived.

5

J^mitTY LIBRARY

6 FOOD FOR PLANTS

The largest deposits of rock phosphates exist in
South CaroHna, Florida and Tennessee. These beds
of phosphate are supposed to be composed of the
petrified bones and excrements of extinct animals.
When this substance is ground and mixed with a
sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid, the larger part
of the phosphoric acid which it contains becomes
available as plant food. This fact was one of the
greatest agricultural discoveries of the age.

When the rock phosphate is thus treated with sul-
phuric acid, it becomes what is commercially known
as superphosphate, or acid phosphate. The same is
true if ground bone is treated in the same way.
Good superphosphate, or acid phosphate, contains
about 14 per cent, of soluble phosphoric acid.

The best sources of potash are sulphate of potash
and unleached wood ashes, which latter contain from
3 to 5 per cent, of potash in the form of carbonate.
They also contain from 1 to 2j^ per cent, of phos-
phoric acid. They are valuable as plant food for the
potash as well as for the valuable lime they contain.

Nitrate is the most important and effective element
of plant food, and at the same time, as stated, is the
one that is generally deficient in the soil.

Crops must have meals, that is, food cooked for
them in advance. The sun will help do this cooking,
as its heat and light promote nitration which is really
a process of cooking and also pre-digestion. When
the nitrogenous plant food is cooked and prepared
for use it is Nitrate, hence Nitrate of Soda is in a
class by itself, different from all other plant foods.

There are a great many sources of Nitrogen, such
as dried fish, cotton-seed meal, dried blood, and

FOOD FOR PLANTS 1

tankage. But none of these furnish Nitrogen in the
Nitrate form. This can only be furnished to plants in
the form of Nitrate of Soda.

Nitrate of Soda contains the Nitrogen that is
necessary for the growth of plants, and is the best
form in which to furnish it to them. When we say
the best form we mean as well the best practical
form. Nitrate of Soda not only furnishes Nitrogen
in its most available form, but it furnishes it cheaper
than any other source, because 100 per cent, of it or
all is available.

No other form containing so much available plant
food is also capable of unlocking the latent potash
in the soil.

Nitrate of Soda or Chile Saltpetre.

Nitrate of Soda or Chile Saltpetre occurs in vast
deposits in the rainless districts of the west coast of
South America, chiefly in Chile, from whence it is
imported to this country for use in chemical manu-
facture and in agriculture. As imported into the
United States, Nitrate of Soda usually contains
about 15 per cent, of Nitrogen. Nitrate of Soda re-
sembles common salt, with which and sodium sul-
phate it is often adulterated. This salt is at once
available as a direct fertilizer. Whenever practicable,
it should be applied as a top-dressing to growing
crops, and if possible the dressings should be given
in two or three successive rations.

Nitrate of Soda is usually applied at the rate of
from 100 to 200 pounds per acre on land previously
dressed with farm-yard manure. To secure an even

8 FOOD FOR PLANTS

distribution, the Nitrate should be well mixed with
from three to five parts of fine loam or sand.

Much has been said and written about Nitrate of
Soda exhausting the soil. This is all a mistake and
is the outcome of incorrect reasoning. Nitrate of
Soda does not exhaust soils. It promotes the de-
velopment of the leafy parts of plants, and its effects
are at once noticeable in the deep, rich green, and
vigorous growth of crops. The growth of plants is
greatly energized by its use, for the Nitrate in supply-
ing an abundance of nitrogenous food to plants,

General East and West Section of the Nitrate District of
Chile. Vertical Scale Exaggerated.

imparts to them a thrift and vigor which enables
their roots to gather in the shortest time the largest
amount of other needed foods from a greater sur-
face of surrounding soil. The increased consump-
tion of phosphoric acid and potash is due to the
increase in the weight of the crop. The office of the
Nitrate is to convert the raw materials of the soil
into a crop; for we obtain by its use, as Dr. Griffiths
has tersely said, "the fullest crop with the greatest
amount of profit, with the least damage to the land."

FOOD FOR PLANTS 9

NITRATE: WHAT IT IS IN AGRICULTURE.

Nitrate of Soda, from the standpoint of the agri-
cultural chemist, is a substance formed by the union
of nitric oxide and soda. In appearance it resembles

coarse salt. In agriculture, it is valuable chiefly for
its active Nitrogen, although it is also a soil sweet-
ener and is frequently capable of rendering soil
potash available.

Commercially pure Nitrate contains about 15 per

10 FOOD FOR PLANTS

cent, of Nitrogen, equivalent to 18.25 per cent, of
ammonia, or 300 pounds of Nitrogen to the ton.

Nitrate of Soda is found in vast quantities in Chile.
The beds of Nitrate, or "Caliche," as it is called in
Chile before it is refined, are several thousand feet

UNEXPLORED NITRATE GfiOUWD IN CHILE

74,976 SQUARE MILES

EXPLORED

NITRATE

GROUND

2,244

SQ. MILES

above the sea, on a desert plain extending for seventy-
five miles north and south, and about twenty miles
wide, in a rainless region. The surface of the desert
is covered with earth or rock, called "costra," which
varies from three to ten or more feet in thickness.
Under this is found the "Caliche," or crude Nitrate.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 11

The layer of "Caliche" is sometimes eight or ten feet
thick, but averages about three feet. This "Caliche"
contains on an average from 15 to 50 per cent, of pure
Nitrate of Soda.

It is calculated there is ample Nitrate now in sight
to last upwards of three hundred years.

The "Caliche" is refined by boiling in water to
dissolve the Nitrate. This hot water is then run off
and allowed to cool in tanks, when the Nitrate forms
in crystals like common salt. The Nitrate is then
placed in bags of about 176 pounds (or nearly two

12 FOOD FOR PLANTS

bushels) each and shipped to all parts of the world.
The process of refining is an expensive one.

How these beds of Nitrate were formed has been
the subject of much speculation. The generally
accepted theory is, that they were formed by the
gradual decomposition and natural manurial fer-
mentation of marine animal and vegetable matter,
which contains a considerable amount of Nitrogen.

The same wise Providence that stored up the coal
in the mountains of Pennsylvania to furnish fuel for
people when their supply of wood had become ex-
hausted, preserved this vast quantity of Nitrate of
Soda in the rainless region of Chile, to be used to
furnish crops with the necessary Nitrate when the
natural supply in the soil had become deficient.

The enormous explosive industry of this country
could not be conducted without Nitrate of Soda, and
glass works are dependent upon it. In fact, glass
works and powder works usually have Nitrate on
hand.

Nitrate of Soda has a special bearing on the
process of modern agriculture, being the most nutri-
tious form of Nitrogenous or ammoniate plant food.
While the action of micro-organisms with certain
crops (legumes) combines and makes effective use
of the inert Nitrogen of the atmosphere, such action
is far too slow and uncertain for all the requirements
of modern agriculture, for it is not available for use
for a whole year or even longer. The rapid ex-
haustion of combined Nitrogen has several times
been noticed by eminent scientific men, with reference
to food famine, because of a lack of the needful Ni-
trogenous plant food. It has been estimated under the

FOOD FOR PLANTS 13

present methods of cropping the rich lands of our
western states, that for every pound of Nitrogen
actually used to make a wheat crop, four to five
pounds are utterly wasted. In other words, our pio-
neer agriculture has proceeded as though fertility
capital could be drawn upon forever.

This injudicious waste is already reducing the
yield of many of the best lands, rendering the use of
at least a small application per acre of Nitrate both
profitable and necessary. The agricultural value of
Nitrate of Soda has had the attention of the foremost
agricultural and scientific specialists of the world, in-
cluding such men as Lawes and Gilbert, Sir William
Crookes, Dr. Dyer, Dr. Hall and Dr. Voelcker, in
England ; Professors Grandeau, Cassarini, Migneaux,
and Cadoret, in France; Professors Bernardo and
Alino, in Spain ; Dr. Wagner and Professor Maercker,
of Germany; and Drs. Voorhees, J. G. Lipman,
Brooks, Duggar, Ross, Patterson, Hilgard and Garcia
in America. The results obtained by these officials
may be summarized as follows:

1. Nitrate of Soda acts very beneficially and with
great certainty upon all straw-growing plants.

2. It is of special value for forcing the rapid de-
velopment and early maturity of most garden crops.

3. It is of great importance in the production of
sugar beets, potatoes, hops, fodder crops, fiber plants,
and tobacco.

4. It is exceedingly valuable in developing and
maintaining meadow grass and pasture lands.

5. In the early stages of development it produces
favorable results upon peas, vetches, lupines, clover,
and alfalfa.

14 FOOD FOR PLANTS

6. It has been applied with much advantage to
various kinds of berries, bush fruits, vineyards,
orchards and nursery stock, and small fruits gener-
ally.

7. It provides the means in the hands of the
farmer, for energizing his crops so that they may
better withstand the ravages of drought, or the on-
slaughts of plant diseases or insect pests, such as
boll weevil, and others.

8. It may be used as a surface application to the
soil, from time to time, should the plants indicate
a need of it by their lack of color and growth.

9. It is immediately available, and under favorable
conditions its effect upon many crops may be noticed
within a few days after its application.

10. It may be used either as a special fertilizer, or
as a supplemental fertilizer.

11. The best results are obtained from its applica-
tion when the soil contains ample supplies of avail-
able phosphoric acid and potash. It should be re-
membered that it furnishes the one most expensive
and necessary element of plant food, namely. Nitro-
gen, and of the various commercial forms of Nitro-
gen, Nitrate is the cheapest.

12. Its uniform action seems to be to energize the
capacity of the plant for developing growth. Its
action is characterized by imparting to the plant a
deep green, healthy appearance, and by also causing
it to grow rapidly and to put out numbers of new
shoots.

13. The immediate effect of an application of
Nitrate of Soda, therefore, is to develop a much
larger plant growth and its skillful application must

FOOD FOR PLANTS IS

be relied upon to secure the largest yields of fruits
and grain.

14. Under favorable conditions of moisture and
cultivation, these effects may be confidently antici-
pated upon all kinds of soils.

15. All of the plant food contained in Nitrate of
Soda is available and existing in a soluble form. The
farmer should understand that it is not economical
to apply more of it than can be utilized by the crop;
one of the most valuable qualities of this fertilizer
being that it need not lie dormant in the soil from
one season to the next.

16. The best results are secured when it is applied
during the early growing period of the plant. If
applied too late in the development of the plant, it
generally has a tendency to protract its growing
period and to delay the ripening of the fruit, as after
a liberal application of Nitrate of Soda, the energies
of the plant are immediately concentrated upon
developing its growth. This is true with a few
exceptions.

17. The farmer must not expect it to excuse him
from applying proper principles of land drainage, or
cultivation of the soil, nor should Nitrate of Soda be
used in excessive quantities too close to the plants
that are fertilized with it. For most seeded crops, an
application of one hundred pounds to the acre is
sufficient when it is used alone.

18. It may be applied in a dry state to either agri-
cultural or garden lands by sowing it broadcast, or
by means of any fertilizer-distributing machine. It
can be applied to the surface, or it may be cultivated
into the soil by some light agricultural implement,

16 FOOD FOR PLANTS

such as a harrow, weeder, cultivator or horse hoe.
The capillary movement of the soil waters will dis-
tribute it in the soil, and osmosis of soil solutions
and the capillary attraction of the soil particles
when in good tilth will retain it safely until the plant
uses it.

Accepting the conclusions of these scientific men,
the use of Nitrate of Soda in agriculture ought to
increase proportionately to the dissemination of the
knowledge of its usefulness among our farmers. An
increase in the consumption of Nitrate among grow-
ers of tobacco, fiber plants, sugar beets, the hop,
grape, grass and small fruits, has been most notable
of late. The element of plant food first exhausted
in soils is Nitrogen, and in many cases a marked in-
crease in crop is obtained through the use of Nitrate
alone. "Complete" fertilizers are generally rather
low in Nitrogen, and Nitrate may be wisely used to
supplement them, as it is practically the cheapest
form of plant food Nitrogen.

By "complete fertilizers," is meant fertilizers
containing Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash.
These fertilizers are often called "phosphates," and
people have fallen into the habit of calling any com-
mercial fertilizer a "phosphate," whether it contains
phosphate or not. Many so-called "complete ferti-
lizers" are merely acid phosphates with insignificant
amounts of other essential plant foods. They are
frequently ill-balanced rations for all crops.

The value of these "phosphates," no matter how
high sounding their names, consists in their phos-
phoric acid and potash in many cases.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 17

The Nitrogen contained in these "complete ferti-
lizers" is often in a form that is neither available nor
useful to the plants.

Statistics gathered by the Experiment Stations
show that in the United States many millions of dol-
lars are spent annually for "complete fertilizers."

Would you not think a man very unwise who
should buy somebody's "Complete Prepared Food,"
at a high price, when he wanted feed for his horses,
instead of going into the market and buying corn,
oats and hay, at market prices?

The "Complete Prepared Food" would probably be
composed of corn, oats and hay mixed together, and
the price would be, perhaps, twice as much as the
corn, oats and hay would cost separately. It is fre-
quently more economical to buy the different ferti-
lizing materials and mix them at home than to pur-
chase "complete" fertilizers as they are often called.
Some do not wish to take pains to get good materials
and mix them, and prefer to purchase the "complete"
fertilizers. If this be done, special attention should
be given to ascertaining in what form the Nitrogen
exists. Many of the manufacturers do not tell this,
but some of the experiment stations analyze all the
fertilizers sold in their respective states and publish
the results in bulletins, which are sent free to anyone
asking for them. These analyses should show in
what form the Nitrogen is. The "complete ferti-
lizers" that contain the most Nitrogen in the form of
Nitrate are the ones to use, and the ones which do
not contain Nitrate or which do not give information
on this vital point should be avoided. If you have
on hand a "complete fertilizer" containing a small

18 FOOD FOR PLANTS

percentage of Nitrogen, and only in organic form,
such as cotton-seed or "tankage," it will be of great
advantage to use one hundred pounds per acre of
Nitrate of Soda in addition to it. No fertilizer is
really complete without Nitrate of Soda.

It is now known that the Nitrogen in organic
matter of soil or manure is slowly converted into the
available form by a minute organism. This cannot
work if the soil is too cold, or too wet, or too dry, or
in a sour soil. As a general rule, soils must be kept
sweet and the other conditions necessary for the con-
version of the Nitrogen into the form are warm
weather and a moist soil in good physical condition.

In the early spring the soil is too wet and too cold
for the change to take place. We must wait for warm
weather. But the gardener does not want to wait.
He makes his profits largely on his early crops.
Guided only by experience and tradition, he fills his
land with manure, and even then he gets only a mod-
erate crop the first year. He puts on seventy-five
tons more manure the next year, and gets a better
crop. And he may continue putting on manure till
the soil is as rich in Nitrogen as the manure itself,
and even then he must keep on manuring or he fails
to get a good early crop. Why? The Nitrogen of
the soil, or of roots of plants, or manure, is retained
in the soil in a comparatively inert condition. There
is little or no loss. But when it is slowly converted
into Nitrate during warm weather, the plants take it
up and grow rapidly.

How, then, is the market gardener to get the
Nitrate absolutely necessary for the growth of his

FOOD FOR PLANTS 19

early plants? He may get it, as before stated, from
an excessive and continuous use of stable manure,
but even then he fails to get it in sufficient quantity.

One thousand pounds of Nitrate of Soda will fur-
nish more Nitrogen to the plants early in the spring
than the gardener can get from 100 tons of well-
rotted stable manure. The stable manure may help
furnish Nitrate for his later crops, but for his early
crops the gardener who fails to use Nitrate of Soda
is blind to his own interests.

A given quantity of Nitrate will produce a given
amount of plant substance. A ton of wheat, straw
and grain together, contain about 1,500 pounds of dry
matter, of which 25 pounds is Nitrogen. To produce
a ton of wheat and straw together would require,
therefore, 170 pounds of Nitrate of Soda, in which
quantity there is 25 pounds of Nitrogen.

A ton of cabbage, on the other hand, contains
about ^Yz pounds of Nitrogen. To produce a ton of
cabbage, therefore, would require 30 pounds of
Nitrate of Soda.

There are no crops on which it is more profitable
to use fertilizers than on vegetables and small fruits,
provided they are used rightly. Failures with chem-
ical fertilizers are caused usually by lack of knowl-
edge. There is no doubt but that stable manure is
available as a fertilizer, and in some cases may be
indispensable, but at the same time the quantities
necessary to produce good results could be greatly
reduced by using chemical fertilizers to supply plant
food and only enough manure to give lightness and
add humus to the soil.

20 FOOD FOR PLANTS

For crops like cabbage and beets, that it is desir-
able to force to rapid maturity, the kind of plant food,
especially of Nitrogen, is of the greatest importance.
Many fertilizers sold for this purpose have all the
Nitrogen they contain in insoluble and unavailable
form, so that it requires a considerable time for the
plants to get it. Another fault is that they do not
contain nearly enough Nitrogen. Stable manure
contains on the average in one ton 10 pounds
Nitrogen, 10 pounds potash, and only 5 pounds phos-
phoric acid, while the average "complete" fertilizer
contains more than twice as much phosphoric acid as
Nitrogen, a most unnatural and unprofitable ration.
A ration of 2 Nitrogen, 2 potash, and 8 of phosphoric
acid, is frequent in many of the so-called ''complete
fertilizers," which are really incomplete and unbal-
anced as well. A fertilizer for quick-growing veg-
etables should contain as much Nitrogen as phos-
phoric acid, and at least half this Nitrogen should be
in the form of Nitrate of Soda, which is the only
immediately available nitrogenous plant food.

Comparative Availability of Nitrogen in Various
Forms.

Some interesting and valuable experiments were
made at the Connecticut Experiment Station, to as-
certain how much of the Nitrogen contained in such
materials as dried blood, tankage, dry fish, and
cotton-seed meal, is available for plants.

The experiments were made with corn, and it was
found that when the same quantity of Nitrogen was

FOOD FOR PLANTS 21

applied in the various forms the crop increased over
that where no Nitrogen was applied, as shown in the
following table:

Increase of Crop from Same Quantity of Nitrogen from
Different Sources.

Relative
Sources of Nitrogen Crop Increase

Nitrate o£ Soda 100

Dried Blood 73

Cotton-seed Meal 72

Dry Fish 70

Tankage 62

Linseed Meal 78

This table shows some interesting facts. It is evi-
dent that only about three-fourths as much of the
Nitrogen in dried blood or cotton-seed meal as in
Nitrate of Soda is available the first season. The
Nitrogen in tankage is even less available, only a
little over half being used by the crop.

These experiments were made with corn, which
grows for a long period when the ground is warm
and the conditions most favorable to render the
Nitrogen in organic substances available, and yet
only part of it could be used by the crop.

When it is considered that Nitrogen in the form of
Nitrate of Soda can be bought for as little or less per
pound than in almost any other form, the advantage
and economy of purchasing and using this form is
very apparent.

Nitration as studied by means of the drainage
water of 6 plots of land, each 300 square yards in
area, during 4 years, shows that the loss of Nitrogen
in the drainage water was practically negligible.

22 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Even when Nitrogen was applied in the spring the
losses were not large unless heavy rains occurred at
the time. The Nitrogen is apparently rapidly taken
up by the young growing plants at this season of the
year and only a small portion is free to pass into the
drainage. The greatest losses occur in the fall, when
the soil is bare and heavy rains occur, the Nitrates
having accumulated in large quantities during the
warmer period of the year. Large losses at this
season are, however, prevented by the growing of
cover crops.

In applying fertilizers it should be remembered
that any form of phosphoric acid, such as acid phos-
phate, dissolved bone-black or bone meal is only
partially soluble, and will not circulate freely in the
soil. These fertilizers should, therefore, be evenly
distributed over the soil and well mixed with it. This
is usually best done by applying broadcast before
sowing the seed and before the ground is thoroughly
prepared.

Nitrate of Soda, on the other hand, will diffuse
itself thoroughly throughout the soil if there is
enough moisture to dissolve it. It can, therefore, be
applied by scattering on the surface of the ground.

Since Nitrate of Soda and salts of potash are
brought to this country by sea, and phosphate is
usually transported from the mines in vessels, all
these materials, as a rule, can be purchased at the
seaports cheaper than in the interior. New York is
the largest market for these materials, but Philadel-
phia, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, New
Orleans, Galveston, San Francisco, Portland and
Seattle, are also ports of entry.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 23

Lower prices can be obtained by buying fertilizing
materials in carload lots. If you cannot use a car-
load yourself, get your neighbors to join with you.
Much money has often been saved in this way.

In buying, always consider the percentage of
availability.

This may be illustrated by comparing gold ores of
the same percentages derived from different sources,
— one gold ore containing ten ounces to the ton
might be worth a great deal of money per ton, — that
is to say, if the gold were extractable with ease and
without undue expense, — whereas another ten-ounce
ore might contain its gold in such form as to
be extracted only with great difficulty and at great
expense.

HOW TO USE CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS TO
ADVANTAGE.

The form of Nitrogen most active as plant food is
the nitrated form, namely, Nitrate of Soda. Sir John
Lawes wisely remarks: "When we consider that the
application of a few pounds of Nitrogen in Nitrate of
Soda to a soil which contains several thousand pounds
of Nitrogen in its organic form, is capable of increas-
ing the crop from 14 to 40 or even 50 bushels of wheat
per acre, I think it must be apparent to all that we
have very convincing evidence of the value of
Nitrate." The Nitrogen of Nitrate of Soda is im-
mediately available as plant food, and it should,
therefore, be applied only when plants are ready to
use it. By such a ready supply of available plant
food, young plants are able to establish such a vigor
of growth that they can much better resist disease,
and the attacks of insects and parasites. The famous
experiments of Lawes and Gilbert at Rothamsted
have demonstrated that cereals utilize more than
three times as much of the Nitrogen in Nitrate of
Soda as of the Nitrogen contained in farmyard
manure; in practice, four and one-half tons of farm-
yard manure supply only as much available plant
food as 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda.

Catch-crops are recommended to prevent losses of
available plant food after crops are removed. Rape

24

fugrsffrr library

FOOD FOR PLANTS 25

Italian rye grass, rye, thousand-headed kale and
clovers are suitable. All these should be top-dressed
with from 100 to 200 pounds per acre of Nitrate of
Soda, depending upon the exhaustion of the soil. In
our remarks on the use of Nitrate, we have taken it
for granted that our readers fully understand that in
all cases where Nitrate has been recommended in
large amounts, potash and phosphates should be
used also unless the soil already contains ample sup-
plies of both.

The most important material used to supply Nitro-
gen in the composition of commercial fertilizers is
Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda is particularly
adapted for top-dressing during the growing season,
and is the quickest acting of all the nitrogenous
fertilizers.

Dried blood, tankage, azotine, fish scrap, castor
pomace, and cotton-seed meal represent fertilizers
where the Nitrogen is only slowly available, and they
must be applied in the fall so as to be decomposed
and available for the following season. Nitrogen in
the form of Nitrate of Soda is available during the
growing and fruiting season, possessing, therefore,
a decided advantage over all other Nitrogen plant
foods.

Chemical Composition of Soils.

Sandy soils may be described as soils containing
seventy-six (76) per cent, or more of sand.

Sandy loam is a soil containing from sixty (60) to
seventy-five (75) per cent, of sand, and a loam is
said to be a soil containing forty (40) to fifty-nine
(59) per cent, of sand.

26 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Clay loam runs between twenty-nine (29) to
thirty-nine (39) per cent, of sand, and a clay soil
would be described as a soil containing about sixty-
one (61) per cent, or more of clay.

A very rich soil may be described as a soil con-
taining 2 per cent, of lime and 1.80 per cent, of
potash and from .02 to .10 per cent, of sulphuric acid,
in the form of sulphate, and from .10 to .30 per cent,
of phosphoric acid, in the form of phosphates, with
humus running from 1.20 per cent, to 2.20 per cent,
and Nitrogen from .20 to 1 per cent.

According to French authorities a good soil would
contain .20 per cent, of Nitrogen and .20 per cent, of
phosphoric acid, in the form of phosphates, and .30
per cent, of potash. Anything above these figures
would be called very rich.

Very poor soil would average about .08 per cent, of
Nitrogen and .08 per cent, of potash and .08 per cent,
of phosphoric acid with humus of .30 per cent. Any-
thing less than these figures would be very poor
indeed.

The pounds of available fertility are reckoned to
be contained within eight (8) inches of the surface.
The weight of an acre generally would rijn about
two thousand (2,000) tons.

HOW MONEY CROPS FEED.

The substance o£ plants is largely water and varia-
tions of woody fiber, yet these comprise no part of
what is commonly understood as plant food. More
or less by accident was discovered the value of farm-
yard manures and general farm refuse and roughage
as a means of increasing the growth of plants. In
the course of time, the supply of these manures failed
to equal the need, and it became necessary to search
for other means of feeding plants. The steps in the
search were many, covering years of careful investi-
gation, and as a result, we have the established fact
that the food of plants consists of three different sub-
stances, Nitrogen, potash, and phosphates.

These words are now popular names, and are used
for the convenience of the general public. Nitrate of
Soda contains an amount equivalent to about 15 per
cent, of Nitrogen, 300 pounds to the ton, and cotton-
seed meal, for example, about 6 per cent. More
than three pounds of cotton-seed meal are necessary
to furnish as much available Nitrogen as one pound
of Nitrate of Soda. We value the plant food on the
amount of Nitrate Nitrogen it contains, and on this
account Nitrate has become a standard name for this
element of plant food. In like manner, phosphoric
acid and potash are standards, hence the importance
of farmers and planters familiarizing themselves with
these expressions. We always should think of fer-

27

28 FOOD FOR PLANTS

tilizers and manures as just so much Nitrate, phos-
phoric acid and potash, as we can then at once com-
pare the usefulness of all fertilizer materials. No
doubt, other substances are necessary for the proper
development of crops, but soils so generally supply
these in ample quantities that they may safely be
neglected in a consideration of soil needs and plant
foods. The food of plants may therefore be under-
stood to mean simply Nitrate, Phosphoric Acid and
Potash.

Farmyard manure acts in promoting plant growth
almost wholly because it contains these three sub-
stances; green manuring is valuable for the same
reason and largely for that only. Various refuse
substances, such as bone, wood ashes, etc., contain
one or more of these plant food elements, and are
valuable to the farmer and planter on that account.

The Quality of Manures and Fertilizers.

While plant food is always plant food, like all other
things it possesses the limitation of quality. Quality
in plant food means the readiness with which plants
can make use of it. In a large sense, this is dependent
upon the solubility of the material containing the
plant food — not merely solubility in water, but solu-
bility in soil waters as well. Fertilizer substances
freely soluble in water are generally of the highest
quality, yet there are differences even in this. For
example. Nitrate of Soda is freely soluble in soil
liquids and water, and is the highest grade of plant
food Nitrogen; sulphate of ammonia is also soluble

FOOD FOR PLANTS 29

in water, but of distinctly lower quality because plants
in general find it less available than in the Nitrate
form. This change is effected in the soil by the action
of certain organisms, under favorable conditions.
The weather must be suitable, the soil in a certain
condition; and besides there are considerable losses
of valuable substance in the natural soil process of
nitrating such Nitrogen. By unfavorable weather
conditions, or very wet or acid soils, nitration may be
prevented until the season is too far advanced, hence
there may be loss of time, crop and money. The
quality of nitrogens, such as cotton-seed meal, dried
fish, dried blood, and tankage, is limited by conditions
similar to those which limit sulphate of ammonia.
Perfectly authentic experiments, and made under
official supervision, have shown that 100 pounds of
Nitrogen in these organic forms have only from one-
half to three-fourths the manurial value of 100 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda.

Special Functions of Plant Food.

As stated before, plants must have all three of the
plant food elements — Nitrate, Phosphates and Potash
— but notwithstanding this imperative need, each of
the three elements has its special use. There are
many cases in which considerations of the special
functions of plant food elements become important.
For example, a soil may be rich in organic ammonia
from vegetable matter turned under as green manure,
and through a late wet spring fail to supply the avail-
able Nitrate in time to get the crop well started
before the hot, dry, summer season sets in. In this

Top of Caliche Hopper; Carts Tipping Caliche.

Crystallizing Pans After Running Off Mother-liquor, show-
ing Deposit of Nitrate Crystals.
30

FOOD FOR PLANTS 31

case the use of Nitrate of Soda alone will force growth
to the extent of fully establishing the crop against
heat and moderate drouth.

Nitrate as plant food seems to influence more
especially the development of stems, leaves, and roots,
which are the framework of the plant, while the
formation of fruit buds is held in reserve. This
action is, of course, a necessary preliminary to the
maturity of the plant, and the broader the frame-
work, the greater the yield at maturity. The color
of the foliage is deepened, indicating health and
activity in the forces at work on the structure of the
plant. Nitrates also show markedly in the economic
value of the crop ; the more freely Nitrates are given
to plants the greater the relative proportion in the
composition of the plant itself, and the most valuable
part of all vegetable substances, for food purposes, is
that produced by Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate is seldom
used in sufficient quantities in the manufacture of
"complete fertilizers."

Potash as plant food seems to influence more par-
ticularly the development of the woody parts of
stems and the pulp of fruits. In fact, this element
of plant food seems to supplement the action of
Nitrate by filling out the framework established by
the latter.

Phosphoric acid as a plant food seems to influence
more particularly the maturity of plants and the
production of seed or grain. Its special use in prac-
tical agriculture is to help hasten the maturity of
crops likely to be caught by an early fall, and to sup-
plement green manuring where grain is to be grown.

Packing Nitrate into Bags.

Loading Lighters.
32

FOOD FOR PLANTS 33

It is frequently used in altogether unnecessary excess
in "complete" fertilizers.

The natural plant food of the soil comes from
many sources, but chiefly from decaying vegetable
matter and the weathering of the mineral matter of
the soil. Both these processes supply potash and
phosphoric acid, but only the former supplies Nitrate,
Whether the soil has been fertilized or not, there are
certain signs which indicate the need of plant food
more or less early in the growth of the crop. If a
crop appears to make a slow growth, or seems sickly
in color, it does not greatly matter whether the soil
is deficient in Nitrate or simply that the Nitrogen
present has not been nitrated and so is not available ;
the remedy lies in the use of the immediately avail-
able form of Nitrate of Soda.

COTTON AND FIBER PLANTS

Cotton is profitably grown in nearly all kinds of
soil, but does best perhaps on a strong, sandy loam.
On light uplands the yield is light, but with a fair
proportion of lint ; on heavy bottom lands the growth
may be heavy, but the proportion of lint to the whole
plant is much reduced.

The preparation of the soil must be even and
thorough. About one bushel of seed per acre is the
usual allowance.

34

FOOD FOR PLANTS 35

Many fertilizer formulas have been recommended,
and by all kinds of authority, and green manuring is
widely advised as a means of helping to get a supply
of cheap Nitrogen; but, with this crop especially,
cheap forms of Nitrogen are very dear.

Report on Alabama Cotton Prize Experiments
with Chemical Fertilizers.

Extended experiments have been made from year
to year by all the Experiment Stations in the various
cotton-growing states with a view to arriving at the
fertilizer requirements of the cotton plant under the
varying conditions of soil and climate which are met
with throughout the cotton belt, and the needs of
the plant for the various essential fertilizing elements
have been determined with comparative accuracy.

Many of the formulas for cotton and corn which
are in use throughout the cotton-growing states
supply proportions of Nitrogen, and, in some cases,
of potash, which are far below the fertilizer require-
ments of the crop, while as before stated little atten-
tion is given to the matter of supplying these ele-
ments in forms most available for the needs of the
plant.

Analyses of the cotton piant, made at the South
Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama Experiment Sta-
tions, show the needs of the plant for liberal supplies
of Nitrogen and of potash, particularly of the former
element, since our average cotton soils are, as a rule,
so poorly supplied with it.

At the Alabama Experiment Station in 1899 (Bul-
letin 107), analyses were made of all portions of the

36 FOOD FOR PLANTS

cotton plant at various stages of growth, including
the plant at full maturity. The weight of the various
fertilizing constituents contained in the whole plant
grown on one acre, and producing a crop equivalent
to 300 pounds dry lint cotton per acre, was also care-
fully ascertained by analyses and calculation, the
figures being presented in the following table.

The weight of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash,
and lime contained in a crop producing 300 pounds
of lint is given, and the relative distribution of these
constituents through different parts of the plant is
also presented. The weights of the different parts
of the plant in a thoroughly dried condition are also
given, and it will be noted that the total dry weight
of the crop required to yield 300 pounds of lint is,
2,470.8 pounds.

Amounts of Fertilizer Constituents in Pounds Required to
Produce a Crop of 300 Pounds of Lint.

Lint 300.0 lbs. .

Seed 507.1 lbs..

Burrs 363.1 lbs. .

Leaves 566.2 lbs 12.64

Roots 130.2 lbs. .

Stems 604.2 lbs. .

Nitrogen

Phosphoric
Acid

Potash

Lime

0.54

0.27

1.77

0.21

17.95

7.10

5.73

1.52

2.99

1.74

11.22

4.14

12.64

2.70

6.13

29.90

0.62

0.34

1.17

0.59

3.87

1.27

5.14

4.71

Total 2,470.8 lbs 38.61 13.42 31.16 41.07

It appears from this table that to produce 300
pounds of dry lint there are required 38.61 pounds
of Nitrogen, 13.42 pounds of phosphoric acid, 31.16
pounds of potash and 41.07 pounds of lime.

The need of the cotton plant for liberal amounts

FOOD FOR PLANTS 37

of Nitrogen being thus indicated by laboratory tests,
the writer has during the past two seasons supervised
and directed a series of experiments upon the farm
of Mr. J. C. Moore, near Auburn, Alabama, who was
desirous of securing a formula adapted to the grow-
ing of cotton upon the sandy soil of his farm and of
the immediate section in which he resided.

This soil is designated by the U. S. Soil Survey of
this region as the "Norfolk Sandy Loam." It is
described in the official report of the soil survey of
Lee county as follows: "The Norfolk Sandy Loam
is an easily tilled soil and the best for general farm-
ing of any of the Norfolk types in this country. It
is well adapted to cotton and when fertilized pro-
duces fair yields of corn and oats. The lightest
phase is well adapted to the production of potatoes,
berries and truck crops. The soil needs organic
matter which may be supplied by green or stable
manure."

The cotton experiments conducted upon the farm
of Mr. Moore were carried out upon several plots ag-
gregating in area two-thirds of an acre.

The land, after proper preparation, was laid off in
rows seventy yards in length, while the distance
between the rows was so adjusted that ten rows
would constitute a plot of one-sixth of an acre. Two
blank rows were left between the individual plots so
that the fertilizers applied to one plot would not have
any undue effect upon the adjacent plots.

Plot No. 1 was fertilized by the application of an
acid phosphate containing 14 per cent, available
phosphoric acid and 4 per cent, potash, this fertilizer
being applied at the rate of 300 pounds per acre.

38

FOOD FOR PLANTS

The remaining three experimental plots of ten
rows each (covering an area of one-sixth acre each)
were also fertilized by the application of the same

Products of Auburn Cotton Plots, Group 1,
1905.

^_pr^

Yields of Seed Cotton.

Plot 1.

Plot 3. Plot 4

750 lbs.

1,272 lbs. 1,440 lbs.

Fertilizers

Acid Phosphate

84 lbs. Nitrate of 126 lbs. Nitrate of

and Potash

Soda, Soda,

Carried in 300 lbs.

Acid Phosphate Acid Phosphate

of a 14-4-0

and Potash and Potash

Mixture

Carried in 300 lbs. Carried in 300 lbs.

and

of a 14-4-0 of a 14-4-0

Without Nitrate

Mixture Mixture

FOOD FOR PLANTS

39

quantity of the above mentioned acid phosphate con-
taining potash, and, in addition, Nitrate of Soda was
applied to plots 2, 3 and 4 in the proportions of 42,
84 and 126 pounds per acre, respectively, v^^hile no
Nitrate or other form of Nitrogen was applied to
plot No. 1.

Kates

1905

1906

Application of

Rate of

Rate of

Nitrate of Soda

Yield

Yield

Each Year

Per Acre

Per Acre

Data on Yields of Cotton Experiments m Lee

County, Alabama, on Norfolk Sandy

Loam, 1905-1906.

Four plots were employed on one-sixth of an acre
each and the yields per acre are reported in terms of
seed cotton. In tabular form the results are pre-
sented as follows:

Plot 1 — The general fertilizer on all
four plots was a mixture carrying
14% phosphoric acid and A7o
potash. It was used at the rate of
300 lbs. per acre, without Nitrate . .

Plot 2 — Above mixture of phosphoric
acid and potash and an application
at the rate of 42 lbs. of Nitrate
Soda per acre

Plot 3 — Above mixture of phos
phoric acid and potash and an ap
plication at the rate of 84 lbs. o:
Nitrate of Soda per acre

Plot 4 — Above mixture of phosphoric
acid and potash and an application
at the rate of 126 lbs. of Nitrate of
Soda per acre

No Nitrate 750 lbs. 930 lbs.

42 lbs. 1116

84

126

1272

1440

900

1284

1776

In 1905, the fertilizers were applied at the time of
planting, the date being April 27th. In 1906, the
date of application of fertilizers was April 21st.

40

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Nitrate was applied in the furrow along with the
other fertilizer materials all at the time of planting.
As above stated, all of these plots were fertilized

Products of Auburn Cotton Plots, Group 2,
1906.

Yields of Seed Cotton.

Plot 1.

Plot 3.

Plot 4.

930 lbs.

1,284 lbs.
Fertilizers

1,776 lbs.

Acid Phosphate

84 lbs. Nitrate of

126 lbs. Nitrate of

and Potash

Soda,

Soda,

Carried in 300 lbs.

Acid Phosphate

Acid Phosphate

of a 14-4-0

and Potash

and Potash

Mixture

Carried in 300 lbs.

Carried in 300 lbs.

and

of a 14-4-0

of a 14-4-0

Without Nitrate

Mixture

Mixture

FOOD FOR PLANTS 41

equally as regards the amount of phosphoric acid and
potash, so that the effects of supplying or withhold-
ing Nitrate of Soda could be easily noted.

It will be noted that the increased yields are par-
ticularly striking in the case of the application of 84
and 126 pounds of Nitrate. On plot 2, in 1906, the
yield was practically the same as that on plot 1, but
this was due to the fact that a few rows in plot 2,
owing to the stand on a part of the plot being not so
good and possibly on account of some other condi-
tion, brought down the average yield per row of that
plot. A majority of the rows of that plot, however,
undoubtedly gave a better yield than plot No. 1, and
it was apparent to the eye that most of this plot was
superior to plot No. 1.

In 1905 it was noted that the cotton grown upon
the "No Nitrate" plot rusted quite badly, while
plots 3 and 4, upon which an abundance of Nitrate
had been applied, were almost immune from rust.

Experimental tests upon small lots of the seed
cotton produced in 1906, showed that the yield of lint
was about 34.4 per cent, of the weight of the seed
cotton, but no data were secured with regard to the
proportionate yield of lint in 1905. Applying these
figures to the excess yield of seed cotton by reason
of the application of 126 pounds of Nitrate, it will be
found that there was an increase of about 238 pounds
of lint cotton (690 pounds seed cotton) over the yield
on the "No Nitrate" plot in 1905 and an increase of
291 pounds lint cotton (846 seed cotton) in 1906. At
10 cents per pound, the increased value of the lint
cotton yield by applying 126 pounds of Nitrate would
be $23.80 for 1905 and $29.10 for 1906, to say nothing

42 FOOD FOR PLANTS

of the value of the increased yield of seed which
was worth from $3 to $4 more.

The views given, herewith, will afford an idea of
the comparative yields from plots 1, 3 and 4 in 1905
and 1906. The quantities of seed cotton represented
therein are equal to the yields of one-twelfth of an
acre.

In this connection it should be stated that Mr.
Moore gave a large amount of care and attention to
these experiments. By his close personal supervision
of the work, the details of the experiments have been
secured and most accurately recorded.

Purebred Seed for Cotton and Nitrate Fertilization.

There is always a big demand for the best grades
of cotton.

After having selected the right variety for your
locality, the best specimens of the plants should be
saved for seed.

Grow the best lint from purebred seed and fertilize
your plants properly with Nitrate of Soda.

It is just as easy and twice as profitable to feed a
purebred cotton plant as it is to feed a low grade lint
producer.

The use of Nitrate of Soda does not take the place
of thorough cultivation.

The need of the South, and the whole United
States, in fact, is for a more rational method of fer-
tilization than has ever been our practice.

The yields of our staple crops in this country do
not compare with the yields of the same crops in
Europe, because in Europe they use two or three

FOOD FOR PLANTS 43

times as much nitrogen plant food per acre, and pro-
portionately a vastly better balanced plant food
ration.

In parts of this country, even where the most fer-
tilizers are used, and the best yields are obtained,
such yields do not compare with the average yields
of Europe, for the reason that we do not use as much
available nitrogenous fertilizer per acre. We use
proportionately too much of other ingredients which
do not compare with Nitrate of Soda as profit pro-
ducers.

Every cotton planter ought to grow more cotton
per acre of the best quality. It is not at all necessary
to diminish the acres of cotton you are growing; but
it is highly desirable for you to grow higher grades
for which there is always a splendid market. Nitrate
of Soda is the most effective of all the fertilizers for
this purpose, and a few hundred pounds of it will do
much more work and is far more profitable than the
low grade mixtures containing second grade ammoni-
ates, which are not available until a year or two after
they are applied. With proper cultivation and with
reasonable rational fertilization, which requires much
Nitrogen, and which necessitates a larger propor-
tion of Nitrogen than has ever been used in our Cot-
ton Belt, a handsome revenue return to cotton plant-
ers is possible.

Some critics of Nitrate have claimed that it made
such a bushy growth of the cotton plant, that it had
shaded the bottom part of the plant where most of
the cotton is produced under weevil conditions.
This will not happen if you put your Nitrate on early
at planting time.

44 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Where any Nitrogenous fertilizer is used to excess,
too leafy a growth is apt to result, and excessive
quantities of Nitrate, or indeed of any fertilizers, are
not recommended.

Quinine is a wonderful remedy, but no one would
advise the use of forty grains of it when four grains
would be sufficient and satisfactory in every way.

Practice early and thorough preparation of the soil
so as to get a good seed bed for quick germination
and vigorous early growth of the cotton.

Cotton should be forced as rapidly as possible in
its early growth, to get ahead of the boll weevil.
Early applications of Nitrate are very helpful in
accomplishing this result.

How Fertilizers Beat the Weevil.
(Progressive Farmer.)

The fertilization of cotton deserves to be given
more serious thought since the boll weevil has prac-
tically covered the cotton area of the South. Every-
one who has given serious thought to cotton pro-
duction knows that success in fighting the weevil
comes very largely from means and methods leading
to early setting of bolls and early maturity of the
crop. Early and thorough preparation of the soil,
early planting of the best varieties, thick spacing,
and delayed and limited chopping, together with
frequent and shallow cultivation, are all useful.
They aid in inducing the crop to get ahead of the
weevil by setting and maturing fruit before the
weevils have multiplied in numbers so great as to
practically destroy the squares. Another effective

FOOD FOR PLANTS 45

but indirect means of fighting the weevil is found in
the use of a fertilizer that develops and matures the
crop quickly.

Experiments conducted by the North Carolina
Experiment Station throw valuable light on the
efficiency of fertilizer in cotton production and es-
pecially upon the common carriers of Nitrogen used
with phosphoric acid and potash. These tests show
that Nitrate of Soda was the most efficient of the
six sources of Nitrogen used in the experiment. It
produced the most lint, as is shown in the following
comparison of yields:

Yield of
Seed Cotton Relative

per Acre Efficiency

Nitrate of Soda 699 lbs. 91.1

Sulphate of A)nmonia 637 lbs. 85.4

Nitrate of Lime 597 lbs. 85.4

Cottonseed Meal 569 lbs. 81.4

Dried Blood 550 lbs. 78.7

Tankage 488 lbs. 69.8

From these results it is shown that the Nitrogen
furnished by Nitrate of Soda has given a larger yield
of seed cotton than Nitrogen derived from any other
source tried. Under boll weevil conditions the late
or top crop is destroyed. Consequently, all that can
be done to induce the setting and maturing of the
earliest possible crop is of first consideration. Phos-
phoric acid is the element in fertilizer that induces
fruitfulness and early ripening, while Nitrogen
makes the body or frame of the plant for carrying
the fruit. Acid phosphate is the best source of phos-
phoric acid and Nitrate of Soda is the quickest and
most efficient source of Nitrogen. This is not only

46 FOOD FOR PLANTS

shown by the North Carolina experiment just men-
tioned but by many others the world over.

Early Versus Late Applications of Nitrate of Soda
to Cotton.

The following figures of averages prove positively
that early applications of Nitrate of Soda to cotton
give the best results.

1919-1920-1921-1922

Average increase of 23 early applications, 1919.. 90.22%
Average increase of 15 late applications, 1919... 42.02%

Average increase of 8 early applications, 1920
Average increase o£ 4 late application^ 1920.

Average increase of 7 early applications, 1921
Average increase of 2 late applications, 1921 .

Average increase of 38 early applications, 1919-

1921 115.21%

Average increase of 21 late applications, 1919-

1921 31.27%

April 1-May 11, inclusive, are "Early" applications.
May 12-June 26, inclusive, are "Late" applications.

Average increase of 165 early applications, 1922.. 61.37%
Average increase of 80 late applications, 1922... 49.0 %

Date of Division: Early — Planting Time.

Late — Two weeks after planting,
and later.

197.35%
35.50%

61.44%
16.30%

What Nitrate Has Done in the Planters' Own Hands.

H. F. Lyle, Somerville, Alabama:

"Plot with Nitrate produced 207 lbs. Cotton. Plot with-
out Nitrate produced 87 lbs. Cotton.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 47

"Nitrate plot did not shed off fruit in dry weather like
the other plot, — in fact, did not shed any. One-third
larger stalk. Did not have more than half stand on
plots."

B. F. White, Olive Branch, Louisiana:

"Plot with Nitrate produced 90 lbs. Cotton. Plot with-
out Nitrate produced 36 lbs. Cotton.

"The Nitrate of Soda Cotton matured before the boll
weevil affected it. I consider it the best I ever used, —
ahead of any for this climate."

In Alabama the use of 126 pounds of Nitrate per
acre for two successive seasons gave an average
increased yield of 768 pounds of seed cotton per acre;
or an increased yield of lint of 256 pounds per acre
in addition to the seed yield of 512 pounds for the
same area.

Directions for the Use of Nitrate of Soda.
Nitrate Gives Best Results from Early
Applications.

When Nitrate of Soda is applied early in the season
to cotton, as it preferably should be, early maturity
results. Too late applications of any nitrogenous
fertilizer will delay maturity.

If the planter has been badly advised, and in conse-
quence applies his nitrogenous fertilizer too late, he
should not blame the fertilizer for his cotton having
behaved contrary to nature's intent.

What is needed most is to secure a certain meas-
ure of maturity of the cotton before the boll weevil
comes out of hibernation in too great force.

It has been alleged that the use of Nitrate causes

48 FOOD FOR PLANTS

a "weedy" growth of the cotton plant without
proper fruitage. This is not true when Nitrate is
applied in proper amounts and at the best time, viz.,
under the cotton before planting. Heavy applica-
tions of Nitrate put on early will always bring early
maturity and full, early fruitage. Heavy applica-
tions of Nitrate put on late delay maturity and are
never advised. When it is necessary to put Nitrate
on cotton later in the season, light applications not
to exceed 100 pounds to the acre may be made. This
necessity is not likely to arise when enough Nitrate
has been put on early.

In the cases of the cultivated crops Nitrate should
be well covered or thoroughly mixed with the soil.

Larger amounts of Nitrate of Soda may be used up
to 250 pounds per acre, or even more.

Cotton is not an exhaustive crop when grown in
rotation and when properly fertilized.

Formula for Cotton.

Nitrate alone 150 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 200 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 200 lbs. per acre

The use of sulphate or muriate of potash is advised
every other year at planting time at the rate of fifty
pounds to the acre. In case neither salt can be se-
cured an equivalent amount of other forms of potash
salts may be used.

TOBACCO.

The value of tobacco depends so much upon its
grade, and the grade so much upon the soil and cli-
mate, as well as fertilization, that general rules for
tobacco culture should not be mathematically laid
down. Leaving out special kinds, such as Perique,
the simplest classification of tobacco is as follows:
Cigar. — Tobacco for cigar manufacture, grown
chiefly in Connecticut and Wisconsin. Manufactur-
ing.— Tobacco manufactured into plug, or the vari-
ous forms for pipe smoking and cigarettes. All kinds
of tobacco have the same general habits of growth,
but the two classes mentioned have very different
plant food requirements.

Cigar tobaccos generally require a rather light soil ;
the manufacturing kinds prefer heavy, fertile soils.
In either case, the soil must be clean, deeply broken,
and thoroughly pulverized. Fall plowing is always
practiced on heavy lands, or lands new to tobacco
culture. Tobacco may be safely grown on the same
land year after year. The plant must be richly fer-
tilized; it has thick, fleshy roots, and comparatively
little foraging power — that is, ability to send out
roots over an extensive tract of soil in search of plant
food.

Fertilizer for tobacco is used in quantities per acre
as low as 400 pounds of high grade and as much as
3,000 pounds of low grade. While the production of
leaf may be greatly increased by the use of Nitrate,

49

50

FOOD FOR PLANTS

the Other plant food elements should also be used to
secure a well matured crop. In the case of cigar
tobaccos, Nitrate may be used exclusively as the
source of Nitrogen as it is difficult to secure a
thoroughly matured leaf unless the supply of digest-
Virginia Experiments.

No Nitrate. 100 lbs. Nitrate o£ Soda per Acre.

ible Nitrogen is more or less under control, a con-
dition not practicable with ordinary fertilizers.

Tobacco growing is special farming, and should be
carefully studied before starting in as a planter. For
small plantations, the plants are best bought of a
regular seedsman. The cultivation is always clean,
and an earth mulch two or three inches in depth

FOOD FOR PLANTS 51

should be maintained — that is, the surface soil to
that depth kept thoroughly pulverized.

At the Kentucky Experiment Station, experiments
were made with fertilizers on Burley Tobacco. The
land was "deficient in natural drainage," so that the
fertilizers could hardly be expected to have their full
effect. Yet, as will be seen by the following table,
the profits from the use of the fertilizers were
enormous :

Experiments on Tobacco at the Kentucky Experiment
Station.

Value of

, Yield of Tobacco — Pounds ^ Tobacco

Fertilizer per Acre Bright Red Lugs Tips Trash ToUl per Acre

1. No manure 200 360 60 540 1,160 $67.20

2. 160 lbs. Nitrate of

Soda 230 450 310 90 530 1,610 138.40

3. 160 lbs sulp. of pot-

ash; 160 lbs. Ni-
trate of Soda 190 755 605 120 140 1,810 190.45

4. 320 lbs. superphos-

phate; 160 lbs.
sulp. of potash;
160 lbs. Nitrate of
Soda 310 810 420 10 360 2,000 201.20

"The tobacco was assorted by an expert and the
prices given as follows: bright and red, fifteen cents
per pound ; lugs, six cents per pound ; tips, eight cents
per pound; trash, two cents per pound."

One hundred and sixty pounds Nitrate of Soda,
costing about $3.75, increased the value of the crop
$71.20 per acre!

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Tobacco.

Just before setting out plants, apply the Nitrate of
Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by machine, or by

52 FOOD FOR PLANTS

hand, over the entire surface of the tobacco field you
are fertilizing, at the rate of 150 pounds per acre.
One hundred and fifty pounds of Nitrate is equal in
bulk to about one and one-half bushels.

Formula for Tobacco.

Nitrate alone 150 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 200 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 200 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can conveniently be obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of
potash to the acre every other year.

FERTILIZERS FOR CORN.

Corn varies in yield of grain per acre, according
to the character of the soil upon which it is grown,

^'^'iS'i:.:. *:i^fc*'

>A. i?r:

''■?.->;■'%•''■ ;q

m.^^^^

Fertilizer, 300 pounds per
acre minerals and 150
pounds per acre Nitrate
of Soda.

Rate of yield, 100 bushels
ears per acre, excellent
quality.

Fertilizer, 300 pounds per
acre minerals only.

Rate of yield, 80 bushels
ears per acre, poor qual-
ity.

the location of its growth and the variety used. Soils
best suited for corn culture are rich, deep loams,

53

54 FOOD FOR PLANTS

naturally well drained and located in those regions
where the average temperatures during the growing
months of May to September, inclusive, reach from
75 degrees to 80 degrees Fahr. That is, the best cli-
matic conditions do not depend upon average annual
temperature, but upon the high temperature main-
tained during these growing months. The growing
season will, however, vary also in different sections
of the country, ranging from 90 to 160 days, and
varieties exist which are adapted to these different
growing periods. The yield is also, of course, in-
fluenced by moisture, depending again not altogether
upon the total rainfall, but upon the requisite
amounts that may be depended upon from May to
September, the growing months. The plants need
high temperatures and maximum rainfalls through-
out July and August, with clear, sunshiny weather
between rains.

The variety also has a direct influence upon the
yield of the crop, and work done recently in the mat-
ter of corn breeding and selection has very consider-
ably broadened the area of profitable culture. The
Flint varieties are more suitable for the northern sec-
tions, and the Dent varieties for the central and
southern sections of the United States.

The Object of Growth — Grain.

Corn is grown mainly for its grain, and for this
reason the greatest attention has been given to the
development of varieties that will yield the largest

FOOD FOR PLANTS 55

proportion of grain to stalk ; because, however, of the
increasing use of corn as a forage plant, much atten-
tion has recently been given to the varieties adapted
for soiling and for silage.

In growing corn for these different purposes
different methods are adopted. When the main
object is to secure grain, varieties are selected which

One Hundred Bushels of Ears of Corn per Acre, Before
Harvesting.

produce large, uniform ears, with deep grains. In
order to insure its proper development and ripening,
it is planted preferably in hills, at such distances as
will permit a maximum amount of sunshine to reach
all parts of the plant, and so cultivated as to en-
courage the largest use of food from soil sources.
In other words, every precaution is taken to insure
the largest proportion of ripened grain; the stalks
often being regarded as a by-product of little value.
In fact, in many parts of the country the stalks are

56 FOOD FOR PLANTS

not Utilized as they should be, although when well
cured they are equivalent in food value, on the dry
matter basis, to good timothy hay.

In planting Indian corn for grain we doubtless
often plant the seed too thick.

Silage.

When grown for silage, the object is to secure the
largest amount of digestible matter per acre. Hence,
varieties with larger stalk and leaf are generally
used and the corn planted much closer together and
thicker in the rows, but not so thick as to prevent
many of the stalks from producing ears. When cut
when the ears are beginning to glaze, good crops will
oftentimes yield as much as 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of
dry matter per acre. Larger amounts of plant food
than for grain are required, as a rule, in order that
the vegetative functions may be increased, hence on
most soils, even in a good state of fertility, applica-
tions of fertilizers are necessary, more particularly
those containing Nitrogen.

Soiling.

In growing corn for soiling, the object is to obtain
the largest amount of succulent food per acre, which
may be completely eaten by the animal. Hence, for
soiling, quick-growing varieties, with a large propor-
tion of leaf and small stalks, are grown and planted
thicker than for silage, and still greater care in the

FOOD FOR PLANTS 57

use of manures and fertilizers is required in order to
enable the plant to absorb food throughout its entire
growth.

Sweet Corn.

When sweet varieties are grown, the object is to
obtain a large number of ears suitable for the table.
The sweet varieties are less hardy and vigorous than

Corn and Oats, New York Experimental Fields.

the ordinary field varieties, and are better adapted
for light soils, hence the treatment is still different;
from that used when grown for the purposes already
mentioned. The grain is not planted ordinarily until
the soil is thoroughly warm, and the temperature is
likely to continue high and, because better suited for
light soils, special fertilization is necessary.

58 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Indian Corn (Maize) Experiments.
New York State, Seasons of 1918 and of 1919.

Experiments in New York State carried on with
maize ensilage, or Indian corn, show that whilst the
return in value of the increased crop is not excessive
owing, no doubt, to the lateness of the fertilizer ap-
plication, notable crop increases were obtained.

The late fertilizer application was used in this case
advisedly to check up this practice which is followed
by many farmers, and which is rather against our
general advice as to very late dressings of Nitrate.
Earlier applications on corn, we are confident, will
prove to be more profitable.

Among interesting items secured are the yields of
protein per acre as tabulated in the following tables.
It is notable that the total ash mineral residue per
acre removed from the plot on which Nitrate alone
was used is less than on the check plot, and that the
exhaustion of phosphoric acid, potash and lime was
at a lower rate per acre on the Nitrate plot than on
the check plot. Notable also is the fact that the rate
of yield of protein was lower on the check plot and
also on the acid phosphate alone plot than on the
Nitrate plot. Protein is, of course, a factor of very
high food value for dairy stock.

The results speak well for Nitrate not exhausting
soil fertility as to its mineral essentials. It confirms
the idea that soil exhaustion proceeds more rapidly
when no fertilizers are used as compared with their
rational use.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 59

Reports on Experimental Work on Maize Ensilage.

1918.
Crop — Maize Ensilage.

Variety — Half State Corn; Half Gold Nugget.
Location — Chenango County, New York.
Soil — Bottom land.
Cultivations — Three.

Climate — Short season; high altitude, 1,000 feet.
Weather — Cool; latter part of summer, drought.
Date of Application of Fertilizer — July 5, 1918.
Date of Harvesting — September 16, 1918.
Size of Plots — ^ acre.
Rate of Application per Acre — 250 lbs. Nitrate of Soda;

400 lbs. Acid Phosphate.
Fertilizers Used — Nitrate of Soda and Acid Phosphate.
Cost of Fertilizer per Acre — Plot 1, $12; plot 2, $8; plot

3, $4.

Crop in Pounds per Acre.

TABLE NO. I

Rate of Kate of

Application Yields Crop Yields

Plot Nos. per Acre per Plot per Acre

1. Nitrate of Soda 250 lbs. 7,120 lbs. 28,480 lbs.

and

Acid Phosphate 400 lbs.

2. Nitrate alone 250 lbs. 6,610 lbs. 26,440 lbs.

*3. Acid Phosphate alone 400 lbs. 6,030 lbs. 24,120 lbs.

4. Check — nothing 6,290 lbs. 25,160 lbs.

Pounds per Acre of Essential Fertility Removed by Crop.

TABLE NO. II

Plot Nos. Phosphoric Acid Potash Nitrogen

1. Nitrate of Soda and Acid

Phosphate 38.45 lbs. 91.99 lbs. 46.28 lbs.

2. Nitrate alone 34.64 lbs. 82.76 lbs. 42.97 lbs.

3. Acid Phosphate alone 33.29 lbs. 81.53 lbs. 39.20 lbs.

4. Check — nothing 37.24 lbs. 94.35 lbs. 40.89 lbs.

* Acid Phosphate alone appears to have diminished the crop here as it
did in the case of our sugar cane in Porto Rico.

336.1 lbs.

17.94 lbs.

290.8 lbs.

14.81 lbs.

282.2 lbs.

18.09 lbs.

299.4 lbs.

19.88 lbs.

60 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Pounds per Acre of Protein and Ash (Minerals) and
Lime Removed by Crop.

TABLE NO. Ill

Plot Nos. Protein

1. Nitrate of Soda and Acid

Phosphate 506.9 lbs.

2. Nitrate alone 499.7 lbs.

3. Acid Phosphate alone 465.5 lbs.

4. Check — nothing 462.9 lbs.

1919.

Crop — Maize Ensilage.

Variety — Golden Nugget.

Location — Chenango County, New York,

Soil — Clay loam.

Cultivations — Three.

Climate — Temperate; 1,000 feet above sea.

Weather — Cloudy; wet.

Amount of Fertilizer per Plot — 20, 40 and 80 lbs.

Method of Cultivation — Horse cultivator and by hand

hoeing.
Date of Application of Fertilizer — June 5, 1919, for plots

1, 2, 3 and 4; and June 5 and 24 for plots 5 and 6, when

corn was 9 inches high.
Date of Harvesting — September 15, 1919.
Size of Plot — 1/10 acre, plots 1, 2, 3 and 4; 1/20 acre, plots

5 and 6.
Rate of Application per Acre — 200 lbs., 400 lbs. and 600 lbs.
Fertilizers Used — Nitrate of Soda and Acid Phosphate.
Cost of Fertilizer per Acre — $26.40.
Method of Applying — Broadcast, cultivated in immediately.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

61

Crops in Pounds per Acre.

TABLE NO. I

Kate of Rate of

Application Crops Yield Crop Yields

Plot Nos. per Acre per Plot per Acre

1. Nitrate of Soda 1

and [ 400 4,180 41,800

Acid Phosphate J

2. Nitrate alone 400 4,100 41,000

3. Acid Phosphate alone 400 2,840 28,400

4. Check — nothing 2,820 28,200

5. NaNOa and P.O. 200 each

June 5,

1919;

200 each

June 24,

1919.. 1,780 35,600

6. NaNO. and P.O. 200 each

June 5,

1919;
400 each
June 24,

1919.. 2,040 40,800

Pounds per Acre of Protein and Minerals Removed
by Crop.

TABLE NO. II

Phosphoric
Plot Nos. Acid Potash Protein Nitrogen

1. Nitrate of Soda 1

and [ 47.23 95.30 689.7 110.3

Acid Phosphate J

2. Nitrate alone 38.06 109.06 471.5 75.4

3. Acid Phosphate alone 56.99 77.25 289.4 46.3

4. Check — nothing 31.58 62.89 377.3 61.1

5. NaNOs and P.O= 47.70 75.83 585.2 93.6

6. NaNOs and P.O:, 56.71 102.82 739.7 118.3

Pounds per Acre of Minerals Removed by Crop.

TABLE NO. Ill
Plot Nos. Ash Iiime

1. Nitrate of Soda 1

and 456.9 31.77

Acid Phosphate J

2. Nitrate alone 468.6 38.54

3. Acid Phosphate alone 342.2 28.12

4. Check — nothing 293.0 27.35

5. NaNO. and P.O., 408.0 45.57

6. NaNOa and P.O. 472.1 34.68

62 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Pounds per Acre of Essential Fertilizer Ingredients

Added to the Soil in the Fertilizers Used.

1919.

PlotNos.

TABLE NO.

Rate of

Application

per Acre

IV

Nitrogen

Phosphoric
Acid

Potash in

Nitrate

Used

Estimated

1. Nitrate of Soda

400

56

8

and

Acid Phosphate

400

56

8

2. Nitrate alone

400

56

8

3. Acid Phosphate alone.

400

56

4. Check — nothing ....

5. NaNO. and P.O.,

400 each

56

56

8

6. NaNO. and P.O.

400 each

84

84

12

The profit per acre as between the application of
400 pounds of acid phosphate alone, and of Nitrate
and acid phosphate together shows that the added
investment in 400 pounds of Nitrate, which may be
estimated at practically fourteen dollars ($14), gave
a rate of profit of twenty dollars ($20) per acre, valu-
ing ensilage at present at five dollars ($5) a ton.

Since the rate of yield per acre of the Nitrate and
acid phosphate plot was 20.9 tons as against a rate
of yield per acre of 14.1 tons for the acid phosphate
alone plot, — the value in the first case is placed at
one hundred four dollars and fifty cents ($104.50)
per acre, and in the latter case at seventy dollars and
fifty cents ($70.50) per acre. As the crop increase
from the use of 400 pounds of Nitrate is valued at
thirty-four dollars ($34), and the cost of the Nitrate
at fourteen dollars ($14), a profit at the rate of
twenty dollars ($20) per acre is the result, as above
stated.

These figures are in general in close agreement

FOOD FOR PLANTS 63

with those secured in 1918, and confirm the view
that rational fertilizing with Nitrate does not appear
to exhaust the soil in the net result as much as does
doing without fertilizers.

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Corn.

As soon as the corn is planted in the spring, apply
the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly over
the entire surface of the corn field you are fertilizing
at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, which is equal in
bulk to about two bushels.

Our Formula for Corn.

Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 300 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 300 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of muriate of
potash to the acre every other year.

SMALL FRUITS.

Under this head we treat of blackberries, currants,
gooseberries and raspberries. Strawberries are
treated separately. All these small fruits are com-
monly grown in the garden, generally under such
conditions that systematic tillage is not practicable.
For this reason such plant food essentials as may
exist naturally in the soil become available to the
uses of the plants very slowly. This is as true of
the decomposition of animal or vegetable ammoni-
ates as of phosphates and potashes. Consequently,
small fruits in the garden suffer from lack of suffi-
cient plant food. All these plants when planted in
gardens are usually set in rows four feet apart, the
plants about three feet apart in the rows ; about 4,200
plants to an acre. In field culture, blackberries are
usually set four feet apart each way.

So far as possible, small fruits should be cultivated
in the early spring, and all dead canes removed.
Work into the soil along the rows 300 pounds of acid
phosphate and 50 pounds of sulphate of potash if
obtainable; when the plants are in full leaf, broad-
cast along the rows 300 pounds of Nitrate of Soda,
and work in with a rake. If at any time before
August the vines show a tendency to drop leaves, or
stop growing, apply more Nitrate. Small fruits
must have a steady, even growth; in most cases un-
satisfactory results can be directly traced to irregu-
lar feeding of the plants. In field culture, the crop
must be tilled quite the same as for corn; in the gar-

64

FOOD FOR PLANTS 65

den in very dry weather irrigation should be used
if possible. The yield per acre is very heavy, and,
of course, the plants must be given plant food in
proportion.

Raspberries, Currants, Gooseberries.

Sow broadcast, in the fall, a mixture of 300 pounds
of acid or superphosphate and 50 pounds sulphate of
potash per acre if obtainable. This can be done, if
the rows are four feet apart, by sowing a large hand-
ful at every two steps on each side of the row. Rasp-
berries and gooseberries should have a small handful,
and currants a large handful to each bush. This
should be cultivated in, if possible, early in the
spring. Sow Nitrate of Soda in the same way. It
will pay to put on as much Nitrate as you did acid
or superphosphate, but if you do not want to put on
so much, use smaller handfuls.

Our Formula for Raspberries and Currants.

Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 300 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 300 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of
potash to the acre every other year.

Strawberries.

This plant requires a moist soil, but not one water-
logged at any time of the year. A light clay loam,

66 FOOD FOR PLANTS

or a sandy loam is preferable. There are several
methods of cultivation, but the matted row is gen-
erally found more profitable than the plan of growing
only in hills. While some growers claim that one
year's crop is all that should be harvested before
ploughing down for potatoes, as a matter of fact the
common practice is to keep the bed for at least two

In the basket, and lying on To the right back of

12-inch rule, 200 lbs. Nitrate rule, no Nitrate,

of Soda to the acre.

harvests. In selecting plants, care should be exer-
cised to see that pistillate plants are not kept too
much by themselves, or the blossoms will prove bar-
ren. Farmyard manure should never be used after
the plants are set out, as the weed seeds contained
therein will give much trouble, especially as the horse
hoe is of little use in the beds. Use 200 pounds of
acid phosphate, applied broadcast immediately after
harvest. In the spring as soon as growth begins

FOOD FOR PLANTS 67

broadcast 150 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to the acre.
In setting out a new bed, broadcast the fertilizer
along the rows and cultivate in, before the plants are
set out.

On old beds, sow 200 pounds of acid phosphate
broadcast in the fall and 150 pounds of Nitrate per
acre in the spring.

Our Formula for Strawberries.

Nitrate alone 150 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 200 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 200 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.

The experiment was with a field of Bubachs. One
plot was given 200 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to the
acre when growth began. Another received no Ni-
trate. On June 3d all the ripe fruit was picked from
equal length of rows of each plot. The photograph
shows the result.

Grapes.

Grape vineyards should be located and planted by
an expert, and one, too, who has had experience with
the locality selected for the site. The treatment of
the young plants is a matter of soil and climate, for
which there are no general rules. When the vines
have reached bearing age, however, their fertilization
becomes a very important matter. The new wood
must be thoroughly matured to bear next year's fruit,
and an excess of ammoniate late in the season not

68 FOOD FOR PLANTS

only defeats this object, but also lessens the number
of fruit buds.

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Grapes.

Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it
evenly over the entire surface of the vineyard you
are fertilizing, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre,
during the early spring months, preferably just
before the vines are in bud.

Our Formula for Grapes.

Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 300 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 300 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained we
advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.

GREENHOUSE PLANT FOOD.

For flowering plants in greenhouses, as long as
possible before blooming, apply one pound of Nitrate
of Soda to 200 square feet of surface. This appli-
cation is equal to 200 pounds per acre. If used with
acid phosphate, a larger amount, viz: One and one-
half pounds of Nitrate of Soda with an equal quantity
of acid phosphate may be used to each 200 square
feet of surface, making 300 pounds per acre, provided
excessive quantities of barnyard manure have not
been used. It is important to thoroughly work these
fertilizers into the soil.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 69

The use of rotted stable manure as a source of
greenhouse plant food has been the custom for many
years. Manure, however, supplies its plant food very
irregularly and the Nitrogen which it contains is not
available, hence for forcing plants it cannot be fully
relied upon. It should be supplemented by the use of
commercial fertilizers such as Nitrate of Soda and
acid phosphate.

For Plants in Pots.

Water once every four days, during early active
growth, with a solution of one-half an ounce of Ni-
trate of Soda to one gallon of water — avoid wetting
the foliage. This will produce dark green color in
the leaves, which, when obtained, indicates that for
this most important period, a sufficient amount of
Nitrate of Soda has been used. Do not put dry
Nitrate on wet foliage.

For young fruit trees in the nursery, from one-
quarter to one pound of Nitrate of Soda per acre may
be used, according to age. It is important in this
case that the fertilizer should be thoroughly worked
into the soil.

LAWNS AND GOLF LINKS.

Good lawns are simply a matter of care and
rational treatment. If the soil is very light, top-dress
liberally with clay and work into the sand. In all
cases the soil must be thoroughly fined and made
smooth, as the seed, being very small, requires a fine
seed bed. In the South, seed to Bermuda grass or
Kentucky blue grass; in the North, the latter is also
a good lawn grass, but perhaps a little less desirable

70 FOOD FOR PLANTS

than Rhode Island bent grass (Agrostis canina).
Avoid mixtures, as they give an irregularly colored
lawn under stress of drouth, or early frosts, or
maturity. For Rhode Island bent grass use 50
pounds of seed per acre, Kentucky blue grass 40 to
45 pounds, and for Bermuda grass 15 pounds. If for
any reason the soil cannot be properly prepared, pul-
verize the fertilizer very fine indeed. The grass
should be mowed regularly and the clippings removed
until nearly mid-summer when they are best left on
the soil as a mulch. For a good lawn, broadcast per
acre in the spring 50 pounds of sulphate or muriate of
potash, 200 pounds of acid phosphate and 200 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda. Lawns are very different from
field crops as they are not called upon to mature
growth in the line of seed productions, and they may
safely be given applications of Nitrate whenever the
sickly green color of the grass appears, which shows
that digestible or nitrated ammonia is the plant food
needed. These applications of plant food must be
continued each year without fail, and all bare or
partly bare spots well raked down and reseeded. If
absolutely bare, these spots should be deeply spaded.
On very heavy clay soils, and in low situations, a
drainage system must be established.

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Meadows,
Lawns and Golf Links.

As soon as the frost leaves the ground in the spring,
apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly,
by hand, or by machine, over the entire surface of
the lawn, or meadow you are fertilizing, at the rate
of 100 pounds per acre.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 71

Frequent rolling is of great advantage, as well as
frequent raking. Every lawn in the spring should
be subjected to a searching inspection for weeds.
Early spring is the time for the heavy annual top-
dressing of fertilizers. .

Two or three weeks after the application of fertil-
izers, a mixture of lawn grasses may be sown and
covered with a thin layer of finely sifted soil and then
rolled down. Rolling should not be continually in
one direction, but should be changed.

If young grasses are growing amongst the old, it
will be an advantage to keep the lawn closely cut.

By this practice roots are strengthened and the
density of the turf increased. In sowing lawn seed,
sow half the quantity going north and south, and half
east and west.

Grass which has become brown or yellow may be
watered or treated with Nitrate of Soda and the
green color thus restored. Lawns may safely be
given applications of Nitrate whenever the sickly
green color of the grass appears, as this shows that
Nitrogen is the food needed. Finely sifted soil ob-
tained from decayed leaves is the best treatment for
lawns to provide them with humus.

Our Formula for Meadows, Lawns and Golf Links.

Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 200 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 200 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate or
muriate of potash to the acre every other year.

FLOWERS.

Every gardener (of vegetables or flowers) should
have at hand, all through the season, a bag or box of
Nitrate of Soda, to be broadcast on any and every

Fertilizer Experiments with Fuchsias,

Phosphoric Acid and Potash Phosphoric Acid and Potash
without Nitrate of Soda. with 2^4 oz. Nitrate o£ Soda.

crop that grows in the garden. The need for Nitro-
gen is indicated by the pale green color of foliage and
slow growth. It is quite easy to be too liberal in
using Nitrate ; 200 pounds of Nitrate per acre, if used

72

FOOD FOR PLANTS

73

alone, is the quantity to be applied at any one time.
One pound of it would give about 30 heaping tea-
spoonfuls. So 1 to 1>1' such spoonfuls to a square

Fertilizer Experiments with Chrysanthemums,

^ ^^ "^ji^

tali;-

'■W ' ^fvi ^l- ?! ,"■,. "i X

^•^>^

'Mm

Phosphoric Acid and Potash.

Phosphoric Acid and Potash
with \y^ oz. Nitrate of Soda.

yard, or 3 feet along a row that is 3 feet wide, would
be about 100 pounds per acre. The quantity, how-
ever, may be larger where the plants — such as cab-
bage— are half grown and in good condition to grow.

74 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Nitrate of Soda is an ideal fertilizer for all kinds
of flowering plants, especially roses. It is as you
know, neat and cleanly and harmless (not acid, nor
caustic) and every woman who cultivates vegetables
and flowers should keep it on hand, to be used as
occasion shall demand at the rate of one-half to one
teaspoonful to the square yard, or one rose bush.

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on
Flowers.

Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it
evenly over the entire surface of the garden you are
fertilizing, at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, before
you sow your seeds and before you set out your
plants. It may be applied later by hand between
the rows at the same rate if you find the earlier time
inconvenient.

Our Formula for Flowers.

Nitrate alone 200 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 300 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 300 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.

OBSERVATIONS UPON THE LEACHING OF
SOLUBLE FERTILIZER SALTS FROM CRAN«
BERRY SOILS.

By JOHN H. VOORHEES.

Former Assistant in Charge Cranberry Investigations, N. J. Experiment
Station.

In the spring of 1913 the author was detailed by
the New Jersey Experiment Station to study^ the
fertilizer requirements of the cranberry. After a sur-
vey of the field it was decided to locate the experi-
mental work upon bogs owned and operated by prac-
tical growers. Headquarters for this work were
located at the bogs of J. J. White, Incorp., situated
about three miles northeast of Hanover farms on the
P. R. R. in Burlington county. A rather complete
series of plots was planned including the separate
use of four sources of Nitrogen, — Nitrate of Soda,
ammonium sulphate, dried blood 12 per cent., and
cotton-seed meal; four sources of phosphoric acid, — ■
acid phosphate, basic slag, phosphate rock and
steamed bone; and three sources of potash, —
muriate, sulphate and kainit. These materials were
not only used separately, but also in complete mix-
tures in which ammonium sulphate, acid phosphate
and muriate of potash were used as constant factors.
In each case the fertilized plots received either two
pounds of Nitrogen, four of phosphoric acid, or five
of potash, and in the case of complete mixtures all of
the above quantities were used.
75

76 FOOD FOR PLANTS

On the bogs of J. J. White the series of plots was
laid out in three distinct types of soil; the Savannah,
a pure sand mixed with more or less organic matter,
deep mud, and deep mud underlaid with iron ore.
Wherever possible the plots were made one-twentieth
acre in size, one rod wide and eight rods long.
(Details of the plan of experiment may be found in
1913 Report, N. J. Agricultural Experiment Station,
pages 384-488.)

On June 6, 1913, the first application of fertilizer
was made to the plots in these series and observa-
tions of the effect of added plant food have been
extremely interesting. One occurrence brings out
clearly how little an abundance of water affected the
lateral movement of soil moisture and leaching of
plant food from the soil stores.

On the nights of June 9th and 10th danger of severe
frost caused the proprietors to flow the bogs for
protection. The series of plots located in the deep
mud and iron ore soils (so-called) were completely
flooded to a depth varying from a few inches to a
foot. The Savannah plots, even though located in
the same bogs, were on a higher level and the water
only covered one end of the plots, about one-half of
each. At first thought it would appear that the lat-
eral movement of the soil water would carry the
plant food, especially the soluble salts. Nitrate of
Soda, ammonium sulphate, and the potash salts, from
one plot to another, and that there would be con-
siderable leaching of plant food into the drainage
water, because the water is drawn through the soil
into the ditches on its way out ; but subsequent obser-
vations extending through the remainder of the year

FOOD FOR PLANTS 77

showed a distinct line of markation between the
fertilized plots and the check plots adjoining. The
increased vine growth causing this distinct marka-
tion became clearly defined, first with Nitrate of
Soda, then ammonium sulphate, and so on through
the list of plots, showing more clearly upon the plots
which received complete mixtures.

This condition was more particularly true on the
"Savannah" soils, and it might be added that yields
were greatly increased. Record of yields may be
found in 1914 Report of N. J. Agric. Experiment
Station or Proceedings 45th Annual Meeting Ameri-
can Cranberry Growers' Association.) Upon the
deep mud and iron ore plots the differences and lines
of markation were distinguishable but not so clearly
defined.

After three years of observation and experience,
both experimental and practical, the author is con-
vinced that the loss from leaching is so negligible
that he feels no hesitancy in advising growers to
apply fertilizers composed of Nitrate of Soda, acid
phosphate and muriate of potash as soon as the
winter water is drawn from the bogs, about May
20th, before the reflow for insect control, which 'is a
customary practice about the second week in June,
and before any flowing which might be necessitated
by danger of frost.

NITRATE ON SUGAR CANE.
What It Did for an Acre of Sugar Cane in Porto Rico,

Abstract from Facts About Sugar, September 7, 1918.

(The results of an interesting experiment conducted at Central
Aguirre, Porto Rico, during the season 1917-18, to check up the relative
values of Nitrate of Soda, of Acid Phosphate, and of a mixture of the
two, as fertilizer for sugar cane, are described in the following article.
The accompanying illustrations and table show the striking results
obtained from the use of the Nitrate. — Ed.)

An Instructive Demonstration.

A recent experiment conducted at Margarita field,
Hacienda Carmen of Central Aguirre, Porto Rico,
forcibly brings out the gain in sugar yield, with the
accompanying higher financial return resulting,
when Nitrate of Soda and acid phosphate were used,
compared with the returns when acid phosphate was
used alone.

The test was made to determine the relative effi-
ciency of acid phosphate — which is the main con-
stituent of the ordinary brands of mixed fertilizer —
as compared with Nitrate of Soda.

The cane was grown on adjoining one-acre plots.
Applications of the fertilizer materials were made on
July 23, 1917, and the cane was cut on May 27, 1918.
On one plot 400 pounds of acid phosphate was ap-
plied; on the second 400 pounds each of acid phos-
phate and Nitrate of Soda; on a third. Nitrate of Soda
alone, and on the fourth, a check plot, no fertilizer
was used. The results obtained are shown in the
following table :

78

Fertilized with 400 lbs.

Nitrate of Soda per acre.

Yield: 9,600 lbs. Sugar

per acre (30 bags).

Fertilized with 400 lbs.

Acid Phosphate per acre.

Yield: 6,400 lbs. Sugar

per acre (20 bags).

Fertilized with 400 lbs.

Nitrate of Soda per acre.

Yield: 9,600 lbs. Sugar

per acre (30 bags).

Check Plot — No Fertilizer.
Yield: 7,680 lbs. Sugar
per acre (24 bags).

79

60 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Confirms Hawaiian Practice.

Sugar

Sucrose Purity Cane yield

Acre Plots per cent per cent yield tons tons

1. Acid Phosphate 18.09 92.50 24.96 3.2

2. Nitrate of Soda and Acid Phosphate 17.38 91.50 38.00 4.7

3. Nitrate of Soda alone 16.45 89.20 41.50 4.7

4. Check Plot — no fertilizer 17.55 91.40 30.73. 3.8

These figures speak for themselves. It is interest-
ing to note that the $16 worth of Nitrate used alone
produced an increase of 16.54 tons of cane, yielding
1.5 tons of sugar, over the acid phosphate plot, which,
in terms of cash, represented an increased market
value of $138. In view of the stress laid so frequently
in the past upon the use of the superphosphate variety
of mixes, the sources of Nitrogen in such brands be-
ing as a rule entirely unknown to the users, the above
experiment is illuminating. This experiment sub-
stantially and emphatically confirms Hawaiian re-
sults and fully endorses Hawaiian sugar cane
practice.

THE POSITION OF NITROGEN IN AGRICUL-
TURE, OUR LEADING INDUSTRY

An Address delivered by Dr. William S. Myers, before
The American Railway Development Association at
their Annual Meeting at San Antonio, Texas.

In his first inaugural Washington said, "Where
Agriculture leads all other arts follow." Most of the
annual additions to our national wealth come from
farming and our agriculture is still growing. The
land is the foundation upon which we build our eco-
nomic structure.

The world taken as a whole is a great farm and our
soils are filled with millions of microscopic animal
and vegetable life — vast colonies of living things
which act and react upon each other. Every square
yard is populated with billions of workers and un-
known laborers — some helping as soil builders —
some helping in the work of unlocking fertility —
some, under certain conditions, helping to destroy it.

The average soil is capable of holding more or less
one-fifth of its weight in water. The greater the soil
population of bacteria bred by proper farming, the
greater is its capacity for holding water and soil solu-
tions. Good soils also possess great holding capacity
for solids in solution owing to the capacity of soil
granules to exercise upon liquids what is known as
surface tension. So far as growing crops are con-
si

82 FOOD FOR PLANTS

cerned a soil without water is as useless as a motor
car without gasoline.

The possibility of utilizing the legumes has been
known since the time of the Romans, although they
did not know it was nitrogen that was thus captured.
The potency of nitrogen in agriculture has been
known for years and has been studied especially
lately by leading agriculturists.

The wide distribution of this element in nature is
remarkable. Its occurrence is universal. We may
fiy to the uttermost parts of the earth and it is still
with us. Throughout the world it remains substan-
tially in the same proportion to the oxygen of the air
although the atmosphere is supposed to have been
once all nitrogen.

Nitrogen is found free not only in the atmosphere
but in certain mineral waters and in volcanic gases.
It is never absorbed by animals or plants from its
elementary state except through the agency of cer-
tain soil bacteria associated with leguminous plants,
and when these are located on favorable soils carry-
ing sufficient lime in proper form.

The inactivity of elementary nitrogen is notable.
Its compounds, on the other hand, frequently have
pronounced and unusual properties, they being the
essential components of powerful drugs, of brilliant
dyestuffs and of high explosives.

In its combined form it is widely and universally
distributed in the animal and vegetable kingdoms in
albuminoid or proteid bodies, like the casein of milk
or the gluten of wheat. Vast quantities of combined
Nitrogen occur in Chile in mineral deposits; it is
found combined in all arable soils; also in coal. In

Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (1).

Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (2).

Types of Characteristic Rock Shattering (3).
83

84 FOOD FOR PLANTS

each of these instances these forms are the product
of bacteria or other life. The chemistry and physiol-
ogy of Nitrogen is the chemistry and physiology of
living things. Without Nitrogen there could be no
life as we understand it. It is absolutely essential
to all organized life. In view of this it is all the rnore
remarkable how completely inert the element Nitro-
gen is, and how tremendously potent and active are
some of its combinations.

The Nitration or proper predigestion of plant nour-
ishment cannot occur without some basic substance
being present and can only best proceed at favorable
summer temperatures. At these temperatures, when
sufficient moisture is present, this action proceeds
normally and thus prepares unavailable forms of
Nitrogen for assimilation by growing crops. It can-
not proceed when it is too cold or too wet. In most
cases, it is the process of Nitration of the non-Nitrate
forms of Nitrogen chiefly into the Nitrate form that
makes them available for plant growth.

The vegetable world stores and elaborates avail-
able Nitrogen into forms suitable for animals, includ-
ing man, to feed upon and the living processes of
animals in turn utilize these forms of Nitrogen for
their growth. Without Nitrogen there can be no
growth, either vegetable or animal. The key to suc-
cessful cattle feeding, as is well known, lies wholly
in adjusting rations to the gluten carriers.

Nature is always prodigal and these processes
while subject to natural law, permit waste from the
economic standpoint. Nothing from the physical
standpoint, however, is actually lost. Matter merely
changes its location.

Rock Before Blasting: One Pound of 40 Per Cent. Dynamite.

Same Rock Shattered by the Explosion of Dynamite.
85

86 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Nitrogen returns to the atmosphere as generally
and continuously as water gravitates to the ocean
and remains there accessible to those natural agen-
cies, capable of transforming it from its completely
inert form into intensely active forms immediately
useful to man. On arable lands under average con-
ditions more Nitrogen goes back to the air than is
received from the atmosphere and especially when
the lands are much exposed to severe wind and
weathering.

A portion of our earth, namely Chile, has by acci-
dent or design been set aside as a storehouse for
Nitrogen in its most available plant food form. This
is capable of providing first aid and continued nour-
ishment against nitrogen soil losses. In recent years,
as our soils have become exhausted, has this use mul-
tiplied many fold here in our own country.

Looking beyond the sphere of cold dry actualities
and expressing imaginative possibilities, an English
writer recently suggested the breeding of a new
strain of bacteria which would provide in the soil
the means of securing all the Nitrogen needed for
crops — drawing it thus from the atmosphere and
thus greatly increasing crop production. For great
populations this would be Utopia indeed. It should
be pointed out, however, that bacteria capable of
taking Nitrogen from the atmosphere can only thrive
on soil well provided with lime, with abundance of
moisture and with animal or vegetable matter in well
rotted condition, also in abundance. Thus the Gar-
den of Eden is not yet in sight and man's destiny is
still to live by the "Sweat of his brow."

Thorough farm management is more important

FOOD FOR PLANTS 87

than ever — no fertilizer and no legume can ever sub-
stitute for the eye of the Master. There is no royal
road to farming any more than there is to learning,
but there are helps to farm management and to nat-
ural soil resources that are of advantage even to new
soils. Plant food deficiencies occur in logical se-
quence as natural as the setting of the sun. The soil
must not be treated as a mine but rather as an in-
strumentality for the growing of crops.

1. Without Nitro- 2. 1/3 Ration of Ni- 3. Full Ration of
gen. trogen. Nitrogen.

All three fertilized alike with Muriate of Potash and Acid Phosphate. —
R. I. Bui. 103.

Soil deficiencies occur most often as to Nitrogen,
Phosphorus and Potash. Available Nitrogen is most
often deficient in the soils of the Atlantic and Gulf
States, but even in our Middle States low crop yields
suggest the desirability of supplying available nitro-
gen for better crops.

According to a recent United States Department
Year Book our leading crops remove from the soil
much more Nitrogen than phosphorus or potash. It
is comparatively easy chemically to determine the
amounts of phosphorus and potash but not so easy
except by practical crop growing to determine the

88 FOOD FOR PLANTS

most profitable amount of available Nitrogen re-
quired for individual locations. In the last analysis
a practical trial in the field is what counts. The
grower must check for himself and constantly study
his condition like a business man.

Looking at the Nitrogen subject broadly, we find
that during the last quarter century the agricultural
use of Chilean Nitrate has increased in this country
many times faster tfian the use of mixed fertilizers.

Although the Chilean Nitrate industry is now
nearly 100 years old, Nitrate having been first ex-
ported in 1820, there is still enough, it is estimated,
to last 300 years. The fact that the use of this Ail-
American product has increased many times faster
here in our country, namely, from 16,000 tons per an-
num in 1899 to nearly 650,000 tons at present, whilst
ordinary fertilizer consumption has not much more
than doubled in the same period, is not without sig-
nificance as is also the fact that in 1919 the U. S.
Department of Agriculture distributed 150,000 tons
of Chilean Nitrate for Agriculture use as such. This
did not include what was sold to growers through the
regular channels of original trade.

The production and consumption of different forms
of commercial Nitrogen has increased faster than the
production of phosphorus and potash during that
period. From the practical side, therefore, we regard
the possibilities of increased crop production from the
increased use of Nitrogen as very real and very
promising.

In Hawaii where more Nitrogen is used per acre
than in any other part of the world, in the growing
of sugar cane, the average production per acre is the

Crop of Grass Grown by the Use of Nitrate of Soda.

The Tedders follow the Mowing Machines for rapid curing
of heavy crops of hay.

90 FOOD FOR PLANTS

largest in the world having been 52 tons of cane per
acre in 1923, and compares to an average for the
world of less than one-half that amount. Our pro-
duction in Louisiana is about 1 1 tons per acre.

A comparison of our crop yields with those of Ger-
many has been recently made by O. E. Baker of the
U. S. Department of Agriculture. The yields per
acre in Germany were indicated as being nearly
double those of this country. The differences are
believed to be due in large measure to the greater
proportions of Nitrogen used by German farmers.
It is calculated * that European farmers use on an
average 600 pounds per acre of a fertilizer carrying
4^ per cent, of available Nitrogen, whereas Ameri-
can farmers use on an average in their fertilizer prac-
tice about 300 pounds per acre of fertilizer containing
about 3 per cent, of Nitrogen. The German practice
is more logical since it corresponds more nearly to re-
storing to the soil the essential elements of fertility
removed by crops and lost by means of natural agen-
cies. Without doubt American practice is slowly
approximating European practice and ultimately we
shall see larger use by American farmers of available
Nitrogen. Whether it will take place to a great ex-
tent by increasing the content of available Nitrogen
in mixed goods or by the supplementary use of
Chilean Nitrate of Soda, remains to be seen.

It is certain that our exports of cotton seed meal
and cereals carry out of our country each year a vast
tonnage of Nitrogen which will have to be replaced.

* A large proportion of European farmers, especially the more intelli-
gent, use fertilizer simples in preference to mixtures. The total con-
sumption of fertilizer simples and mixtures all told if calculated to an
average would disclose an equivalent for comparison on an American
basis as above indicated.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

91

We cannot get it rapidly or universally enough from
the atmosphere and unless we restore these losses our
soils will become poorer and poorer and less and less
productive. By the rational use o£ Chilean Nitrate
our plantations and farms could add many thousands

Quick and Luxuriant Growth o£ Shrubbery, Produced in
Two Seasons by the Use of Nitrate. New Jersey.

of bales of cotton and many thousands of bushels of
wheat to our annual crops. The necessary Nitrate
tonnage from Chile would produce corresponding
outbound tonnage for our railways of increased agri-
cultural products. The sale of the products would
bring greater prosperity to our farmers and to our
factories and incidentally our food supplies would be
helpfully increased. The west coast of South

92 FOOD FOR PLANTS

America needs the products of our manufacturers as
we need the Nitrate and copper of Chile. These
products of All-America thus interchanged would be
of mutual and reciprocal benefit.

Thirty-four per cent, of our population now resides
in our sixteen southern states — the South is becom-
ing a region of great development. Small holdings
are increasing in number.

In the early days of our country the southern
states were producing more manufactured products
than the rest of the country and it is conceivable that
a more brilliant future is yet to come for the
Southland.

The growth of railroads has developed the South
more than any other single factor. In the Cotton
Belt there are 96 miles of railroad to every 1,000
square miles of land compared to 79 miles for that
area for the rest of the country. The South pro-
duces 58 per cent, of the American tobacco crop.

Fortunately diversification of farming is being de-
veloped and the Purnell Bill passed last winter should
open opportunity and encouragement for the proper
economic development of our individual farm homes.
Our agricultural colleges have for years been plead-
ing for diversification of crops. A recent official
study of two million five hundred thousand cotton
belt farms made by the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture shows that 23 per cent, have no gardens; 37
per cent, have no milk; 58 per cent, raise no sweet
potatoes; 79 per cent, raise no white potatoes and 33
per cent, have no chickens. More than half of these
raise no forage; 5 out of every 100 have no stock of
any kind. If in any season cotton should fail, these

FOOD FOR PLANTS

93

foodless farms would be in a miserable condition and
without money to buy food or the barest necessities.
In such cases there is no adequate protection against
single crop failures. In past years farms at least
provided the planter with most of the food his fam-
ily required. The "Live at Home" project now advo-

Privet Hedge at Left and Vines Showing Result of One
Year's Use of Nitrate. New Jersey.

cated by our agricultural authorities is a most com-
mendable one.

Crop rotations which include legumes, give the
soils both humus and Nitrogen, ultimately, and in
such soils bacteria destructive to Nitrogen com-
pounds of the soil do not thrive so vigorously.

The growing of legumes wherever conditions are

94 FOOD FOR PLANTS

favorable and the saving of manures are both to be
encouraged. These alone, however, are not suffi-
cient to make up for the great losses of Nitrogen
that occur every year through weathering, through
denitrating bacteria and crop removals.

It is to be borne in mind that there is not enough
Nitrogen in commercial form produced in the world
to make up for these annual soil losses, and that the
soils of the world will require available Nitrogen in
commercial form in increasing quantities. This, in
my judgment, is consistent with sound agriculture,
and the fertilizer industry is as sound fundamentally
as agriculture itself.

It may be borne in mind also that the rate of pro-
duction of Nitrogenous fertilizers has increased
throughout the world as a whole faster than have
the other fertilizer products.

It is a source of great satisfaction to know that
programs for agricultural progress as proposed by
Experiment Stations and Agricultural Colleges have
been accepted by railway agricultural representatives
and carried out so thoroughly by them in co-opera-
tion with agents and with the Agricultural Press.
Co-operation along the line of these programs will
make for agricultural success in the future. The
Agricultural and Industrial Departments of our rail-
ways have by their courage and skill played a highly
honorable and effective part in these developments.

In passing it should be noted that in the most
highly civilized parts of the world railway develop-
ment is the highest. Before the railroads all in-
dustrial development was local. Every community
was like China — hermit-like, undeveloped and obliged

FOOD FOR PLANTS

95

to be self-sustaining. Early last century an all-land
haul of 500 miles from Philadelphia to Pittsburg on
a ton of goods cost $125.00. Europe and the U. S.
have more railway mileage than any other portions
of our earth. The highly organized economic devel-

Hedge of California Privet Three Years Old, Fertilized for
Three Years with Nitrate. New Jersey.

opment of these portions of our globe has been most
remarkable. To a large extent it has been in propor-
tion to the development of transportation facilities.
The railway man has an opportunity for observa-
tion wider by far than the average citizen and his
views by virtue of this opportunity are bound to be
broadminded. His opportunities for service are
therefore unusual in respect to public relations.

96 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Your attitude towards the unenforceable obliga-
tions in your sphere of action has been fine and ad-
mirable. Your service has been unstinted. Your
work more than any other agency has put souls into
the bodies of corporations.

The test of an institution or of a corporation or of
a nation lies in its attitude toward the unenforce-
able obligations of life. I do not mean merely in
respect to the attitude towards "scraps of paper."
All of us here are aware of the obligations of the
written word, but what is our attitude toward the
unenforceable? One of the oldest treaties in this
country was between William Penn and the Indians.

This was never sworn to and never broken, but it
worked admirably.

The measure of a man in all his relations in life
is his attitude towards his unenforceable obligations.
In our hearts we know that the communities we serve
will measure us by it.

GRADES OF HAY AND STRAW.
Adopted by the National Hay Association.

Hay.

No. 1 Timothy Hay: Shall be timothy with not
more than one-eighth (^s) mixed with clover or other
tame grasses properly cured, good color, sound and
well baled.

Standard Timothy: Shall be timothy with not
more than one-eighth (>^) mixed with clover or
other tame grasses, fair color, containing brown
blades, and brown heads, sound and well baled.

No. 2 Timothy Hay: Shall be timothy not good
enough for No. 1 not over one-fourth (1:4) mixed
with clover or other tame grasses, fair color, sound
and well baled.

No. 3 Timothy Hay : Shall include all hay not good
enough for other grades, sound and well baled.

Light Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy mixed
with clover. The clover mixture not over one-third
(Ys) properly cured, sound, good color and well
baled.

No. 1 Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and
clover mixed, with at least one-half (I2) timothy,
good color, sound and well baled.

Heavy Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and
clover, mixed with at least one-fourth O4) timothy,
sound and well baled.

No. 2 Clover Mixed Hay: Shall be timothy and
97

98 FOOD FOR PLANTS

clover mixed with at least one- third (3/3) timothy,
reasonably sound and well baled.

No. 1 Clover Hay: Shall be medium clover not
over one-twentieth (!i>()) other grasses, properly
cured, sound and well baled.

No. 2 Clover Hay: Shall be clover sound, well
baled, not good enough for No. 1.

Sample Hay: Shall include all hay badly cured,
stained, threshed or in any way unsound.

Choice Prairie Hay : Shall be upland hay of bright,
natural color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may con-
tain 3 per cent, weeds.

No. 1 Prairie Hay: Shall be upland and may con-
tain one-quarter (j4) midland, both of good color,
well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain 8 per
cent, weeds.

No. 2 Prairie Hay: Shall be upland, of fair color
and may contain one-half midland, both of good
color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain 12;^
per cent, weeds.

No. 3 Prairie Hay: Shall include hay not good
enough for other grades and not caked.

No. 1 Midland Hay : Shall be midland hay of good
color, well cured, sweet, sound, and may contain 3
per cent, weeds.

No. 2 Midland Hay: Shall be fair color or slough
hay of good color, and may contain 12 3/ per cent,
weeds.

Packing Hay: Shall include all wild hay not good
enough for other grades and not caked.

Sample Prairie Hay : Shall include all hay not good
enough for other grades.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 99

Sti

No. 1 Straight Rye Straw: Shall be in large bales,
clean, bright, long rye straw, pressed in bundles,
sound and well baled.

No. 2 Straight Rye Straw : Shall be in large bales,
long rye straw pressed into bundles, sound and well
baled, not good enough for No. 1.

No. 1 Tangled Rye Straw: Shall be reasonably
clean rye straw, good color, sound and well baled.

No. 2 Tangled Rye Straw: Shall be reasonably
clean, may be some stained, but not good enough for
No. 1.

No. 1 Wheat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean
wheat straw, sound and well baled.

No. 2 Wheat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean,
may be some stained, but not good enough for No. 1.

No. 1 Oat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean oat
straw, sound and well baled.

No. 2 Oat Straw: Shall be reasonably clean, may
be some stained, but not good enough for No. 1.

Alfalfa.

Choice Alfalfa: Shall be reasonably fine leafy
alfalfa of bright green color, properly cured, sound,
sweet, and well baled.

No. 1 Alfalfa : Shall be reasonably coarse alfalfa of
a bright green color, or reasonably fine leafy alfalfa
of a good color and may contain 2 per cent, of foreign
grasses, 5 per cent, of air bleached hay on outside of
bale allowed, but must be sound and well baled.

100 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Standard Alfalfa : May be of green color, of coarse
or medium texture, and may contain 5 per cent, for-
eign matter; or it may be of green color, of coarse
or medium texture, 20 per cent, bleached and 2 per
cent, foreign matter; or it may be of a greenish cast
of fine stem and clinging foliage, and may contain 5
per cent, foreign matter, all to be sound, sweet, and
well baled.

No. 2 Alfalfa: Shall be of any sound, sweet and
well baled alfalfa, not good enough for standard, and
may contain 10 per cent, foreign matter.

No. 3 Alfalfa: May contain 35 per cent, stack-
spotted hay, but must be dry and not to contain more
than 8 per cent, of foreign matter; or it may be of a
green color and may contain 50 per cent, foreign
matter ; or it may be set alfalfa and may contain 5 per
cent, foreign matter, all to be reasonably well baled.

No grade Alfalfa : Shall include all alfalfa not good
enough for No. 3.

The Alfalfa, Cow Pea and Clover Question.

This class of plants has the property of taking inert
Nitrogen from the air and transforming it into com-
binations more or less useful as plant food. This
feature is of great value to agriculture, but not so
much from the plant food point of view as from the
fact that these plants are rich in that kind of food
substance commonly called "flesh formers." Lib-
erally fertilized, and not omitting Nitrate in the fer-
tilizer, we have a crop containing more nitrogenous
food (protein or flesh formers) than the Nitrogen
actually given as fertilizer could have made by itself.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 101

The most common plants of this class are: Alfalfa,
alsike clover, crimson clover, red clover, Japan clover,
cow peas, lupines, Canadian field peas, the vetches,
etc. All these forage crops should be sown after
clean culture crops. The best method of fertilizing is
to apply from 300 to 500 pounds of fertilizer early
every autumn ; in the spring broadcast 200 pounds of
Nitrate of Soda, and repeat with about 100 pounds
after each cutting. It is true that clovers may supply
their own nitrogenous plant food, but this is an ex-
periment experienced farmers do not often repeat. A
fair green crop of clover, for example, removes from
the soil some 160 pounds of Nitrogen, while in 500
pounds of Nitrate of Soda there are less than 100
pounds. Undoubtedly, the Nitrogen taken from the
air is a great aid, but we should not expect too much
of it. The method of seeding clovers depends much
upon locality and soil needs with reference to previ-
ous crops. Crimson clover and Canadian field peas
are usually sown in August, after earlier crops have
been removed, or even in corn fields. Red clover is
commonly sown in the spring on wheat or with oats.

WHEAT.

The soil for this grain, fall planting, ranges from a
clay loam to a moderate sandy loam. For spring
wheat, moist peaty soils are used. Wheat is usually
grown in rotation, in which case it nearly always
follows corn, or a clean culture crop. The nature of
cultivation is too well known to require mention here.

102

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Both spring and winter wheat are commonly ferti-
lized crops, particularly the latter. The average fer-
tilizer for wheat should contain Nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash. This fertilizer is applied with the

Wheat.

iii^iB!^- . ■<^^**

Wheat — 14 Bushels.
Average product per acre
for the U. S. of wheat with
average farm fertilization.

Wheat — 37 Bushels.
The product of an acre of
wheat fertilized with Nitrate
of Soda, Phosphates and
Potash.

seed, and at the rate of 500 nounds to the acre.
Nitrate of Soda is also applied broadcast as a dress-
ing, soon after the crop shows growth in the spring,
at the rate of 100 pounds per acre. Like all grains,
wheat should have its Nitrate plant food early, and in
the highly available, easily digested nitrated form,

FOOD FOR PLANTS

103

such as is only to be found commercially as Nitrate of
Soda.

The plant food needs of a crop of 30 bushels of
wheat per acre amounts to about 70 pounds of Nitro-

Fertilizer Experiment with Wheat.

*»"

Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid Phosphoric Acid and

and Potash with 1 oz. and Potash with Vi oz. Potash without

Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda. Nitrate of Soda.

Yield: 31/5 oz. Grain. Yield: 1% 02. Grain. Yield: i/L- oz. Grain.

104 FOOD FOR PLANTS

gen, 24 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 30 pounds of
potash; this includes the straw, chaff and stubble.
One hundred pounds of Nitrate of Soda supplies
about 15 pounds of Nitrogen, so that the quantity
mentioned for application is a minimum quantity.
Much has been said of legume Nitrogen for wheat,
the crop being generally grown in rotation. What-
ever Nitrogen the clover may have gathered, a crop
of timothy and a crop of corn must be supplied before
the wheat rotation is reached. In all cases where the
acre yields have fallen off, a broadcast dressing of
Nitrate of Soda should be given.

Drill in with the wheat in the fall a mixture of 150
pounds of acid phosphate and 50 pounds of Nitrate of
Soda per acre. If your land is sandy, add 50 pounds
of sulphate or muriate of potash to the above. Early
in the spring, sow broadcast 50 more pounds of
Nitrate of Soda per acre.

Land sown to wheat in the fall and seeded down
with timothy and clover giving a heavy crop, fol-
lowed by a heavy hay crop the following year, proved
the beneficial after-effect of the Nitrate and that the
Nitrate had not leached away as so many critics
claim, and further that the soil had not been ex-
hausted.

Professor Massey writes in regard to the effect of
Nitrate of Soda on Wheat, as follows :

"I have made several experiments w^ith Nitrate of Soda.
The first was on wheat in Albemarle County, Virginia. I
used 200 pounds per acre on part o£ the field which had been
fertilized with 400 pounds acid phosphate in the fall. The
result was 9 bushels per acre more than on the rest of the

FOOD FOR PLANTS 105

field, and a stand of clover, while none of any account stood
on the rest of the field."

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Wheat.

As soon as frost leaves the ground in the spring,
apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly,
by hand or by machine, over the entire surface of the
wrheat field you are fertilizing, at the rate of 100
pounds per acre, which is equal in bulk to one bushel.

Formula for Wheat.

Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 150 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 150 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate or
muriate of potash to the acre every other year,

OATS.

This grain does v^ell on nearly all types of soil, but
responds freely to good treatment. There is a vast
difference in the quality of oats v^^hen grov^n on poor
or rich soils. Perhaps no other crop so effectually
conceals impoverishment ; at the same time the feed-
ing value of oats grown on poor soil is very low. In
the North oats are sown in the spring, and usually
after corn or a turned down clover sod. In such cases
the crop is rarely ever given fertilizer, but shows an
excellent return from a broadcast dressing of 100
pounds of Nitrate of Soda per acre. The crop has

106

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Strong foraging powers, and will find available min-
eral plant food where a wheat crop would utterly fail.
On soils pretty badly exhausted, an application of 400
pounds of fertilizer will yield a profitable return,

Oats.

,-*■

a^.v

V;- -

/ -,

■ t /

Xfc

^ ---- .^-y-r-T^

1

0

%yihMrihiiLi: tfP**

^__ ;^^di

1
n

pgg f^_

p^ .-

i

..->,._

. j!r±z.

30 Bushels.
Average product per acre,
for the U. S. of oats, with
average farm fertilization.

65 Bushels.
The product of an acre of
oats fertilized with Nitrate
of Soda.

provided the dressing of Nitrate is not omitted.
Under any condition of soil or fertilizing, a sickly
green color of the young crop shows need of Nitrate
of Soda plant food, and the remedy is a dressing of
Nitrate. In seeding, use two or three bushels to the
acre.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 107

Autumn dressings of Nitrate are used frequently
in Europe, and in connection with minerals a dress-
ing of as much as three hundred (300) pounds of
Nitrate per acre is used annually.

Instructions for Using Nitrate on Oats.

As soon as you sow the oats in the spring, apply
the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly, by
hand or machine, over the entire surface of the oat
field at the rate of 100 pounds per acre. In bulk this
is equal to about one bushel.

Formula for Oats.

Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 150 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 150 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate or
muriate of potash to the acre every other year.

RYE.

This is another illustration of the necessity of care
in the use of fertilizer Nitrogen. Rye does best on
light soils so long as they are not too sandy, but if
the soil is rich in vegetable matter, or if a fertilizer is
used containing much organic ammoniate, the grain
yield will be disappointing; the crop fails to mature
in season because the nitration of organic Nitrogen
or humus is generally greatest during the warm days

108 FOOD FOR PLANTS

of midsummer, and a constant supply of available
Nitrate is being furnished at a time when the crop
should commence to mature. The crop needs Nitrate,
but it should be supplied during the earlier stages
of growth. Use at first a general fertilizer, 500

Rye — 18 Bushels. Rye — 36 Bushels.

Average product per acre The product of an acre of

for the U. S. of rye with rye fertilized with Nitrate of

average farm fertilization. Soda, phosphates and potash.

pounds per acre. As soon as the crop shows growth,
in the spring apply 100 pounds of Nitrate of Soda to
the acre, broadcast.

Instructions for Using Nitrate of Soda on Rye.

Just as soon as growth starts in the spring, or a
little earlier if possible, apply the Nitrate of Soda by

FOOD FOR PLANTS 109

broadcasting it evenly, by hand or by machine, over
the entire surface of the rye field you are fertilizing,
at the rate of 100 pounds per acre, which is equal in
bulk to one bushel.

Formula for Rye.

Nitrate alone 100 lbs. per acre

or preferably

Nitrate 150 lbs. per acre

Acid Phosphate 150 lbs. per acre

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate or
muriate of potash to the acre every other year.

BUCKWHEAT.

This crop does well on almost all kinds of soil, but
should follow a grain or hoed crop — that is, a clean
cultivation crop. On thin soils use about 400 pounds
of general fertilizer to the acre, applied just before
seeding, or even with the seed. Heavy soils do not
require fertilizing for this crop, as it has exceptional
foraging powers, and will find nourishment where
many grain crops would starve. As soon as the
plants are well above ground, broadcast 100 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda per acre, both on strong and light
soils. Use one bushel of seed per acre on thin soils,
but a heavier application on richer soils.

In many places in Europe the cereals, like oats and
wheat, are planted or sown in rows and cultivated as
we cultivate Indian corn. It is claimed that this in-
creases yield materially, and helps to avoid lodging;
it also requires less seed per acre.

110

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Buckwheat.

No Nitrate.
Yield, 19 bushels per acre.

Fertilized with 125 lbs. Ni-
trate of Soda per acre.
Yields : 38 bushels per acre.

Another method in vogue is to sow less seed per
acre broadcast and use more fertilizer, so that the in-
dividual stalks are stronger and bigger.

ORANGE GROVES IN FLORIDA.

An orange that weighs a pound would sell in New
York for a dime. When it takes as many as six to
weigh a pound they are almost worthless.

Results at Highgrove.

Yields of 3 plots of equal size.

Bf^^uH^^&m^^'^'^''

" ' J^'''^^'7!Ti ?*'-;T

1

9 Boxes

15 Boxes

4 Boxes

Oranges

Oranges

Oranges

Fertilized

Fertilized

with no

with Acid

with

Fertilizer.

Phosphate

Nitrate of

Alone.

Soda
and Acid
Phosphate.

Satisfactory results have been obtained in Florida
by fertilizing during the cold season. About two
months before the period of growth begins, apply to

112 FOOD FOR PLANTS

each full-grown tree a mixture of 7 pounds of 14 per
cent, acid or superphosphate and 4 pounds of sul-
phate of potash, by working them into the soil ; after
which 4 pounds of Nitrate of Soda may be likewise
applied. The working of the soil must not be so deep
or thorough as to start the growth of the tree. An
excess of Nitrate is to be avoided, but the amount
mentioned is not too much. Nitrate of Soda is a pre-
digested Nitrogen. There is a danger of loss of
Nitrogen in other forms as they must generally be
made available as food, and during this comparatively
long process much of it may be lost by rains and
leaching, since they suffer in fact from many days of
long exposure to the adverse condition.

In the case of your particular soil, it may well be
that it is sufficiently rich in potash, and therefore,
may not require a large application of it. In any
event, the grower must be governed by the condition
of his grove and the general character of soil and
climate in his particular locality.

The early decay of orchards as well as failure to set
fruit buds, is largely a matter of lack of plant food.
Orchards should have Nitrate, applied early in the
season, as late supplies of Nitrogen are liable to cause
a heavy setting of leaf buds at the expense of next
year's fruit. The ordinary ammoniates are not satis-
factory for orchard work, as they continue to supply
available ammonia all through the season; not
enough in the early part of the year to properly set
the fruit, hence severe dropping ; too much late in the
year when none is needed and which causes the for-
mation of leaf rather than fruit buds. The soil be-
tween the trees should be regularly tilled, much as in

FOOD FOR PLANTS 113

corn growing. That it is not generally done is no
argument against the value of such cultivation
methods.

How It Was Done at Corona, California. ,

The rows were trenched eight inches deep, just
outside the drip of the trees, and the fertilizers spread
in the trench opposite the whole width of each tree.
This was done on two sides of each row in the same
direction, then covered by the plow. This, the only
plowing, was done on March 7, 1918. The applica-
tion of fertilizers in trenches is found to give the best
results in the orange groves of this section.

Six after-cultivations to a depth of five or six inches
were given. These six cultivations were made during
the fore part of each of the months of March, April,
May, June, July and August. The March cultivation
consisted of a thorough disking. The other five
cultivations were made with the ordinary orchard
cultivator.

The above trench fertilizing was done parallel with
irrigation furrows up one side and down the other,
nothing being applied on the other two sides. This
has given good results and the above method is rec-
ommended to California citrus fruit growers.

Citrus Growing in California.

The one-tenth of an acre plot of orange trees at
Corona fertilized with Nitrate of Soda and acid phos-
phate at the rate of 320 pounds of each per acre

114

FOOD FOR PLANTS

yielded at the rate of 411 boxes of high quality fruit.
A plot alongside fertilized without Nitrate gave a
rate of yield of only 322 boxes per acre of inferior
fruit. This difference of yield of 89 boxes per acre
due to tfie use of Nitrate sfiows an increase in value

Results at Corona.

32.2 Boxes Oranges.
Yield of 1/10 acre
fertilized with Acid
Phosphate alone.

41.1 Boxes Oranges.
Yield of 1/10 acre
fertilized with Ni-
trate of Soda and
Acid Phosphate.

of produce equivalent to $324.85. Each 100 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda used in this case added a rate of
profit to the grower's income of $101.52 per acre.

The best source of Nitrogen for citrus fruits is
Nitrate of Soda, because of its instant availability.
Growth is promoted at once after application is made.
It is taking chances to apply any nitrogenous ferti-

FOOD FOR PLANTS 115

lizer not immediately available because of the tend-
ency to prolong growth unduly and to delay matur-
ity; and it is fatal to apply high grade fertilizers too
late. In California on alkaline soils or soils having
alkaline tendencies the application of Nitrate of Soda
with an equal quantity of acid phosphate or super-
phosphates tends to diminish black alkali present.

Instructions for Using Nitrate on the Citrus in
California.

Under ordinary conditions in California — for full-
grown orange trees — we advise applying Nitrate
early in March or even the middle of February, and
following the application immediately after by disk-
ing or harrowing in the material to the depth of five
or six inches.

When it is used alone, Nitrate may be used at the
rate of two hundred (200) pounds to the acre.

It can be used more profitably at the rate of four
hundred (400) pounds to the acre if four hundred
(400) pounds of dry acid or superphosphate be used
with it. Both materials should be dry.

Four hundred pounds of Nitrate is equal in bulk to
about four bushels.

We believe the second procedure is the more profit-
able as a rule, and we have no hesitation in recom-
mending it in preference to the use of Nitrate alone.
The earlier the application, the better the results.

After plowing in the material in February, the
orchard should be cultivated every thirty (30) days
until August, preferably in the fore part of each

116 FOOD FOR PLANTS

month. The last cultivation is done best by a disk
harrow.

Formulas for full-grown citrus trees in tabular
form are as follows :

Rates per Acre

Nitrate o£ Soda alone 200 lbs. •

or preferably

Nitrate of Soda 400 lbs.

Acid, or Superphosphate 400 lbs.

When potash salts can be conveniently obtained
we advise the use of fifty pounds of sulphate of potash
to the acre every other year.

These formulas it is believed will also be found
very satisfactory for both full-grown lemon trees and
full-grown grapefruit.

SOILS AND OTHER FACTORS IN RELATION
TO CROP PRODUCTION IN CALIFORNIA.

The use of Chilean Nitrate is increasing year by
year in England, and it is coming to be more and
more appreciated there, as well as on the continent of
Europe.

In fact, everywhere in the world where there is
progressive and enlightened experiment work, the
unique qualities of Chilean Nitrate are putting it
ahead of every other nitrogenous plant food. No
reputable authority in the world has ever advocated
such large quantities of Chilean Nitrate per acre as
would result in any abnormal accumulation of alkali.
Moreover, the use of acid phosphates, associated as

FOOD FOR PLANTS 117

they are commercially with sulphate of lime, con-
verts any black alkali residue into harmless forms of
soda. The vast majority of soils in the United
States, probably 95 per cent., have a tendency to
grow acid rather than to grow alkali; and Chilean
Nitrate is, therefore, highly beneficial in such
cases.

The use of potash salts tends to leave acid resid-
uals, and when phosphates and potashes are used
rationally, and in quantities suitable for normal
plant feeding, the question of Chilean Nitrate leaving
abnormal amounts of alkaline residues becomes a
purely fanciful one, and is not worthy of the serious
attention of a practical business horticulturist or
farmer.

In all our literature, the rational and not the irra-
tional use of fertilizers is recommended, i. e., normal
amounts of the three elements of fertility. The use
of Chilean Nitrate alone is not recommended except
at the rate of 100 or 200 pounds per acre, which is a
trifling tonnage application; and we always advise
when larger amounts are used, that the horticulturist
or farmer use as much in quantity of acid phosphate.

The vast majority of farm lands of our country,
where so-called "Complete" fertilizers have been
used, have the tendency to become sour and acid;
and Chilean Nitrate could not only be used indefi-
nitely with an extremely beneficial effect in this
particular connection, but there is an immediate gen-
eral need for it.

An acre of ground one foot deep is the active serv-
ice part of the soil, and, to a large extent, its chemical

118 FOOD FOR PLANTS

composition determines its usefulness. This service
soil weighs on an average 2,000 tons per acre.

There is enough sulphate of lime or gypsum pres-
ent, as well as acid, in the average acid phosphate,
to materially help the black alkali of many alkaline
soils, but gypsum alone may be used also for correct-
ing alkali.

Since we never recommend the use of Chilean
Nitrate alone, except at the rate of from one hundred
to two hundred pounds per acre, this relatively small
amount could have no material influence whatever in
increasing the alkali content of soils. The continued
use of Nitrate under rational methods of fertilizing,
would not add to, but rather diminish the quantity
of alkali in the soil. The associated gypsum and
acid phosphate thus used would tend to loosen heavy
clay soils which need improvement in texture and
the acid residues from these materials would likewise
benefit alkaline soils.

In this connection, it is important to observe that
care must be exercised, in soils containing black
alkali, to avoid materially increasing the content of
carbonate or bi-carbonate of lime, since this would
help promote the destruction of humus. It is, there-
fore, suggested for these particular soils, that the
large and constant use of lime be avoided. When
lime is needed, have your soil examined by an expert,
and do not put on any more lime in any form than
advised for your particular case. In other words,
take good care to preserve your humus. Do not
destroy it by excessive liming on any account.
Neither wetness nor stickiness will result from the

FOOD FOR PLANTS 119

rational use of Chilean Nitrate. The productivity of
all soils may be increased by the right use of it.

All arid soils lack Nitrogen on account of having
but little natural humus in them, hence the applica-
tion of Chilean Nitrate should give profitable crop
increases.

A GOOD SOIL

AVERAGE OF CALIFORNIA SOILS

1.5

1.5 1.5

SULPt

SULPH.ACID MA6Nf5IA

ORGANIC
MATTER

CHART NO. 1
Figures on California soils taken from Hilgard's Book on Soils, and
from R. R. Snowden. Figures on elements necessary in an excellent
soil taken from the average of many authorities in both United States
and Europe.

120

SOME "CONCRETE FACTS ON FERTILIZA-
TION" IN CALIFORNIA.

Taken from "Data compiled by Nitrate Fertilizer Com-
pany, Inc., Los Angeles, California."

Explanation of Chart No. 1, on Soils.

This chart is presented to show the elements that
should be in the soil and their relation to one another.
It is contrasted with the average of a great number
of soil analyses taken in various agricultural centers
in California. The chart is not intended to show any
actual existing condition, but is merely a guide to
show in a general way what elements are sufficient
in the soil and what elements need to be applied to
the soil. The grower's individual soil analysis may
be profitably compared with this chart, which will
show in a fairly accurate measure any deficiencies
that may occur in a specific case.

This chart shows the total elements in the soil —
not taking into consideration the availability —
hence the greatest value of this chart is to show the
relation of one element to another. The soil may
contain 3 per cent lime and the plant suffer from lack
of lime, due to the fact that the lime is in an unavail-
able form.

It would be impracticable to determine the average
relation of available plant food to unavailable plant
food because of the extreme variances encountered.
However, in individual cases this may be determined
to a fair degree of accuracy by a study of the past

121

122

FOOD FOR PLANTS

performance and treatment of the soil together with
a soil analysis.

This chart points out the necessity of first building
up the soil to contain a sufficient amount and rela-
tion of elements. After this has been accomplished,
then comes the problem of proper fertilization, which
can be successfully based on some ratio of what the
crop being grown takes out of the soil, at the same
time considering the necessity of supplying elements
to the soil in a proportion that will keep the soil in a
perfect balance for continual maximum production.

Table of Chart No. 1.

Nitro-
gen

Phos.
Acid Potash

Soda

Lime

Sul.
Acid

Mag.

Organic
Matter

An excellent soil . .
Average Calif, soil.

. .2
. .06

.2 .3
.1 .6

.5
.29

1.5
1.25

.02
.06

.75
1.5

1.5
.9

What Various Crops Take Out of the Soil in
Pounds per Acre.

Crops No. lbs. Nitrogen Phos. Acid Potash

Apples 17,000 22.10 1.70 32.30

Apricots 16,000 30.40 9.60 46.40

Blackberries (ea. 1 ton produced) 3.00 1.80 4.00

Cranberries (ea. 1 ton produced) 3.10 .60 1.80

Currants (ea. 1 ton produced) 3.10 2.20 5.40

Almonds 1,200 8.43 2.45 11.94

Cherries 8,000 18.32 5.76 22.16

Grapes 14,000 22.40 12.60 37.80

Lemons 22,800 34.20 13.68 61.56

Oranges 17,500 27.13 11.38 60.38

Olives 4,000 7.20 4.80 34.40

Peaches 16,000 16.00 8.00 38.40

Pears 20,000 18.00 6.00 16.60

Plums 12,000 21.60 2.40 28.80

Prunes 6,000 9.60 4.20 18.60

Raspberries (ea. 1 ton produced) 3.00 9.60 7.00

Strawberries (ea. 1 ton produced) 3.00 2.20 6.00

Walnuts 1,500 8.10 2.10 12.27

Asparagus 5,000 20.00 6.00 37.50

Cabbage 30,000 114.00 33.00 129.00

Onions 30,000 42.00 12.00 30.00

Peas 7,000 250.60 58.80 70.70

Potatoes (White) 15,000 31.50 10.50 43.50

FOOD FOR PLANTS 123

Crops No. lbs. Nitrogen Phos. Acid Potash

Potatoes (Sweet) 10,000 24.00 8.00 37.00

Tomatoes 40,000 64.00 20.00 108.00

Lettuce aver, crop 41.00 17.00 71.00

Cantaloupes (est.) aver, crop 57.00 16.00 100.00

Barley 2,500 44.00 20.50 13.50

Corn 2,000 37.40 14.00 8.00

Oats 1,200 24.72 9.84 7.44

Rice 3,500 37.80 6.30 3.15

Sorghum 2,500 37.00 20.25 10.50

Wheat (Spring) 1,200 28.32 8.40 4.68

Sugar Beets 40,000 173.40 116.16 387.44

Cotton (total crop) 1 bale 64.35 22.37 51.33

EXPLANATION

This table does not include all the elements or plant foods, required by
various crops, such as lim-e, soda, sulphur, etc., which are just as impor-
tant, even though required in some cases in lesser amounts. Whereas we
have searched practically all sources of available information, zve have
been unable to secure complete or authentic information on the quantities
of plant foods required by plants other than Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid
and Potash. Inco)nplcte figures shozv that as a general rule lime is required
in quantities similar to potash, and soda similar to phosphoric acid.

With regard to fruits, the crop only has been considered, as no complete
information is available on the quantities of plant food required by the
leaves and it'ood, but it is known that they require as much, ij not more,
plant food than the crop. The leaves and wood require more nitrogen in
proportion to other elements than taken out by the crop.

The above figures are based upon the finding of the University of
California Agricultural Extension Service, Myers "Food for Plants," for
Cotton — Alabama Experiment Station.

Green Manure.

The growing of legume cover crops is one of the
most economical forms of supplying the necessary
organic matter. Nitrogen is also supplied by
legumes in two ways : First, through the Nitrogen
constituent in its roughage which is plowed under;
second, through the Nitrogen formed in nodules on
its roots.

According to "Feeds & Feeding" by Henry the
average Nitrogen content in the green roughage of

124 FOOD FOR PLANTS

legumes is one-half of one per cent. In regard to the
amount of Nitrogen supplied from the nodules
formed on the roots it is practically impossible to
figure this correctly as it depends upon the root struc-
ture of the plant and the quantity of nodules formed.
Also when figuring the Nitrogen value of legumes it
must be taken into consideration that legumes take
Nitrogen from both the soil and the air.

As soil Nitrogen becomes available it is taken up
by the legume and is turned back to the soil in the
form of organic Nitrogen which requires to be de-
composed before it can again be used as plant food.
In this transaction 63 per cent of original soil Nitro-
gen is lost. Legumes, however, take Nitrogen from
the air and by so doing offset this loss of soil Nitrogen
and supply a small amount of organic Nitrogen in
addition.

It must be remembered that the main value of cover
crops is the organic matter they supply. The Nitro-
gen can be supplied and in a more available and eco-
nomical form.

There are two main divisions of cover crops:
Summer cover crops, which should be of the shallow
root variety, and winter cover crops which are of the
deep rooting variety.

Summer cover crops should be plowed in before
the second week in July. After that time they will
compete with the fall growth of the trees — a danger-
ous thing when quality and maximum production is
desired. This is also true of winter cover crops,
which should be plowed under by the first of
March.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 125

Grain cover crops are not desirable as they directly
compete with the trees. Wild oats do harm.

Irrigation furrows should be constructed so they
are not as deep as the plowed under cover crop.
This allows the water to carry the food to the roots.

Functions of Nitrogen.

1. Develops wood growth, insuring healthy,
strong trees.

2. Develops leaf growth, making healthy leaves
of a dark green color, which enables the plant to take
in the necessary supply of carbon dioxide.

3. Promotes quantity, quality and good-sized
vegetables.

4. Makes up the tissues of the fruit, thus insuring
a good size.

5. Most of the essential Nitrogen is taken up by
the plant at an early period in the growth, hence
early applications of Nitrogen hasten maturity, and
late and too great applications tend to retard ma-
turity by forcing leaf and wood growth at a time
when the plant should be concentrating on develop-
ing and sweetening its fruit.

Analysis of Various Nitrogenous Fertilizers.

Nitrate of Soda IS^/^Or Nitrogen, 25''^ Sodium. Recovery of Nitrogen
by crop, dZyz'/c

Nitrate of Lime 12' r Nitrogen, 26^'r Calcium. Recovery of Nitrogen
by crop, 62i/^9'f.

Sulphate of Ammonia ZOYi'/c Nitrogen, 22'7f Sulphur. Recovery of
Nitrogen by crop, 47^/^%.

Dried Blood l3%Vc Nitrogen. Recovery of Nitrogen by crop, 38^%.

126 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Fish Meal (average) S%7f Nitrogen, V/c available Phosphoric Acid.
Recovery of Nitrogen by crop, 38^%.

Tankage and "Brand" or Mixed Fertilizers are taken up later.

The average Nitrogen recovery by crop is 38%7c in tankage.

The average Nitrogen recovery by crop is 40% to 507o in mixtures,
according to the sources of Nitrogen.

Nitrate of Soda.

It is not necessary to use Potash with Nitrate of
Soda in California, as it is a proven and accepted fact
that Soda releases unavailable Potash from the soil.
California soils average extremely high in Potash
and low in Soda, hence applications of Nitrate of
Soda are generally beneficial in balancing the bases
and making available Potash — thus supplying a
necessary plant food. In 400 pounds of Nitrate of
Soda there is 146 pounds of Soda. The average crop
requires from 40 to 100 pounds of Soda and 60 pounds
will be required and dispelled in releasing Potash.

For example, refer to R. R. Snowden's work dated
October, 1923, wherein he quotes the University of
California as follows: "According to California
Bulletin No. 93, page 37, a crop of 12,800 pounds of
Oranges per acre, equivalent to about 2 boxes per
tree, will take out 46.7 pounds of Soda. Ninety-two
pounds of Potash required by this crop will require
60.5 pounds of Soda to release it from the silicates,
whereby this amount of Soda becomes practically
insoluble. Then, according to the same authority,
the tree body and leaves contain a larger percentage
of Soda in the ash and more ash than the fruit does.
According to this estimate, there can be no possible
sodium residue."

Through the use of Nitrate of Soda the eifect of
over-nitration is practically impossible, as the Soda

FOOD FOR PLANTS 127

element releases unavailable Potassium, which in a
balanced soil insures the fruit of a fine texture, a thin
skin and sweet flavor.

The Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda is in a plant food
form, which permits the application of Nitrogen at
the time the plant requires the food. There is no
danger of the Nitrogen becoming available at too late
a date, which will cause delay in maturity, a forced
growth, with a resultant poor quality and sour fruit.

Nitrate of Lime.

When used with superphosphate especially, this
combination is not as good a balance as Nitrate of
Soda, as there will be an unbalance between bases.
In certain cases calcium is very essential, but can be
supplied to the soil in the form of calcium carbonate
much more economically and effectively. The cal-
cium, of which there is 105 pounds to each 400 pounds
of nitrate of lime, is in a soluble form. Calcium or
lime does not release potash from the soil, therefore
potash must be added, as it is an essential plant food.
The crop recovery of Nitrogen is the same from
nitrate of lime as from Nitrate of Soda (62 per
cent). It will take 515 pounds of nitrate of lime to
supply the same amount of Nitrogen contained in
400 pounds of Nitrate of Soda.

Gypsum.

Gypsum, supplying both calcium and sulphur, and
being neutral (neither acid nor base) is generally the
cheapest and most logical single soil builder to use
when sulphur is required or when there is any trace
of black alkali. In cases where the calcium content

128 FOOD FOR PLANTS

is exceptionally high and the physical condition of
the soil is good, applications of inoculated sulphur
might be more economical and satisfactory.

A mixture of inoculated sulphur and lime in the
right proportion, however, will have somewhat the
same effect as gypsum. If sulphur and calcium are
both needed, cost ought to be the big factor in de-
termining whether to use gypsum or lime and
sulphur.

Functions of Gypsum.

1. Gypsum neutralizes black alkali.

2. Gypsum supplies both calcium and sulphur.

3. Improves the mechanical condition of the soil,
etc.

4. Promotes the development of beneficial bac-
teria through the calcium it supplies.

5. Helps in the decay of organic matter.

By comparing the functions of lime with gypsum,
the following main differences should be noted:

1. Whereas lime corrects acidity, gypsum does not.

2. Whereas gypsum neutralizes black alkali, lime
does not.

A further discussion of the value and use of gyp-
sum is given later.

Ground Sulphur.

Ground sulphur, 97 per cent to 100 per cent pure, is
in an unavailable form until bacteria change it to a
sulphate, hence it may remain useless in the soil for
years. There is now an inoculated sulphur on the
market which contains sulphating bacteria and thus

FOOD FOR PLANTS 129

becomes available as plant food within a very short
time, and will give excellent results the first year.

Sulphur should not be used continually unless
other fertilizers are added. It acts strongly on the
other elements and will soon deplete the soil. It will
also cause a sour or acid condition.

Occasional applications are especially good on
leguminous crops, which require considerable
amounts of sulphur as plant food.

What Burbank Said.

"After testing a great variety of fertilizers on my
orchard and experimental grounds, I find that the
Nitrate of Soda and Thomas slag phosphate have
given the best results at the least expense, and I shall
not look further at present, as my trees, bulbs, plants,
flowers and fruits have been, by the use of about 150
pounds each per acre, nearly doubled in size and
beauty in almost every instance. The above-named
fertilizers have more than doubled the product of my
soil at a very small outlay per acre.

Where the Nitrate of Soda is used, I find a greatly
increased ability in trees to resist drought, and lack
of cultivation."

"Luther Burbank is the greatest originator of new
and valuable forms of plant life of this or any other
age," says David Starr Jordan, President of Leland
Stanford Junior University, California.

Character in "Pomona Uses White Magic'' Representing

Chilean Nitrate of Soda.

130

APPLE GROWING IN THE UNITED STATES.

The Apple is the most important commercially of
American fruits. The annual average production for
the five-year period, 1920-1924, is placed at 181,531,-
200 bushels, with an annual average value for the
corresponding period of $208,370,000, thus ranking
eighth in the value of all crops. The value of the
1924 crop v^as $212,193,000; based on a yield of 179,-
443,000 bushels.*

Below is given a table showing the production,
average price per bushel, and total value of the crop
for the years 1920-1924:

Average Price Total

Year Total Production per Bushel Value of Crop

1920 223,667,000 $1,148 $256,770,000

1921 99,002,000 1.680 166,343,000

1922 202,702,000 .986 199,848,000

1923 202,842,000 1,022 202,696,000

1924 179,443,000 1.18 212,193,000

Commercial Area.

In 1924, the rank of the seven leading Apple States,
according to production, was as follows :

state Production Value

1. New York 23,800,000 Bus. $25,704,000

2. Washington 23,000,000 " 32,200,000

3. Virginia 15,184,000 " 12,755,000

4. Ohio 8,325,000 " 10,906,000

5. California 7,370,000 " 8,991,000

6. Michigan 7,333,000 " 8,360,000

7. West Virginia 7,000,000 " 6,650,000

* All figures are taken from United States Department of Agriculture,
"Agriculture Year Book," and from reports contained in "Crops and
Markets," published by the Department.
131

FOOD FOR PLANTS 133

It should be noted from the preceding table that
while in 1924 New York had a greater production
than Washington, the total value of the crop was
less, being 25,704,000, as against $32,200,000, for
Washington.

It is of interest that in 1923 Washington ranked
first in total production, producing 33,000,000 bush-
els, New York being second with 25,000,000 bushels.
In 1922 New York was first with 36,000,000 bushels,
Washington producing 25,775,000 bushels. Thus
the leadership in Apple production swings back and
forth between these two States.

Climatic Requirements.

Since the critical period in apple culture is at blos-
soming time, it is desirable to locate an orchard in a
region where damp and cold weather is not prevalent
at this time. Rolling to hilly land is generally to be
preferred, because of the natural air drainage. Also
there is less danger of loss from frost on a north or
northeast slope. A large body of water near an
orchard provides some protection by promoting uni-
formity of temperature.

Soil Requirements.

A deep, friable, loamy soil, with good drainage,
is most suitable for apples. They are most produc-
tive and longest-lived on a clay loam. Apples thrive,
however, on a wide range of soils, the different varie-
ties being adapted to different soil conditions. In
planting an orchard, the grower should, as far as

A Typical Fertilized Tree of Plot 8 in the Brown Orchard.
When Photographed, in 1912, This Tree Carried 26.6
Bushels o£ Fruit, While the Best Unfertilized Tree in
the Experiment Yielded Only 7.9 Bushels. Bedford
County, Pa.

134

FOOD FOR PLANTS 135

possible, know the adaptability of the varieties in
question to his soil, and should make his selections
accordingly.

The richer soils naturally produce better growth
than those deficient in plant food. Planting apples
on thin soils is not advised, but excellent fruit is
raised on soils of only moderate fertility, if a sys-
tem of regular culture, cover cropping and fertiliza-
tion is followed.

Establishing the Orchard.

Before planting an orchard, the soil should be
plowed deep and receive thorough preparation. In
case hardpan or a stratum of rock is near the surface,
dynamiting may be advisable. The grower should
be certain that he is buying good nursery stock, free
from insect or disease pests. Strong, one-year-old
"whips" are considered most desirable for planting.

The distance at which apple trees are planted
varies with the different varieties, according to their
size, but it is seldom less than 30 feet apart for per-
manent trees.

There are three principal systems of laying out the
orchard: (1) square, (2) hexagonal and (3) quin-
cunx. In the first the trees are set at the intersec-
tion of two series of equidistant parallel lines drawn
at right angles to each other, and forming squares;
in the second each tree is equidistant from the six
trees which surround it in the form of a hexagon;
and in the last each tree is equidistant from the four
trees which surround it in the form of a square.
When set 30 by 30 feet, 48 trees are required for an
acre.

136

FOOD FOR PLANTS

In setting apple trees, other fruits, such as peaches
or early-bearing varieties of apples, are often set be-
tween the apples that are intended to be permanent.
These enable the grower to realize some revenue from
the orchard before the permanent trees begin to bear.
When the trees begin to crowd, the fillers can be
removed. The grower must not make the mistake of

Tompkins, Kings, and Other Varieties in the Johnston Or-
chards, Showing the Value of Our General Orchard
Fertilizer. These Trees Had Not Borne Well Before
Fertilization, but This Is Their Third Successive Crop.
Lawrence County, Pa.

allowing these temporary trees to remain too long,
as they will crowd the permanent trees and jeopard-
ize their productivity. An annual crop is considered
a better companion crop for a young orchard. It
should be a crop which requires early cultivation —

FOOD FOR PLANTS 137

that is, a crop which does not require stirring of the
soil after August — for the young trees make their
growth early in the season and from August on are
maturing their wood and getting ready for the
winter.

In any scheme of intercropping, a certain portion
of the land should be reserved for the exclusive use
of the trees — no less than eight feet along each side
of each row of trees when young — and as the trees
grow this area should be increased. The annual crop
should receive its own fertilization, in order not to
draw from the food supply of the young trees.

Where the winters are not too severe, planting in
the fall is desirable, since this enables the trees to
become established and get a quick start in the spring.
In the northern regions spring planting is advised.

After setting, the tree is "headed back" in order to
give it a balanced top. One-year-old trees are usu-
ally cut back to 24 inches.

Cultivation.

Three methods of cultivation may be followed:
clean culture, tillage cover-crop culture, and sod-
mulch culture. The two latter are generally ac-
cepted as the best methods under the average con-
ditions, but the sod-mulch is preferable for hilly
sections. Clean culture should be practiced first, two
or three years after which the orchard may be thrown
into permanent sod, or the system of tillage with
cover-cropping may be followed. In the tillage and
cover-cropping system, the orchard should be plowed
in the spring and cultivated at intervals until July

138 FOOD FOR PLANTS

or August, according to climatic conditions, when a
cover crop may be sown. Alfalfa, one of the clovers,
vetch, cowpeas, soy beans, rye, oats, buckwheat and
other crops are used as covers. A leguminous crop
is usually considered preferable.

Pruning.

Only a bare outline of the principles of pruning
apples may be given here. The purposes of pruning,
briefly are:

1 . To preserve the proper balance between top and
root system at the time of setting out.

2. To prune to the best size and shape.

3. To remove all dead, diseased, and injured wood.

4. To make the top open in order to admit sun-
light.

5. To regulate the number of limbs composing
the top.

6. To fix the branches at the proper height above
the ground.

7. To do away with a weak crotch and crossing
or interfering branches.

8. To promote the right amount of wood growth.

9. To regulate the number and the distribution of
wood and fruit-bearing buds.

Several types of pruning are practiced. The Cen-
tral Leader type provides a strong upright central
limb with side branches, uniformly distributed about
it. The Open Center type has no central leader, but
usually two to four main branches joining the trunk
at the crotch, and giving a vase-shaped top. The
Double Headed type comprises three chief parts:

FOOD FOR PLANTS 139

(1) a short central limb extending upright from the
trunk; (2) a tier of main branches radiating from the
point where this central limb joins, or rather, extends
out of the trunk; and (3) another tier of main
branches, radiating from the upper extremity of the
central limb and above the first tier.

The Modified Leader is a compromise between the
Central Leader and Open Center types, combining
the good features of the two. It provides for a main
central limb up to a certain point, where, by careful
pruning over a period of years, it is diverted off to
the side somewhat and loses itself into the side
branches, thus leaving the top of the tree open for
the admission of sunlight. This promises to become
the most popular type of pruning.

Pruning is generally done when the trees are dor-
mant, the period from November to April being the
usual pruning time. Summer pruning is practiced
only under special circumstances.

Thinning.

This is an important feature of commercial orchard
management. Probably the greatest advantage ob-
tained by it is the increase in the size of the remain-
ing apples. As a rule the thinning should be done
in the South as soon as the May drop is over, and
in the North after the June drop. The development
of seeds drains the energies of the tree. Hence thin-
ning at a later period will not influence the size of the
apples as greatly. Great care must be taken in thin-
ning, not to injure the fruit spurs. As a general

140

FOOD FOR PLANTS

practice the apples should be left from five to eight
inches apart.

Nitrogen and Phosphates vs. Nothing, in Brown Orchard.
The Fertilized Trees, to the Left, Have Averaged 498
Bushels per Acre Annually for Six Years. Their Nor-
mal Unfertilized Yield for the Same Period Was 208
Bushels. Bedford County, Pa.

Insects and Diseases.

Probably the most serious enemies of the apple are
the codling moth, the plum curculio, the aphis, scab,
cedar rust, bitter rot and apple blotch. A number of
other insects and diseases, however, cause much
injury.

Among the insects, the San Jose scale, oyster-shell

FOOD FOR PLANTS

141

scale, apple red bug, the tent caterpillar, the apple-
tree borer, the bud-moth, canker worms, leaf hopper
and the fruit-tree loaf roller are the most common.

Other diseases include sooty blotch, fly speck,
blister canker, collar rot, fire blight, apple rosette,
and Baldwin spot. Limited space prevents a detailed
description of methods of control, but general spray-
ing recommendations are given.

llOO-Acre Tonoloway Mountain Side Orchard of the Amer-
ican Fruit Growers, Inc., at Hancock, Maryland.

Spraying.

Perfect apples cannot be hoped for from trees
which have not been sprayed. There are five prin-
cipal sprays which are generally used: the Delayed

142 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Dormant, the Pink Bud, the Petal Fall or Calyx, the
Cluster Spray when the apples are about the size of
hazel nuts, and the Mid-Summer Spray. In some
localities more are required. The Horticultural De-
partment of each State Agricultural College issues its
spray formulae and directions as to how many sprays
are required for its state. Every apple grower
should apply for these directions to his local Experi-
ment Station or Agricultural College.

Benefits to Be Secured by the Use of Nitrate of
Soda on Apples.

The use of Nitrate of Soda on young trees provides
them with strength to make rapid and healthy
growth. A well and consistently nourished tree
comes into bearing early in its life without impairing
the productiveness of the mature tree. A mature
orchard will give heavier yields, if it has made con-
sistent healthy growth each year since its planting.

Old, neglected orchards are generally deficient in
their supply of nitrogen and over-supplied with car-
bohydrates. They can be restored and put upon a
paying basis through pruning, spraying, and the use
of Nitrate of Soda.

Under such conditions Nitrate may be applied
heavily — up to 15 or 16 pounds per tree — until the
balance between the carbohydrates and the Nitrates
has been restored, which will be evidenced by their
restored fruitfulness.

The questions of proper pruning, soil management

FOOD FOR PLANTS 143

and fertilization are all interrelated in their effects
on tree growth and yield, and are big problems to the
fruit grower.

Nitrate of Soda enables the trees to retain their
leaves for a longer period and this permits the tree
to continue its storing of food for its spring work.
Nitrate of Soda applied in the spring, just as the
buds begin to swell, gives the tree Nitrogen immedi-
ately, which enables it also to use the food reserves
it has stored up. This strong application increases
the percentage of bloom set.

Nitrate of Soda thus used early in the spring, just
at the time the tree needs it, will develop strong
blooms. It can be used when the ground is cold,
as it does not require the action of soil bacteria to
make it available, as do other forms of nitrogen.

In cold climates, where early heavy frosts occur,
there is some danger in making too late spring appli-
cations since so used Nitrate is apt to prolong the
growth of the tree and an early autumn frost may
injure the immature fruit buds or wood prior to the
time of their settling down for the winter.

Trees which have been kept in a healthy growing
condition by the proper use of Nitrate of Soda are
much more resistant to disease.

The terminal growth which trees make is usually
a good indication as to whether they are properly
nourished. Young trees, before they come into full
bearing, should make a yearly terminal growth of
from twelve to eighteen inches. Mature trees should
make a growth of from seven to eleven inches.

The color of the leaves is another indication of the
condition of the tree. If the leaves are not a good

144 FOOD FOR PLANTS

healthy green, it indicates that they cannot fulfill
their chief function of manufacturing food.

To attain annual crops, the trees must have suffi-
cient food to make their strength enough to produce
big healthy fruit spurs and fruit buds, and to enable
the fruit spurs to set fruit buds for the following
year.

Harvesting.

The ripeness of the apple is indicated by the ease
w^ith v^hich it v^ill separate from the twig, its color,
its size, the color of the seeds and the tendency to
drop. The early, or so-called *'summer" varieties,
ripen in July in the medium latitudes, and the ripen-
ing period extends well into October for the winter
varieties.

Much more attention is now given to the grading
and packing of apples than in previous years, and
better marketing methods are being perfected. Me-
chanical sorters, or "sizers," are commonly used. In
the West there are three principal grades: Extra
Fancy, Fancy and C Grade. Boxed apples of uni-
form grade and attractive packing command a much
better price than apples sold in open baskets, topped
hampers, or barrels. Large quantities of apples are
kept in cold storage, thus insuring a more even dis-
tribution on the market.

Varieties.

No definite varieties can be recommended as the
'best" under all circumstances. Usually in each

FOOD FOR PLANTS

145

apple-growing district there are four or five well-
known and established varieties that can be relied
upon. The grower would do well to select the bulk
of his new plantings from this list, and to plant new

Average Yield per Tree from
Nitrated Plot— 13.2 Bushels.

Average Yield per Tree
from Unnitrated Plot
— 2.1 Bushels
A. C. Robinson's Rome Beauty Orchard, Proctorsville, Ohio.

varieties only in limited quantities. Keeping quali-
ties, size, flavor, color and rate of bearing also are
important points of consideration.

Fertilization.

On all but exceptional soils, some artificial fer-
tilizer will pay the apple grower. Of all the essential

146 FOOD FOR PLANTS

plant-food elements, nitrogen has been demonstrated
to be the most important for apples.

The soil requirements vary so widely that no gen-
eral formula for fertilizer applications can be given
accurately. To get best results, the grower must
study the growth of his trees; and he can gauge his
fertilization by their behavior.

Stable manure, applied at the rate of eight to ten
tons per acre annually, is a good fertilizer. How-
ever, the supply of manure is very limited, and com-
mercial fertilizers have given equally good results
and their use is becoming more common.

Nitrate fertilization should be considered a neces-
sity for orchards. In starved sod orchards, increased
yields of one hundred to three hundred per cent or
more are not uncommon following the use of Nitrate
of Soda. In orchards in fair condition of vigor, in-
creased yields of fifty to one hundred per cent have
been obtained.

In cultivated orchards, the cover crop is greatly
increased by the use of Nitrate, which benefits the
trees indirectly, and there are many cases on record
where the crop yields are heavily increased by its use.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING NITRATE OF
SODA ON APPLES.

Apply the Nitrate of Soda by broadcasting it evenly
over the area covered by the outer two-thirds of the
branches. With young trees, care must be taken
not to apply the Nitrate close to the trunk. In full-
grown orchards, apply well out beyond the spread of
the branches in order to conform with the usual dis-

FOOD FOR PLANTS

147

tribution of the feeding roots. The heaviest applica-
tions should be made over the area covered by the
outer two-thirds of the branches.

Average Size of Apples from Nitrated and Checked Plots,
A. C. Robinson's Rome Beauty Orchard, Proctorsville,
Ohio.

The Nitrate should be applied after the buds begin
to swell but before they burst, as this will give the
tree the nitrogen.early enough to increase its "bloom
set." The tree also needs it at this period for mak-
ing its fruit-spur growth, which is generally com-
pleted within three weeks after blossoming time.

Rates of Application of Nitrate of Soda on Apples.

1 to

2 year old orchard — ^/^ lb. Nitrate per tree

8 year old orchard — 3 lbs. Nitrate per tree

12 year old orchard — 5 lbs. Nitrate per tree

Full bearing orchard — 6 to 8 lbs. Nitrate per tree

148 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Results of Investigation on the Fertilization of
Apple Trees at State Agricultural Experiment
Stations.

That nitrogen is the limiting element of plant-food
in many apple orchards is indicated by the results of
investigations on the fertilization of apple trees, con-
ducted for a number of years past at several state
Agricultural Experiment Stations.

Studies over a period of five years at the Maine
Agricultural Experiment Station are summarized in
their Bulletin 322 as follows :

"Annual applications of a complete 5-8-7 fertilizer
to mature Ben Davis apple trees under cultivation, at
the rate of 7 and 14 lbs. per tree, over a period of five
years did not increase the yield as compared with
check trees which received no fertilizer.

*'Two annual applications of Nitrate of Soda to
mature Ben Davis apple trees in sod, at the rate of
6 and 12 lbs. per tree, more than doubled the yield
of fruit. The use of 20 cents worth of Nitrate of
Soda per tree resulted in an increased yield of more
than one barrel of fruit per tree. Six pounds of Ni-
trate was as effective as 12 pounds in this experiment.

"These results are in accord with most fertilizer
experiments throughout the country. Applications
of phosphoric acid and potash seldom, if ever, cause
increased yields of apple trees.

"Nitrogen may not increase the yield of apple trees
grown on fertile soil under a system of cultivation
and cover crop. Apple trees grown on a poor soil, or
under the sod-m^ulch system of culture, will usually
respond to applications of nitrogenous fertilizers.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

149

Mature trees should receive from 5 to 10 lbs. of Ni-
trate of Soda per tree. The proper amount to apply
will depend on the natural fertility of the soil, the
system of culture, the age, size and variety of the
trees. In general, the mature tree should make a
terminal growth of 6 to 10 inches."

Trees from Nitrated Row in Stewart Plots at Pennsylvania
State College.

At the Ohio Station * large increases were pro-
cured from applications of Nitrate to neglected
orchards in sod :

1. Nitrogen was the only element of fertility
which was of direct benefit to the apple trees them-
selves from the standpoint of fruitfulness and vigor.

Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. Mo. Bui., Vol. IV., No. 1.

150 FOOD FOR PLANTS

2. Applications of Nitrate of Soda alone (five
pounds per tree) increased the average yield in some
instances as much as 450 per cent, and in three ex-
periments averaged a cash gain per acre of $125.75
per year for five years.

Ohio experiments have also shown more profitable
yields from a fertilizer mixture containing 5.6 per
cent available nitrogen than one of only sy^ per cent
available nitrogen.

Studies over a period of six years at the Pennsyl-
vania Agricultural Experiment Station * brought
out the following conclusions:

1. Applications of nitrogen and phosphates and of
manure were very beneficial. Potash was of little
service.

2. Nitrate of Soda alone gave a large increase in
yield over the check plots, with a still greater increase
when acid phosphate was applied with the Nitrate.
The increase in one case was as much as 1,100 bushels
per acre.

3. The beneficial effects of nitrogenous fertiliza-
tion were evident by the middle of the second season.

4. The gains from fertilizations have not been
transitory. In some experiments they were greater
in the sixth and last year of the experiment than at
any other time.

5. Nitrogenous fertilizers when applied too late
in the season retarded somewhat the maturity of the
fruit.

6. For this reason, the apples on the too-late
Nitrate-treated tree did not have so good a color as

* Pa. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 121. Also Fertilization of the Apple Or-
chard by John P. Stewart, — Pub. by Chilean Nitrate Committee.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

151

those on the check trees, when the latter were picked ;
but when left on the trees until the same degree of
maturity was reached, the Nitrate-treated fruit
showed a better color than the checks.

7. The application of Nitrate is recommended not
later than the middle of July.

H\

-M
^^M

'I. 1

1

I

1

Method of Applying Nitrate of Soda to Apple Trees.

8. It is concluded that more Nitrogen and less pot-
ash than commonly recommended should be used on
the average orchard in need of fertilization.

9. When the crop is light, smaller applications are
required, because of the natural tendency of the trees
to develop a sufficient number of fruit buds in the off
season. In the full years the applications should be

152 FOOD FOR PLANTS

rather liberal to prevent the total absence o£ a crop
the following year.

Professor Fred C. Sears, Professor of Pomology,
Massachusetts Agricultural College, in his book on
Productive Orcharding, states:

"The best fruit men practice fertilizing. Go into
any orchard section and you will find that the most
progressive and successful growers, as a rule, are the
men who fertilize highly. Usually the man succeeds
in proportion as he fertilizes. The man who ferti-
lizes year after year, whether he has a crop of fruit
on his trees or not, is the man who usually has a
crop. The man who is noted in a section as apply-
ing fertilizers in large quantity is usually also noted
as a man who harvests bumper crops. This is not
conclusive proof, because these men also care well
for the orchards in other ways. But it is very sug-
gestive, particularly the fact that the generous feeder
usually succeeds better than the* moderate feeder."

In Cornell Extension Bulletin No. 75, published by
the New York State College of Agriculture at Cor-
nell University, Ithaca, N. Y., Mr. Joseph Oscamp
says:

"Fruit growers have been urged in the past to
apply potash, phosphorus, and lime to their soils.
However, there has been no pronounced indication
that the application of any of these elements to the
orchard has been directly profitable on any but the
most impoverished soils. Nitrogen is the only ele-
ment that, without question, has produced beneficial
results when applied to apple trees, and even this

FOOD FOR PLANTS

153

benefit is not ordinarily to be expected in young cul-
tivated orchards where cover crops are being used.
Nitrogen may be applied in the form of a leguminous
cover crop, of manure or of commercial fertilizers.
Nitrate of Soda is one of the most common and useful
forms of chemical plant food. It becomes immedi-
ately available to the tree, and encourages an early
and vigorous growth.

Renovated Baldwin Tree in Orchard at Conyer's Farm.
Greenwich, Connecticut.

"In connection with all fertilizing problems, in-
deed, as well as with other orchard matters, a close
observation of the trees is desirable. The experi-
enced grower knows by the length of terminal
growth, the color of the bark and of the leaves, and

154 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Other outward manifestations of the tree's health,
whether or not food conditions are satisfactory. One
of the first indications of a lack of proper nourishment
is the character of the foliage. The leaves on a well-
fed tree are numerous, large, and dark green in color.
They hang on in the fall until killed by freezing
weather.

"The leaves on a tree suffering from lack of food
are small in size and rather pale green in color, and
this is largely in proportion to the extent of starva-
tion. The leaf fall of a starved tree may be as early
as August or September. The new growth on the
ends of the main branches of a starved tree is often
below eight inches in length, whereas eighteen inches
is more normal and gives earlier and better results.
Much, however, depends on the season, the variety,
the individuality of the tree, and other obscure fac-
tors, so that no arbitrary figures can be laid down.
The beginner would do well, however, to study the
trees closely and early come to understand these
symptoms of their well being. If a satisfactory con-
dition of vigor exists, it is advisable to leave well
enough alone, but if starvation in any degree is pres-
ent, it is certainly worth while to correct it."

In Bulletin 174 of the West Virginia Experiment
Station, it is stated that, "Of the three common ele-
ments of plant food, nitrogen is the only one that has
been uniformly beneficial in the orchard that re-
sponded favorably to the use of fertilizers. It was
of greatest value when applied in readily-available
form, such as Nitrate of Soda. The value of phos-
phorus seems to be merely in its effects upon cover

FOOD FOR PLANTS

155

crops and sod coverings. Potassium is rarely
beneficial."

In Oregon, as reported in Bulletin 141 of the Ore-
gon Agricultural Experiment Station, the influence
of fertilizers on devitalized trees was tested. The
orchards were cultivated but had no cover crops.
Starved trees responded to the applications of Nitrate

Seventeen-Year-Old Mcintosh Orchard at Conyer's Farm.
Greenwich, Connecticut.

of Soda by out-yielding the check trees eleven to one
in one orchard, and twenty-four to one in another.
Application before blossoms open is recommended in
Oregon.

The Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station An-
nual Reports of 1920 and 1921 state that experiments
at their station, begun in 1917, have shown remark-
able increases in yield as a result of the applications

156 FOOD FOR PLANTS

of nitrogenous fertilizers, fertilized trees in 1920 pro-
ducing about three times as much as the check trees.
Trees in sod in 1919 showed a greater response to
Nitrate of Soda than those under clean cultivation.

Some Results Obtained from Orchards Where
Nitrate of Soda Has Been Used.

At the Experiment Farm Orchard in Clermont
County, Ohio, where experiments are being con-
ducted under tillage, cover-crop culture and grass-
mulch culture, five pounds of Nitrate of Soda per
tree for four years under grass-mulch culture yielded
683 per cent more than the trees in the check plot.

Year 5 lbs. Nitrate Nothing

Average 1922 206.0 lbs.* 41.2 lbs.*

yield 1923 176.6 " 37.2 "

per tree 1924 328.8 " 12.2 "

From a plot which is under tillage and a soy-bean
cover-crop culture, the yield was, from all varieties:

Year 5 lbs. Nitrate Nothing

Average 1922 128.5 lbs.* 82.9 lbs.*

yield 1923 134.5 " 70.0 "

per tree 1924 395.2 " 89.5 "

At the Massachusetts Agricultural College at
Amherst an experiment is being conducted on 12-
year-old Mclntoshes under sod-culture as against
clean cultivation, which has run for four years.

* The average weight of a bushel of apples is 48 lbs.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 157

Sod Culture .
vrith
300 lbs. Nitrate Cultivation

Year of Soda per acre without Nitrate

Average 1921 130 lbs.* 77 lbs.*

yield 1922 371 " 264 "

in pounds 1923 259 " 158 "

per tree 1924 389 " 168 "

Four-year average 287 lbs.* 167 lbs.*

Per cent increase due to Nitrate of Soda — 72%.

In the Round Hill Orchard at Winchester, where
the Virginia State College Experiment Station has
conducted experiments on 25-year-old York Im-
perials for four years, one tree which had had seven
pounds of Nitrate of Soda for four years yielded 762
pounds in 1924; one tree from check plot yielded only
244 pounds.

Average Yield per Tree in Pounds.

Year

1923

1924

7 lbs. Nitrate

Nothing

356.2*

174.8*

456.0

192.5

In a Rome Beauty Orchard in Southern Ohio,
where the Extension Department of the Ohio State
University is conducting experiments on plots which
have had no fertilizer for a period of three years, the
average response per tree the second year from the
use of five pounds of Nitrate of Soda and five pounds
of acid phosphate was, from the fertilized plot 13.2
bushels; from the check plot 2.1 bushels.

* The average weight of a bushel of apples is 48 lbs.

158 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Michigan Agricultural College, at their experiment
plots in the Warren-Farrand Orchard, gave the fol-
lowing average yield per tree from Nitrate and check
plots :

Year Nitrate Check Plots

1921 245.6 lbs.* 86 lbs.*

1922 184.6 " 113.7 "

1923 486. " 181.5 "

1924 494.5 " 118.6 "

At Owensville, Ohio, the Ohio State Agricultural
College is conducting an experiment on 12-year-old
Grimes Golden apples under cultivation with a cover
crop of soy beans. Five pounds of Nitrate yielded
an average of 13 bushels per tree as against the yield
of lj/2 bushels per tree from the check plot under the
same culture without Nitrate.

The Tonoloway Orchard of the American Fruit
Growers, Inc., at Hancock, Maryland, has applied
five pounds of Nitrate of Soda to a unit of 4573 York
Imperials for four years. The average yield per tree
was:

Year Bushels

1922 11.29

1923 8.74

1924 11.11

The acreage planted to York Imperials in the rest
of the orchard which received no Nitrate followed the
usual biennial habit of this variety.

* The average weight of a bushel of apples is 48 lbs.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 159

In an experiment conducted v/ith Mr. C. L. Page
of Billerica, Massachusetts, to determine the increase
in size of fruit and length of terminal growth, the
following results were obtained :

Average growth on Nitrated trees . . — 6^2 inches
Average growth on check trees — 4J/^ inches

The Nitrated trees averaged per tree 16.8 bus. apples 1 a ^ _„o

°^^'' 2^/^ i"- ^dd 23 bus

The Nitrated trees averaged per tree 6.2 bus. apples f ^i '" "

under 2^ in. J ^" *"^-

Check trees averaged per tree 8.8 bus. apples over 1 a„~^o„«
91/ ;„ Average

214 in.
Check trees averaged per tree 7.2 bus. apples under

yield 16 bus.

21/2 in. J P^^ *"«•

In Bulletin No. 87 of the Connecticut Agricultural
College Extension Service, W. H. Darrow says:

"Nitrate fertilization should be considered a neces-
sity in the sod orchard. Except possibly on the rich-
est soils, nitrogenous fertilizers have been profitable
in all sod orchards where used. Increased yields of
100 to 300 per cent or more are not uncommon follow-
ing the use of a quickly available nitrogenous fertil-
lizer in starved sod orchards. Increased yields of 50
to 100 per cent have been obtained in orchards in fair
condition of vigor.

"The results obtained from fertilization in one
Connecticut orchard are given below :

Per Acre Yields With and Without Nitrogen Fertilization.

Orchard of A. E. Johnson, Bethlehem, Conn.
Trees 24-26 years of age.

Check Fertilized Gain for

Plot Plot Fertilization

1922 144 bu. 568 bu. 424 bu.

1923 96 " 123 " 27 "

1924 214 " 553 " 339 "

3 year average 151^/3 bu. 414% bu. 263i/i bu.

160 FOOD FOR PLANTS

The fertilized plot received Nitrate of Soda at the
rate of eight lbs. per tree in 1921, six lbs. per tree
in 1922, five lbs. per tree in 1923 and four to five lbs.
per tree in 1924. In 1923 eight lbs. of acid phosphate
per tree were also applied."

Addendum.

The estimated five-year average value of these
crops, namely, tobacco, potatoes and apples, for the
years 1914-18 is reported as follov^s, cotton being
added for comparison:

Apples $ 184,774,000

Tobacco 208,426,000

Potatoes 372,239,000

Cotton 1,097,039,000

The largest single apple growing area in the United
States begins in York County, Pennsylvania, and
runs southwest in a section perhaps not far from one
hundred miles down to fifty miles in width through
Maryland, western Virginia and western North
Carolina.

Some apples are also grown in eastern Maryland
and southwestern New Jersey, as well as in the east-
ern counties of New York state along the Hudson
Valley, and also in the heart of New England. The
northwestern counties of New York state grow apples
commercially also.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

161

Table Showing the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Phos-
phoric Acid and Potash Withdrawn per Acre by an
Average Crop (For U. S. 1920 Fgures Supplied by
New Jersey State Agricultural Experiment Station,
March 14th and 15th, 1924).

Crop

Per Acre
Yield
(lbs.)

Nitrogen
(lbs.)

Phosphoric
Acid
(lbs.)

Potash
(lbs.)

Barley

1,233.6
642.0
907.2
17,400.0
1,736.0
170.8
314.0

21.6
25.7
13.6
52.2
36.4

0.58
10.0

9.3
7.9
5.4
17.4
12.3
0.17
3.8

6 2

Beans

8 3

Buckwheat

2.7

Cabbage

69 8

Com

69

Cotton Lint

0 78

Cotton Seed

3 65

Table Showing the Number of Pounds of Nitrogen, Etc. —
Continued.

Crop

Cowpeas

Flax Fiber

Flax Seed

Hay

Hops

Oats

Onions

Peanuts

Potatoes

Rice

Rye

Soy beans

Sugar Beets

*Sugar Cane (La.) .
Sweet Potatoes ....

Tobacco

Tomatoes

Wheat

*Sugar Cane, Hawaii

Per Acre
Yield
(lbs.)

552.0
1,736.0

347.2
3,140.0
1,332.0
1,126.0
21,278.0
1,710.0
6,576.0
1,809.0

767.2

948.0

17,000.0

30,000.0

5,694.0

796.1
8,400.0

840.0

78,000.0

Nitrogen,
(lbs.)

17.1
14.6
15.1
62.0
22.6
22.5
58.9
61.6
23.0
19.9
13.0
50.2
34.0
60.0
14.2
31.8
16.8
16.8

156.0

Phosphoric
Acid
(lbs.)

5.5

3.5

5.6

16.0

14.7

9.0

19.2

12.0

9.9

3.6

6.5

17.1

17.0

30.0

5.7

4.0

5.9

7.1

78.0

Potash
(lbs.)

6.6
17.4

3.3
49.9
20.0

6.8
46.8

7.7
32.9

1.8

4.6
19.0
76.5
135.0
28.5
47.8
29.4

4.2

351.0

The average relative percentages of Nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash thus removed from the
soil by these crops is therefore as follows:

162 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Nitrogen 28.6 per cent.

Phosphoric Acid 9.9 per cent.

Potash 25.5 per cent.

Translated into commercial fertilizer terms, the
comparison is as follows :

What the
What Average

Nature Brand

Requires Supplies

Nitrogen 2.86 2.00

Phosphoric Acid 0.99 8.00

Potash 2.55 2.00

INCREASED CROP YIELDS DUE TO THE USE
OF 100 POUNDS OF NITRATE OF SODA.

Points for Consideration as to Relation of Prices of
Farm Products to Nitrate of Soda Prices.

From the farmer's point of view, when a reduction
in the price of cotton and produce happens, it is to be
deplored, but in such a case it should be considered
whether abstention from the use of Nitrate is a wise
way of meeting the situation. The utility of a fertil-
izer obviously depends upon its productivity, which
is not affected by its price, and an increase in the
latter justifies abandonment of the fertilizer only
when its productivity ceases to be profitable. The
profit to be reasonably expected from the use of
Nitrate of Soda is not so materially interfered with
by any ordinary rise in its price as to economically
justify any substantial reduction in its consumption.

Agricultural authorities have established by care-
ful experimentation that 100 pounds of Nitrate of

FOOD FOR PLANTS 163

Soda when applied to the following crops has pro-
duced under proper conditions increased yields as
tabulated :

Apples 50-75 bushels.

Apricots 96 lbs.

Asparagus 100 bunches.

Bananas 1,167 lbs.

Barley 400 lbs. of grain.

Beans (white) 225 lbs.

Beets 4,900 lbs. tubers.

Cabbages 6,100 lbs.

Carrots 7,800 lbs.

Castor Beans 50 lbs.

Celery 30 per cent.

Corn 280 lbs. of grain.

Cotton 200 lbs. seed cotton.

Ensilage Corn 1.18 tons.

Grape Fruit 29 boxes.

Hay, upwards of 1,000 lbs. barn cured.

Hops 100 lbs.

Mangels 123.7 bushels

Oats 400 lbs. of grain.

Onions 1,800 lbs.

Oranges 22 boxes.

Peaches (dried) 56 lbs.

Pecans 37 lbs.

Potatoes 3,600 lbs. tubers.

Prunes '. . 975 lbs. (dried).

Raisin Grapes 347 lbs.

Rye 300 lbs. grain.

Strawberries 200 quarts.

Sugar Beets 1,330 lbs.

Sugar Cane 2.40 tons of cane

(Tropics).

1.17 tons of cane

(Louisiana).

Sugar (from Sugar Cane) 322 lbs. (Tropics).

224 lbs. (Louisiana).

Sugar Mangels 1.6 tons.

Sweet Potatoes 3,900 lbs. tubers.

Tobacco 75 lbs.

Tomatoes 100 baskets.

Turnips 37 per cent.

Walnuts 106 lbs.

164

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Increased Yield by the Use of Nitrate of Soda.

The increased yields of crops resulting from a top-
dressing with Nitrate of Soda are most striking. In
an article recently published by Dr. E. J. Russell,
Director of the Rothamsted Experimental Station,
the following figures are given. On an ordinary farm
where the land, while in fairly good heart, has not
been over well done, a farmer may reasonably expect
the following increases from a top-dressing of 1 cwt.
of Nitrate of Soda.

Wheat, grain
Wheat, straw
Barley, grain
Barley, straw
Oats, grain
Oats, straw

Hay

Mangolds . . .

Swedes

Potatoes . . . .

Per 1 Cwt. Nitrate
of Soda

4^/^ bushels

5 cwt

654 bushels

6^4 cwt

7 bushels

6 cwt

8 to 10 cwt

32 cwt

20 cwt

20 cwt

Per 1 Cvrt. Super-
phosphate or High
Grade Basic Slag

0 to 1^ bushels,
i^ to 5 cwt.
2 to 3 bushels

0 to 2 cwt.

1 to SYz bushels.
0 to 2 cwt.

20 cwt.

20 to 40 cwt.

10 cwt.

For purposes of comparison the effect of phos-
phates is shown also.

INVESTIGATIONS RELATIVE TO THE USE OF
NITROGENOUS FERTILIZER MATERIALS,
1898-1907.

Official Abstract of a Paper read by Professor E. B.
Voorhees, before The International Congress of
Applied Chemistry held in London, June, 1909.

By Edward B. Voorhees, Sc.D. (Director), and Jacob G.
Lipman, Ph.D. (Soil Chemist and Bacteriologist),
Agricultural Experiment Station, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Ten years ago denitrification was believed to pos-
sess an economic significance. A considerable num-
ber of agricultural chemists thought that the destruc-
tion of Nitrate by denitrifying bacteria involved losses
of nitrogen in all cases where Nitrate and animal
manures were used together. The experiments re-
corded here were planned, primarily, to determine
whether such losses of Nitrogen really occur in field
practice. The data collected in the course of ten
years supply some definite information in this con-
nection; and furnish, moreover, much important in-
formation bearing on other phases of the nitrogen
question.

The experiments have been carried on in large
galvanized iron cylinders 4 feet long, 23.5 inches in
diameter, and open at both ends. The cylinders were
sunk in the ground until only about 2 inches of the
upper portion projected above the level of the sur-
rounding soil. Uniform amounts of gravelly subsoil
were placed in the cylinders and firmly tramped down.
Weighed quantities of surface soil were then placed
165

166 FOOD FOR PLANTS

in the cylinders. In order to enhance the accuracy
of the data collected, each treatment was carried out
in triplicate. There were secured thus 20 series, each
consisting of three small plats. Series 1 has received
no applications whatsoever; series 2, applications of
acid phosphate and potassium chloride repeated an-
nually ; and the remaining series various nitrogenous
materials in addition to the acid phosphate and potas-
sium chloride. Also the nitrogenous materials have
since been applied annually. The following diagram
shows the treatment for each series:

Diagram of Experiment.

Series

a

1. Check 0

2. Minerals 0

3. Manure, solid, fresh 0

4. Manure, solid and liquid, fresh 0

5. Manure, solid, leached 0

6. Manure, solid and liquid, leached 0

7. Sodium Nitrate, 5 gms. 0

8. Sodium Nitrate, 10 gms 0

9. Manure, solid, fresh; nitrate, 5 gms 0

10. Manure, solid, fresh; nitrate, 10 gms 0

11. Manure, solid and liquid, fresh; nitrate, 5 gms. .. 0

12. Manure, solid and liquid, fresh; nitrate, 10 gms. .. 0

13. Manure, solid, leached; nitrate, 5 gms 0

14. Manure, solid, leached; nitrate, 10 gms 0

15. Manure, solid and liquid, leached; nitrate, 5 gms.. 0

16. Manure, solid and liquid, leached; nitrate, 10 gms. 0

17. Ammonium sulphate 0

18. Dried blood 0

19. Manure, solid, leached; ammonium sulphate 0

20. Manure, solid, leached; dried blood 0

The Nitrate was applied at the rate of 160 pounds
and 320 pounds per acre, respectively. The ammo-
nium sulphate and dried blood were applied in
amounts equivalent to the larger application of Ni-

b c

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 c

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

FOOD FOR PLANTS 167

trate. The different manures were applied in
amounts sufficient to furnish about 4 gms. of nitro-
gen per cylinder. Calculated on the acre basis the
manures were applied at the rate of about 16 tons.

The crops were grown in regular rotation, and con-
sisted of the following: Corn, oats, wheat and tim-
othy. The oats crops were followed in each case by
a so-called residual crop whose function it was to
take up such available nitrogen compounds as were
not utilized by the main crops.

Analyses were made of all of the main crops and
residual crops. In the case of the wheat, the grain
and the straw were analyzed separately. In the case
of the timothy, the first cutting and aftermath were
analyzed separately. The analytical material for the
ten years included, therefore, more than a thousand
crop samples. Records were made of the yields of
dry matter, of the proportions of nitrogen in the dry
matter of each crop, of the total nitrogen in each
crop, of the proportion of manure and fertilizer nitro-
gen recovered, and of the relative availability of the
several nitrogenous materials employed. In addi-
tion to these careful analyses were made of the soil
samples drawn from the several cylinders at the end
of each rotation.

The results secured may be briefly summarized as
follows :

1. There was a marked falling off in the yields
between the first and second rotation, especially in
the soils which had received no applications of animal
manure.

2. The nitrogen compounds in liquid manure were

168 FOOD FOR PLANTS

much superior to those in solid manure as a source
of nitrogen to crops.

3. Larger applications of nitrogen were invariably
followed by larger yields of this constituent in the
crops.

4. Nitrate, ammonium sulphate and dried blood,
when applied in equivalent amounts, were found to
possess an unequal value. Nitrate was superior to
ammonium sulphate, and the latter was superior to
dried blood as a source of nitrogen to crops.

5. In the presence of Nitrate, the manure and
humus nitrogen were utilized more thoroughly than
in its absence.

6. Under certain conditions. Nitrate or other
readily available nitrogen compounds, may hasten
the depletion of the soil nitrogen.

7. Ammonium sulphate and dried blood intensified
the development of acidity in the cylinder soils.

8. The proportion of nitrogen in the crops was
readily affected by the nitrogen treatment. It was
also affected by the character of the crop itself.

9. In the first rotation, the fresh manures produced
dry matter relatively somewhat richer in nitrogen
than that produced by the leached manures; in the
second rotation this relation was reversed.

10. The solid and liquid manure, fresh, produced
dry matter relatively somewhat richer in nitrogen
than that produced by the solid, fresh.

11. The smaller application of Nitrate when used
together with manure, produced dry matter rela-
tively poorer in nitrogen than that produced by the
larger application of Nitrate under the same
conditions.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 169

12. The wide range in the proportionate content
of nitrogen in the crops, shows clearly that greater
care should be exercised in measuring out the nitro-
gen to our cultivated crops.

13. Out of every 100 pounds of nitrogen applied in
the form of Nitrate, there were recovered in the first
rotation 62.76 pounds, and in the second rotation
61.42 pounds. The corresponding returns for ammo-
nium sulphate were 49.51 pounds and 37.01 pounds
respectively; and for the dried blood 47.89 pounds
and 32.05 pounds respectively. This indicated that
the acidity in the soils of series 17 and 18 had in-
creased sufficiently to interfere with the normal
growth of the plants.

14. Out of every 100 pounds of nitrogen applied
in the form of animal manures, there were recovered
in the first rotation less than 25 pounds, and in the
second rotation less than 30 pounds.

15. A comparison of the crop yields in the first and
second rotation, shows that the animal manures have
a marked cumulative effect.

16. The corn crops seem to have utilized a smaller
proportion of the nitrogen applied than was utilized
by the oats and wheat.

17. The fresh manures were utilized better than
the leached manures.

18. The solid and liquid, fresh, was utilized better
than the solid, fresh.

19. The solid and liquid, leached, was utilized bet-
ter than the solid, leached.

20. The smaller applications of Nitrate were util-
ized to about the same extent as the larger applica-
tions.

170 FOOD FOR PLANTS

21. The equivalent quantities of Nitrate, ammo-
nium sulphate, and dried blood were utilized in the
order named.

22. The animal manures when used together with
the larger applications of Nitrate, were utilized to
better advantage than when they were used together
with the smaller application.

23. The Nitrate and ammonium sulphate when
used together with solid manure, leached, were
utilized in the order named.

24. The proportion of nitrogen recovered in the
crops ranged from 62.09 — 22.31 per cent.

25. With the returns from the Nitrate nitrogen
taken as 100, the relative availability of the other
nitrogenous materials was as follows:

First Second Both

Rotation Rotation Rotations

Sodium Nitrate 100.0 100.0 100.0

Ammonium sulphate 78.9 60.3 69.7

Dried blood 76.3 52.2 64.4

Solid manure, fresh 32.9 39.0 35.9

Solid and liquid, fresh 50.4 55.6 53.0

Solid manure, leached 33.8 44.0 38.9

Solid and liquid, leached . . . 36.6 49.7 43.1

26. Nitrate, and ammonium sulphate showed prac-
tically no residual effect. Dried blood showed a
slight residual effect.

27. The animal manures showed a very pronounced
residual effect.

28. Notwithstanding the annually repeated appli-
cations of manure, together with relatively large
amounts of Nitrate, there is no marked evidence of
denitrification.

29. All of the cylinder soils lost considerable quan-
tities of nitrogen.

TWENTY YEARS* WORK ON THE AVAILABIL-
ITY OF NITROGEN IN NITRATE OF SODA,
AMMONIUM SULPHATE, DRIED BLOOD
AND FARM MANURES.

J. G. Lipman and A. W. Blair, New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station.

(Reprinted from "Soil Science.")

During the last twenty-five years the fertilizer
industry in the United States has developed rapidly.
From a comparatively small tonnage in the early
nineties it has grown to more than 7,000,000 tons in
1917.

As the industry has grown the number of materials
that go to make up the fertilizers has also increased
greatly. Many by-products that were formerly
allowed to go to waste are now carefully saved and
worked up in the fertilizer factory. This is especially
true of the nitrogenous materials which, under nor-
mal conditions, form the most expensive part of the
fertilizer.

The movement to save these waste materials con-
taining nitrogen came none too early, for it was the
depletion in the soil of this element that was largely
responsible for the run-down and abandoned farms
in the older sections of the United States. For this
element, most crops show a quicker response than
for any other, and conversely, a falling off in yield
will come sooner with a deficiency of nitrogen than
of any other element. A supply of available nitrogen
aids the plant in getting a good start so that its leaves
may begin early to elaborate food from the air and

171

172 FOOD FOR PLANTS

its roots may reach out for the water of the soil
which holds in solution mineral plant-food.

Since nitrogen is supplied in many different forms,
it at once becomes a question as to which of these is
most efficient in crop production. Far too little
attention has been given to this important question.
Too often a certain material has been chosen because
there was among farmers a general impression that
this particular material was better than some other,
when, as a matter of fact, there was no scientific basis
for such conclusion. As an example, nitrogen from
organic sources has been preferred by many because
it was believed that organic matter thus supplied
would be of great value in improving the physical
condition of the soil, but in making this choice farm-
ers overlooked the possibility of using a more
readily-available material which would increase the
crop residues sufficiently to more than make up for
the small amount of organic matter contained in the
few hundred pounds of dried blood, fish or tankage.
Also, there is a widespread impression that the loss
of nitrogen is greater when Nitrate is used, than
when organic nitrogen is used. But experiments
both in this country and abroad show beyond a doubt
that the crop yields and the percentage of nitrogen
recovered in the crop were greater (and hence the
loss must have been less) when Nitrate was used
than when organic sources of nitrogen were used.

The question of availability of nitrogenous ferti-
lizers began to receive serious consideration at sev-
eral of the leading European experiment stations
some 30 years ago and much valuable information
has been accumulated by these stations.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 173

About 10 years later the subject began to receive
attention in this country and it is a satisfaction to
find that the results obtained here are fairly in accord
with the findings of the European investigators.

Fairly complete revievi^s of this early work have
been given in recent publications (2,3) and no at-
tempt will be made here to cover this field.

The completion in 1917 of 20 years' work in which
a comparison is made of the materials mentioned in
the title of this paper would seem to justify the pub-
lication at this time of a brief summary of the work.
A detailed account covering the first 15 years of this
work has already been published (3). Much of this
need not be repeated, but the results of the last five
years are of value as confirming the earlier work.

Experimental.

The work was originally outlined under the broad
heading ''Investigations Relative to the Use of
Nitrogenous Materials," and this included: (a) a
determination of the yield of dry matter and nitrogen
in crops from soils receiving various treatments
under controlled conditions; (b) the percentage of
nitrogen in the crop as affected by the treatment;

(c) the utilization of nitrogen in different materials;

(d) the relative efficiency of nitrogen in different
materials; (e) the residual effects of nitrogenous
substances; (f) denitrification and (g) the effect of
special treatment on the income and outgo of nitrogen
in the soil.

As the work has progressed, more and more atten-
tion has been given to the utilization and relative

174 FOOD FOR PLANTS

efBciency of nitrogen in different materials, and it
is this phase of the work which is to receive consid-
eration in this paper.

In order that the work might be under more per-
fect control, it was carried out in galvanized iron
cylinders, open at both ends and having a diameter
of 2311. inches and a depth of 4 feet. These cylinders
were set on the ground so that about 2 inches
remained above the ground level. Thus the contents
of the cylinders are isolated so that the roots of the
crops growing in them are prevented from getting
mineral plant-food from outside sources. The sub-
soil is a gravelly sandy material such as occurs where
the cylinders are located, but the top soil is a loam
(Penn loam) brought from another source, an 8-inch
layer of which was placed in each cylinder on top
of the subsoil, each cylinder receiving the same
weight of the thoroughly mixed soil.

When the work was begun all the soils were given
a liberal treatment of lime in the form of ground
limestone and with the exception of one series which
does not enter into this discussion, all have received
annual dressings of acid phosphate and potassium
chloride at the rate of 640 pounds and 320 pounds
per acre, respectively. Thus nitrogen is made the
limiting factor insofar as human control can provide.
Various combinations of manure and fertilizer were
arranged, but it is sufficient to report here only on
the four nitrogenous materials mentioned in the title.

One series received the phosphoric acid and potash,
but no nitrogen, in order that it might be used as a
check. Thus if a certain amount of nitrogen is recov-
ered in the crop from the nitrogen-treated cylinder,

FOOD FOR PLANTS 175

and it is desired to calculate the percentage of the
applied nitrogen that was recovered, it is necessary
first to deduct from the total amount of nitrogen
recovered in the crop, the amount recovered from the
check cylinder, and thus account for the soil nitrogen
that the crop used.

It is at once obvious that this cannot be an abso-
lutely correct method of determining the percentage
recovered, since in those cylinders to which nitro-
genous fertilizers have been applied, the plant will
make a quicker start and the roots go farther in
search of the nitrogenous materials of the soil than
in the check cylinders where there is a pronounced
deficiency of available nitrogen, and thus the check
fails to be a true check. In this way it happens that
the recovery may apparently be more than 100 per
cent, as shown in Series 8B, for the years 1901 and
1910. However, there appears to be no way of over-
coming this error so long as the work is carried out
in the natural soil and if one starts with an artificial
soil, other and more serious difficulties arise.

In this work no effort has been made to analyze the
roots, since it would be well-nigh impossible to do
this correctly, and even if it could be done the same
error would be introduced. The roots and stubble
are left just as under field conditions so that the
residual effects of these may be observed.

To draw conclusions from 1 to 2 years of such
work would be manifestly unfair, but when it is car-
ried on for a period of 10 or 20 years, seasonal dif-
ferences, differences due to the unequal decomposi-
tion of organic matter and differences due to slight
errors, which are sure to creep in now and then, are

176 FOOD FOR PLANTS

largely smoothed out and results are obtained which
can be accepted with a fair degree of confidence.
The confidence in such results is strengthened when
it is found that they check with similar work con-
ducted in other places or even in other countries.

The work was started in these cylinders in the
spring of 1898 with corn as the first crop in the rota-
tion. Four 5-year rotations have been carried out as
follows :

First Kotation Third Rotation

1898 Com 1908 Corn

1899 Oats (millet) 1909 Oats (corn)

1900 Oats (corn) 1910 Oats (corn)

1901 Wheat 1911 Rye and oats

1902 Timothy 1912 Timothy

(two cuttings) (two cuttings)

Second Rotation Fourth Rotation

1903 Corn 1913 Corn

1904 Oats (corn) 1914 Oats (corn)

1905 Oats (corn) 1915 Oats (corn)

1906 Wheat 1916 Wheat

1907 Timothy 1917 Timothy

(two cuttings) (two cuttings)

The corn following the oats is grown as a residual
crop (without further addition of fertilizers) to
utilize any nitrogen which the oat crop may have
failed to get. All corn is planted thick and harvested
as forage rather than as mature corn. Oats are
harvested as oat-hay just before maturity, and wheat
is harvested at maturity and saved as grain and
straw.

Nitrogenous materials are applied for each main
crop in the rotation as follows:

Cylinder 4B, farm manure, at the rate of 16 tons per acre.
Cylinder 8B, Nitrate of Soda, at the rate of 320 pounds per
acre.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 177

Cylinder 17B, ammonium sulfate, equivalent to 320 pounds
of Nitrate of Soda per acre.

Cylinder 18B, dried blood, equivalent to 320 pounds of
Nitrate of Soda per acre.

Thus a careful record is kept of the amount of
nitrogen applied each year and of the yield of dry
matter from each cylinder. From determinations of
the amount of nitrogen in the dry matter the total
amount of nitrogen removed by the crop each year
is easily calculated.

Yield of Dry Matter.

The yield of dry matter under the four different
treatments for the 20 years is shown in table 1, aver-
ages being given for two 10-year periods and also
for the entire 20 years. For each 10-year period the
yield has been largest with the manure, though it is
less for the second 10-year period than for the first,
which would indicate that with manure at the rate
of 16 tons per acre the fertility of the soil is not being
fully maintained. The lowest yield is from 18B
where dried blood is used as the source of nitrogen.
Here again the average yield is less for the second
10-year period than for the first. For plots 8B and
17B, which receive Nitrate of Soda and ammonium
sulfate, respectively, the average yields for the first
10 years are essentially the same for the two treat-
ments, but for the second 10 years the average for
the Nitrate of Soda treatment is considerably above
that for the ammonium sulfate; furthermore, the
average yield with ammonium sulfate is, like the
yield with dried blood and farm manure, less for the

178

FOOD FOR PLANTS

second than for the first 10-year period. With the
Nitrate of Soda, however, the figures are reversed
that is, the average yield for the second 10 years is
somewhat above that for the first 10 years.

The question may well be raised as to why the
average yields on 4B, 17B and 18B should be less for
the second 10-year period than for the first, while
the yield on 8B has been well maintained for the 20
years. Since phosphoric acid and potash have been
supplied each year in liberal amounts, and lime has
been used at stated intervals, it would seem clear
that the falling off in yield must be due to a deficiency
of available nitrogen, notwithstanding the fact that
cylinders 17B and 18B receive each year just as much
nitrogen as SB, while 4B receives more than two and
one-half times as much as SB.

TABLE 1
Yield of Dry Matter with Different Nitrogenous Materials.

First 10-Year Period

Second 10-Year Period

Tear

1
s

4B

8B

17B

18B

Year

1

4B

8B

17B

18B

1898.

291.1

467.1

gm.
393.9

4(?™6

gm.
341.8

1908.

ilg'.b

gm.
326.0

3^6

286!6

228.6

1899 .

146.6

354.1

184.5

190.5

186.3

1909.

164.0

208.0

244.0

217.0

218.0

1900.

238.1

387.2

317.0

310.1

307.9

1910.

214.0

422.0

338.0

287.0

276.0

1901.

126.0

342.2

331.0

300.0

239.4

1911.

68.0

236.0

160.0

117.0

126.0

1902.

86.2

147.8

150.9

143.9

115.6

1912.

88.0

221.0

187.0

153.0

115.0

1903.

160.3

315.0

183.0

Sfil.O

216.0

1913.

177.2

390.5

312.5

228.5

286.5

1904.

118.7

262.0

170.0

167.0

160.0

1914.

137.0

285.8

222.4

196.9

198.3

1905.

125.7

262.0

226.0

209.0

191.0

1915.

103.7

231.2

211.0

178.3

147.5

1906.

98.3

316.0

244.0

226.0

144.0

1916.

91.4

250.9

217.3

181.6

112.9

1907.

107.3

237.0

168.0

133.0

172.0

1917.
Aver-

71.1

229.0

208.0

167.0

139.0

Aver-

age!

149.8

309.04

236.83

237.15

207.4

age*

128.3

280.04

243.12

201.23

184.72

* Phosphoric acid, potash and lime, no nitrogen.
t First ten years.
t Second ten years.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 179

Data presented heretofore, and which are con-
firmed by results hereafter to be presented, show
that of the four materials, Nitrate of Soda is most
effective in crop production, that is, the crop is able
to utilize or win back a larger percentage of nitrogen
in this form than in any of the other forms. With a
given amount of nitrogen, therefore, the crop yield
can be better maintained over a period of years by
the use of nitrogen in the form of Nitrate of Soda
than in the other forms, provided the soil is one that
does not allow rapid leaching.

This apparently is what has happened in this case.
With the gradual exhaustion of soil nitrogen, which
was made available by the use of lime, and the failure
of the ammonium sulfate, blood and manure to give
back in the form of crops as large a proportion of the
applied nitrogen as the Nitrate of Soda, the yields
with the former became gradually less.

The fact that cylinder 4B gave the largest average
yield through 20 years must not be taken as mean-
ing that the treatment given this cylinder is neces-
sarily the best or most effective. It will be remem-
bered that this cylinder receives cow manure at the
rate of 16 tons per acre annually, the cost of which
would be much in excess of the cost of 320 pounds of
Nitrate of Soda or its equivalent in ammonium sulfate
or dried blood, and therefore the larger yield does not
necessarily mean an efficient use of the applied nitro-
gen. As a matter of fact, the work shows this to be
the least efficient of the four forms.

180

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Percentage of Nitrogen Recovered in the Crops.

Reference has already been made to the method
of calculating the percentage of nitrogen that is re-
covered in the crop. The recoveries for the four

TABLE 2

Percentage of Nitrogen Recovered from Different
Materials.

First 10-Year Period

Second 10-Year Period

Tear

4B

8B

17B

18B

Year

4B

8B

17B

18B

1898

28.15

63.75

66.06

58.18

1908

16.97

42.77

24.20

27.38

1899

51.48

48.45

58.27

44.58

1909

18.25

80.64

54.94

49.04

1900

36.18

77.55

69.47

57.25

1910

54.74

110.74

62.12

51.22

1901

41.78

110.26

91.91

68.71

1911

20.98

64.10

48.46

41.59

1002

11.48

32.06

23.64

14.32

1912

29.11

49.16

27.45

10.96

1903

20.20

30.84

34.38

20.97

1913

27.63

32.92

15.50

40.26

1904

38.91

46.19

39.26

33.68

1914

52.46

74.35

67.86

56.55

1905

30.10

68.77

56.05

34.01

1915

32.13

64.10

52.53

48.12

1906

44.94

81.81

30.80

24.78

1916

36.60

68.96

57.53

20.26

1907

33.85

45.10

27.47

42.48

1917

!\.veraget . .

27.95

55.77

41.75

29.41

Average* . .

33.71

60.48

49.73

39.90

31.68

64.35

45.23

37.48

Average^ . .

32.69

62.42

47.48

38.69

different treatments covering the 20 years are

shown in table 2. The averages for the period are as
follows :

4B 32.69 per cent, (manure)

8B 62.42 per cent. (Nitrate of Soda)

17B 47.48 per cent, (ammonium sulfate)

18B 48.69 per cent, (dried blood)

This means that of 100 pounds of nitrogen applied
in the four different forms approximately one-third,
three-fifths, one-half, and two-fifths, respectively, are

* First ten years,
t Second ten years.
i Twenty years.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 181

recovered or won back in the crop/ As has already
been mentioned, these figures agree quite closely with
results reported from European countries, and they
also confirm earlier work carried out at this Station.
But even so, they are not satisfying figures. We at
once ask why there is this enormous loss of nitro-
gen and especially why the loss is so much greater
with the organic materials than with the Nitrate of
Soda and ammonium sulfate. If the loss is to be
attributed to the leaching out of the materials, then
it would seem that the figures should be reversed.
Unquestionably, a certain amount of loss takes place
in this way, but this cannot explain the loss of over
two-thirds from the manure against a little more
than one-third from Nitrate.

It is well known that organic materials must
undergo certain transformations in the soil before
the nitrogen can become available, and it seems that
during these transformations nitrogen as ammonia,
Nitrate or as elemental nitrogen must be lost in con-
siderable quantities. As bearing on this it may be
pointed out that Russell and Richards (5) have
shown by laboratory experiments with manure that
in addition to the loss of ammonia by volatilization
there is still a loss amounting to 15 per cent, or more
of total nitrogen, and they have gone further and
shown that during decomposition there is an evolu-
tion of gaseous nitrogen. This they believe com-

^ Or if we assign to Nitrate nitrogen a value of 100, then the relative
availability of the four materials stands as follows:

Nitrate of soda 100.0

Ammonium sulfate 76. 1

Dried blood 62.0

Manure 52.4

182 FOOD FOR PLANTS

pletes the account of the loss. This loss, they claim,
does not go on under wholly anaerobic or wholly
aerobic conditions but under mixed anaerobic and
aerobic conditions which arise when manure is being
produced. They explain further that in the natural
manure heap nitrogen is also lost as gaseous am-
monia as well as in the form of nitrogen gas.

It is very probable that in a more limited way,
similar changes take place when organic compounds
are placed in the soil and that a part of the loss of
nitrogen noted in our experiments must be thus ac-
counted for. It is a well-known fact that when an
organic substance like cottonseed meal or dried blood
is mixed with soil and incubated in the laboratory for
a few days, escaping ammonia may be detected, and
from this it is a natural conclusion that when large
quantities of organic matter are placed in the soil
under natural conditions, some ammonia will be lost
by volatilization, especially when the temperature
and moisture conditions are favorable. This then,
together with the evolution of gaseous nitrogen,
would in part at least explain the heavy loss of nitro-
gen where manure was used at the rate of 16 tons per
acre.

A discussion of this subject would not be completed
without a brief reference to the effect of cultivation
on nitrogen losses.

Shutt ^ for example has shown that when the
prairie soils of Saskatchewan were left undisturbed
the loss of nitrogen was slight, but as soon as cultiva-
tion was commenced losses set in.

Cited by RusseU (4).

FOOD FOR PLANTS 183

Russell (4) refers further to losses of nitrogen as
follows :

One of the Broadbalk wheat plots receives annually 14
tons of farmyard manure per acre containing 200 pounds of
Nitrogen. Only a little drainage can be detected and there
is no reason to suppose that any considerable leaching out
of Nitrates occurs, but the loss of Nitrogen is enormous
amounting to nearly 70 per cent, of the added quantity.

The condition for this decomposition appears to be copi-
ous aeration, such as is produced by cultivation and the
presence of large quantities of easily decomposable organic
matter. Now these are precisely the conditions of intensive
farming in old countries and of pioneer farming in new
lands, and the result is that the reserves of soil and manurial
Nitrogen are everywhere being depleted at an appalling
rate.

Russell refers to the recuperative actions that are
going on, but says: "One of the most pressing prob-
lems at the present time is to learn how to suppress
this gaseous decomposition and to direct the proc-
esses wholly into the Nitrate channels.

In a paper on the Nitrate content of cultivated and
uncultivated soils, Blair and McLean (1), have called
attention to the loss of nitrogen from cultivated soils
and also to the low recovery from nitrogen applied as
organic materials. They point out that land under
cultivation is gradually being depleted of its store of
nitrogen even when nitrogenous fertilizers are ap-
plied each year and that the average recovery of
nitrogen applied in the form of fish scrap for a period
of nine years, was only 36.36 per cent.

With the same nitrogen treatment soils allowed to
run wild just about maintained their nitrogen con-

184 FOOD FOR PLANTS

tent, while the carbon content of these soils was
slightly increased.

The recovery of nitrogen in the four different treat-
ments for the 20 years is shown by the curves in
figure 1. A study of these curves shows that the
high points are generally reached in either the first
or second year of oats, and in the wheat year, while
the low points occur almost invariably in the corn and
timothy years. It is not entirely clear whether this
is a seasonal variation or a crop characteristic.

It is certain, however, that the utilization of the
residual nitrogen by the corn crop which follows the
oats, helps to explain the high recovery for the years
when oats are grown.

Conclusions.

In a 5-year rotation on Penn loam soil well sup-
plied with phosphoric acid, potash and lime, crop
yields were better maintained over a period of 20
years with Nitrate of soda at the rate of 320 pounds
per acre than with an equivalent amount of ammo-
nium sulfate or dried blood. For several years the
latter gave results about on a par with the Nitrate,
but an average of the second 10-year period shows a
considerable falling off with these materials as com-
pared with the Nitrate. This is no doubt due in part
to the fact that the Nitrate, being immediately avail-
able, gives the plant an early start which tends to
keep it in the lead and to the further fact that in the
transformation of the ammonium salt and the organic
material into nitrates, there is a considerable loss of
nitrogen, possibly as ammonia gas or gaseous nitro-

FOOD FOR PLANTS 185

gen or both. The loss cannot all be attributed to a
leaching out of the materials, even though the nitrifi-
cation of ammonia and organic residues may go on
throughout a large portion of the year.

In the above-mentioned rotation cow manure at
the rate of 16 tons per acre gave somev^hat larger
yields than Nitrate of Soda, but the increased yields
v^^ere not sufficient to justify the increase in the cost
of nitrogen.

Furthermore, the average yield v^ith the manure
vv^as less for the second 10-year period than for the
first, while the reverse is true with the Nitrate of
Soda. Thus it is shown that with 16 tons of manure
per acre annually, the crop yield is not being main-
tained, while with Nitrate of Soda at the rate of 320
pounds per acre annually it is increasing slightly, as
shown by the average for the second 10-year period.

The percentage of nitrogen recovered in the crop
was greater with the nitrate than with any of the
other materials, the 20-year average being as follows :

Per cent.

Nitrate o£ Soda 62.42

Ammonium sulfate 47.48

Dried blood 38.69

Cow manure 32.69

The average recovery with Nitrate for the second
10-year period was 64.35 per cent, as against 60.48 per
cent, for the first 10-year period, whereas the average
recovery with the ammonium sulfate, dried blood and
manure was all less for the second 10-year period
than for the first.

This is in agreement with the crop yields, and in-

186 FOOD FOR PLANTS

dicates a diminishing efBciency for the ammonium
sulfate, blood and manure, and a gradual increase in
efficiency for the Nitrate of Soda.

The work shows that when properly used Nitrate
of Soda alone as a source of nitrogen may be depended
upon to maintain crop yields over a long period, and
that a given amount of nitrogen in this form is more
effective than an equivalent amount in the form of
ammonium sulfate, or organic materials.

Its effect is to produce larger crops per unit of
nitrogen, and these crops, in turn, leave behind in the
soil larger crop residues, and with carbonate of lime
to aid in their decomposition these furnish a suffi-
cient supply of organic matter to keep the soil in good
physical condition.

References.

(1) Blair, A. W., and McLean, H. C. 1917. Total nitrogen

and carbon in cultivated land and land abandoned
to grass and weeds. In Soil Sci., v. 4, no. 4, p.
283-294.

(2) Coleman, D. A. 1917. The influence of Sodium Nitrate

upon transformations in soil with special reference
to its availability and that of other nitrogenous
manures. In Soil Sci., v. 4, no. 5, p. 345-432.

(3) Lipman, J. G., and Blair, A. W. 1916. Investigations

relative to the use of nitrogenous plant foods:
1898-1912. N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 288.

(4) Russell, E. J. 1915. Soil Conditions and Plant Growth,

new ed., p. 83, Longmans, Green and Co., New York.

(5) Russell, E. J., and Richards, E. H. 1917. The changes

taking place during the storage of farmyard manure.
In Jour. Agr. Sci., v. 8, p. 495-563.

COST OF TRANSPORTATION OF FERTILIZERS.

A striking illustration of the difference in the cost
of transportation by four different ways is given
below :

To transport a ton by

Horse power, 5 miles;

Electric power, 25 miles;

Steam cars, 250 miles;

Steamships on the lakes, 1,000 miles;

costs the same amount in each case and the same amount of
money will haul a ton

5 miles on a common road,

15 miles on a well-made stone road,

25 miles on a trolley road,

250 miles on a steam railway,

1,000 miles on a steamship.

It will be seen that the same amount of money it
takes to haul a given amount of produce five miles on
a public highway of the United States will pay the
freight for 250 miles on a railroad and 1,000 miles on
a steamship line on the lakes. This is too great a
difference, as will be admitted by all, and when we
think of the fact that the railroad companies are ever
at work repairing and improving their highways
while the farmer is apparently so little awake to his
own interests in regard to furnishing himself with
better roads, we wonder why it is. The lesson seems
plain and clear, and, as progressive farmers, let us
continue to aid the good road movement throughout
the country.

187

188 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Nitrate of Soda is essentially a seaboard article;
supplies at interior points are not always available,
hence the ports of entry are as a rule the best sources
of supply.

The improvement of our water-v^ays, so long urged
by us, seems at last to be in sight ; and farm chemicals
at lower rates should ultimately be expected, even at
interior points.

It has been the custom of the railroad companies
to discriminate heavily and unfairly against Nitrate
of Soda by charging almost prohibitory chemical
rates, instead of equitable fertilizer rates, and it is
hoped by correctly designating the material, the dis-
crimination will not be practiced.

Farm newspapers, generally, are quite willing to
publish wholesale quotations on all those things
which the farmer has to sell, and they have not, as a
rule, published wholesale quotations on those articles
which he has to buy. Among the latter, agricultural
chemicals occupy a position of prime importance, not
only as to actual effect on farm prosperity, but as to
the actual amount of cash which the farmer has to
spend, for his produce cpmes out of the soil and its
amount and quality is determined by the character
of the chemicals he puts into it. Agricultural jour-
nals generally should make a continued effort in the
direction of enhancing his purchasing power, by en-
deavoring to make him more prosperous.

OF GENERAL INTEREST.

Average Annual Rainfall in the United States.

Place Inches Place Inches

Neah Bay, Washington 123

Sitka, Alaska 83

Ft. Haskins, Oregon 66

Mt. Vernon, Alabama 66

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 60

Meadow Valley, California . . 57

Ft. Towson, Oklahoma 57

Ft. Meyers, Florida 56

Washington, Arkansas 54

Huntsville, Alabama 54

Natchez, Mississippi 53

New Orleans, Louisiana 51

Savannah, Georgia 48

Springdale, Kentucky 48

Fortress Monroe, Virginia . . 47

Memphis, Tennessee 45

Newark, New Jersey 44

Boston, Massachusetts 44

Brunswick, Maine 44

Cincinnati, Ohio 44

New Haven, Connecticut 44

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . . 44

New York City, N. Y 43

Charleston, South Carolina . . 43

Gaston, North Carolina 43

Richmond, Indiana 43

Marietta, Ohio 43

St. Louis, Missouri 43

Muscatine, Iowa 42

Baltimore, Maryland 41

New Bedford, Massachusetts 41

Providence, Rhode Island . . 41

Ft. Smith, Arkansas 40

Hanover, New Hampshire . . 40

Ft. Vancouver 38

Cleveland, Ohio 37

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ... 37

Washington, D. C 37

White Sulphur Springs, Va.. 37

Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma 36

Key West, Florida 36

Peoria, Illinois 35

Burlington, Vermont 34

Buffalo, New York 33

Ft. Brown, Texas 33

Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas . . 31

Detroit, Michigan 30

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 30

Penn Yan, New York 28

Ft. Kearney 25

Ft. SneUing, Minnesota 25

Salt Lake City, Utah 23

Mackinac, Michigan 23

San Francisco, California ... 21

Dallas, Oregon 21

Sacramento, California 21

Ft. Massachusetts, Colorado. 17

Ft. Marcy, New Mexico .... 16

Ft. Randall, Dakota 16

Ft. Defiance, Arizona 14

Ft. Craig, New Mexico 11

San Diego, California . . .
Ft. Colville, Washington

Ft. Bliss, Texas

Ft. Bridger, Utah

Ft. Garland, Colorado . . .

Amount of Barbed Wire Required for Fences.

Estimated number of pounds of Barbed Wire
required to fence space for distances mentioned, with
one, two or three lines of wire, based upon each pound
of wire, measuring one rod (16>1> feet).

189

31i

Ines

152

lbs.

38

lbs.

108

lbs.

3,840

lbs.

690

lbs.

3

lbs.

300

lbs.

190 FOOD FOR PLANTS

1 line 2 lines

1 square acre 50>j lbs. lOlJ-j lbs.

1 side of a square acre . . 12; j lbs. 25^ lbs.

1 square half -acre 36 lbs. 72 lbs.

1 square mile 1,280 lbs. 2,560 lbs.

1 side of a square mile . . 230 lbs. 460 lbs.

1 rod in length 1 lb. 2 lbs.

100 rods in length 100 lbs. 200 lbs.

100 feet in length 6i/io lbs. uy^ lbs. 18-yi6 lbs.

Business Rules for Farmers.

The way to get credit is to be punctual in paying
your bills. The way to preserve it is not to use it
much. Settle often; have short accounts.

Trust no man's appearances — they are deceptive —
perhaps assumed, for the purpose of obtaining credit.
Beware of gaudy exterior. Rogues usually dress
well. The rich are plain men. Trust him, if any,
who carries but little on his back. Never trust him
who flies into a passion on being dunned; make him
pay quickly, if there be any virtue in the law.

Be well satisfied before you give a credit that those
to whom you give it are men to be trusted.

Sell your goods at a small advance, and never mis-
represent them, for those whom you once deceive will
beware of you the second time.

Deal uprightly with all men, and they will repose
confidence in you, and soon become your permanent
customers.

Beware of him who is an ofiBce seeker. Men do not
usually want an office when they have anything to
do. A man's affairs are rather low when he seeks
office for support.

Trust no stranger. Your goods are better than

FOOD FOR PLANTS 191

doubtful charges. What is character worth, if you
make it cheap by crediting everybody?

Agree beforehand with every man about to do a
job, and, if large, put it into writing. If any decline
this, quit, or be cheated. Though you want a job
ever so much, make all sure at the outset, and in case
at all doubtful, make sure of a guarantee. Be not
afraid to ask it — the best test of responsibility — for,
if offence be taken, you have escaped a loss.

How Deep in the Ground to Plant Corn.

The following is the result of an experiment with
Indian Corn. That which was planted at a depth of

1 inch, came up in Sy^ days.

ly^ inches, came up in 9^ days.

2 inches, came up in 10 days.

2%, inches, came up in 11 1/^ days.

3 inches, came up in 12 days.

3%, inches, came up in 13 days.

4 inches, came up in 13^ days.

The more shallow the seed was covered with earth,
the more rapidly the sprout made its appearance, and
the stronger afterwards was the stalk. The deeper
the seed lay, the longer it remained before it came to
the surface. Four inches was too deep for the maize,
and must, therefore, be too deep for smaller kernels.

How Grain Will Shrink.

Farmers rarely gain by holding on to their grain
after it is fit for market, when the shrinkage is taken
into account. Wheat, from the time it is threshed.

192 FOOD FOR PLANTS

will shrink two quarts to the bushel or six per cent, in
six months, in the most favorable circumstances.

Hence, it follows that ninety-four cents a bushel for
wheat when first threshed in August, is as good, tak-
ing into account the shrinkage alone, as one dollar
in the following February.

Corn shrinks much more from the time it is first
husked. One hundred bushels of ears, as they come
from the field in November, will be reduced to not far
from eighty. So that forty cents a bushel for corn
in the ear, as it comes from the field, is as good as fifty
in March, shrinkage only being taken into account.

In the case of potatoes — taking those that rot and
are otherwise lost — together with the shrinkage,
there is but little doubt that between October and
June, the loss to the owner who holds them is not less
than thirty-three per cent.

This estimate is taken on the basis of interest at
seven per cent., and takes no account of loss by
vermin.

One hundred pounds of Indian meal is equal to 76
pounds of wheat, 83 of oats, 90 of rye. 111 of barley,
333 of corn stalks.

Carrying Capacity of a Freight Car.

This Table is for Ten-Ton Cars.

Whiskey 60 barrels Lumber 6,000 feet

Salt 70 barrels

Lime 70 barrels

Flour 90 barrels

Eggs 130 to 160 barrels

Flour 200 sacks

Wood 6 cords

Cattle 18 to 20 head

Hogs 50 to 60 head

Sheep 80 to 100 head

Barley

300 bushels

Wheat

340 bushels

Flaxseed

360 bushels

Apples

370 bushels

Corn

400 bushels

Potatoes

430 bushels

Oats

680 bushels

Bran

1,000 bushels

Butter

20,000 pounds

FOOD FOR PLANTS

193

Length of Navigation of the Mississippi River.

The length of navigation of the Mississippi River
itself for ordinary large steamboats is about 2,161
miles, but small steamers can ascend about 650 miles
further. The following are its principal navigable
tributaries, with the miles open to navigation :

Siiles

Minnnesota 295

Chippewa 90

Iowa 80

Missouri 2,900

Big Horn 50

Allegany 325

Muskingum 94

Kentucky 105

Wabash 365

Tennessee 270

Osage 302

White 779

Little White 48

Big Hatchie 75

Sunflower 271

Tallahatchie 175

Red 986

Cypress 44

Black 61

Bartholomew 100

Macon 60

Atchafalaya 218

Lafourche 168

Idiles

Wisconsin 160

Rock 64

Illinois 350

Yellowstone 474

Ohio 950

Monongahela 110

Kanawha 94

Green 200

Cumberland 600

Clinch 50

St. Francis 180

Black 147

Arkansas 884

Issaquena 161

Yazoo 228

Big Black 35

Cane 54

Ouachita 384

Boeuf 55

Tensas 112

Teche 91

D'Arbonne 50

The other ten navigable tributaries have less than
fifty miles each of navigation. The total miles of
navigation of these fifty-five streams is about 16,500
miles, or about two-thirds the distance around the
world. The Mississippi and its tributaries may be
estimated to possess 15,500 miles navigable to steam-
boats, and 20,221 miles navigable to barges.

194 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Number of Years Seeds Retain Their Vitality.

Vegetables Years Vegetables Years

Cucumber 8 to 10 Asparagus 2 to 3

Melon 8 to 10 Beans 2 to 3

Pumpkin 8 to 10 Carrots 2 to 3

Squash 8 to 10 Celery 2 to 3

Broccoli 5 to 6 Corn (on cob) 2 to 3

Cauliflower 5 to 6 Leek 2 to 3

Artichoke 5 to 6 Onion 2 to 3

Endive 5 to 6 Parsley 2 to 3

Pea 5 to 6 Parsnip 2 to 3

Radish 4 to 5 Pepper 2 to 3

Beets 3 to 4 Tomato 2 to 3

Cress 3 to 4 Egg-Plant 1 to 2

Lettuce 3 to 4

Mustard 3 to 4 Herbs,

Okra 3 to 4 Anise 3 to 4

Rhubarb 3 to 4 Caraway 2

Spinach 3 to 4 Summer Savory 1 to 2

Turnip 3 to 6 Sage 2 to 3

How to Measure Corn in Crib, Hay in Mow, Etc.

This rule will apply to a crib of any size or kind.
Two cubic feet of good, sound, dry corn in the ear
will make a bushel of shelled corn. To get, then, the
quantity of shelled corn in a crib of corn in the ear,
measure the length, breadth and height of the crib,
inside of the rail ; multiply the length by the breadth
and the product by the height ; then divide the prod-
uct by two, and you have the number of bushels of
shelled corn in the crib.

To find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes,
etc., in a bin, multiply the length, breadth and thick-
ness together, and this product by 8, and point off one
figure in the product for decimals.

To find the amount of hay in a mow, allow 512

FOOD FOR PLANTS 195

cubic feet for a ton, and it will come out very gen-
erally correct.

How to Treat Sunstroke.

Take the patient at once to a cool and shady place,
but don't carry him far to a house or hospital.
Loosen the clothes thoroughly about his neck and
waist. Lay him down with the head a little raised.
Apply wet cloths to the head, and mustard or tur-
pentine to the calves of the legs and the soles of the
feet. Give a little weak whiskey and water if he can
swallow. Meanwhile, let some one go for the doctor.
You cannot do more without his advice.

Sunstroke is a sudden prostration due to long ex-
posure to great heat, especially when much fatigued
or exhausted. It commonly happens from undue ex-
posure to the sun's rays in summer. It begins with
pain in the head, or dizziness, quickly followed by
loss of consciousness and complete prostration.

Business Laws in Brief.

Ignorance of law excuses none.
It is a fraud to conceal a fraud.
The law compels no one to do impossibilities.
An agreement without consideration is void.
Signatures made with lead-pencil are good in law.
A receipt for money paid is not legally conclusive.
The acts of one partner bind all the others.
Contracts made on Sunday cannot be enforced.

196 FOOD FOR PLANTS

A contract made with a minor is invalid.

A contract made with a lunatic is void.

Contracts for advertising in Sunday newspapers
are invalid.

Each individual in a partnership is responsible for
the whole amount of the debts of a firm.

Principals are responsible for the acts of their
agents.

Agents are responsible to their principals for
errors.

A note given by a minor is void.

It is not legally necessary to say on a note "for
value received."

A note drawn on Sunday is void.

A note obtained by fraud, or from a person in a
state of intoxication, cannot be collected.

If a note be lost or stolen, it does not release the
maker; he must pay.

The indorser of a note is exempt from liability if
not served with notice of its dishonor within twenty-
four hours of its non-payment.

How to Rent a Farm.

In the rental of property, the greater risk is always
on the landlord's side. He is putting his property
into the possession and care of another, and that
other is not infrequently a person of doubtful utility.
These rules and cautions may well be observed:

1. Trust to no verbal lease. Let it be in writ-
ing, signed and sealed. Its stipulations then be-
come commands and can be enforced. Let it be

FOOD FOR PLANTS 197

signed in duplicate, so that each party may have an
original.

2. Insert such covenants as to repairs, manner of
use and in restraint of waste, as the circumstances
call for. As to particular stipulations, examine leases
drawn by those who have had long experience in
renting farms, and adopt such as meet your case.

3. There should be covenants against assigning
and underletting.

4. If the tenant is of doubtful responsibility, make
the rent payable in installments. A covenant that
the crops shall remain in the lessor's till the lessee's
contracts with him have been fulfilled, is valid against
the lessee's creditors. In the ordinary case of rent-
ing farms on shares, the courts will treat the crops as
the joint property of landlord and tenant, and thus
protect the former's rights.

5. Every lease should contain stipulations for for-
feiture and re-entry in case of non-payment or breach
of any covenants.

6. To prevent a tenant's committing waste, the
courts will grant an injunction.

7. Above all, be careful in selecting your tenant.
There is more in the man than there is in the bond.

Philosophical Facts.

The greatest height at which visible clouds ever
exist does not exceed ten miles.

Air is about eight hundred and fifteen times lighter
than water.

The pressure of the atmosphere upon every square

198 FOOD FOR PLANTS

foot of the earth amounts to two thousand one
hundred and sixty pounds. An ordinary sized man,
supposing his surface to be fourteen square feet, sus-
tains the enormous pressure of thirty thousand, two
hundred and forty pounds.

The barometer falls one-tenth of an inch for every
seventy-eight feet of elevation.

The violence of the expansion of water when freez-
ing is sufBcient to cleave a globe of copper of such
thickness as to require a force of 27,000 pounds to
produce the same effect.

During the conversion of ice into water one hun-
dred and forty degrees of heat are absorbed.

Water, when converted into steam, increases in
bulk eighteen hundred times.

In one second of time — in one beat of the pendu-
lum of a clock — light travels two hundred thousand
miles. Were a cannon ball shot toward the sun, and
were it to maintain full speed, it would be twenty
years in reaching it — and yet light travels through
this space in seven or eight minutes.

Strange as it may appear, a ball of a ton weight
and another of the same material of an ounce weight,
falling from any height will reach the ground at the
same time.

The heat does not increase as we rise above the
earth nearer to the sun but decreases rapidly until,
beyond the regions of the atmosphere, in void, it is
estimated that the cold is about seventy degrees be-
low zero. The line of perpetual frost at the equator
is 15,000 feet altitude; 13,000 feet between the

FOOD FOR PLANTS 199

tropics; and 9,000 to 4,000 between the latitudes of
forty and forty-nine degrees.

At a depth of forty-five feet under ground, the tem-
perature of the earth is uniform throughout the year.

In summer time, the season of ripening moves
northward at the rate of about ten miles a day.

The human ear is so extremely sensitive that it can
hear a sound that lasts only the twenty-four thou-
sandth part of a second. Deaf persons have some-
times conversed together through rods of wood held
between their teeth, or held to their throat or breast.

The ordinary pressure of the atmosphere on the
surface of the earth is two thousand one hundred and
sixty pounds to each square foot, or fifteen pounds to
each square inch ; equal to thirty perpendicular inches
of mercury, or thirty-four and a half feet of water.

Sound travels at the rate of one thousand one hun-
dred and forty-two feet per second — about thirteen
miles in a minute. So that if we hear a clap of
thunder half a minute after the flash, we may calcu-
late that the discharge of electricity is six and a half
miles off.

^ Lightning can be seen by reflection at the distance
of two hundred miles.

The explosive force of closely confined gunpowder
is six and a half tons to the square inch.

Facts for the Weatherwise.

If the full moon rises clear, expect fine weather.

A large ring around the moon and low clouds in-
dicate rain in twenty-four hours; a small ring and
high clouds, rain in several days.

200 FOOD FOR PLANTS

The larger the halo about the moon the nearer the
rain clouds, and the sooner the rain may be expected.

When the moon is darkest near the horizon, expect
rain.'

If the full moon rises pale, expect rain.

A red moon indicates wind.

If the moon is seen between the scud and broken
cloud during a gale, it is expected to send away the
bad weather.

In the old of the moon a cloudy morning bodes a
fair afternoon.

If there be a general mist before sunrise near the
full of the moon, the weather will be fine for some
days.

Farmers* Barometers.

If the chickweed and scarlet pimpernel expand
their tiny petals, rain need not be expected for a few
hours, says a writer.

Bees work with redoubled energy before a rain.

If flies are unusually persistent either in the house
or around the stock, there is rain in the air.

The cricket sings at the approach of cold weather.

Squirrels store a large supply of nuts, the husks of
corn are usually thick, and the buds of deciduous
trees have a firmer protecting coat if a severe winter
is at hand.

Corn fodder is extremely sensitive to hygrometric
changes. When dry and crisp, it indicates fair
weather; when damp and limp, look out for rain.

A bee was never caught in a shower; therefore
when his bees leave their hive in search of honey, the
farmer knows that the weather is going to be good.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 201

How to Preserve Eggs.

To each pailful of water, add two pints of fresh
slaked lime and one pint of common salt; mix well.
Fill your barrel half full with this fluid, put your eggs
down in it any time after June, and they will keep
two years, if desired. A solution of silicate of soda,
commonly known as water glass, is also used for the
same purpose.

Estimating Measures.

A pint of water weighs nearly 1 pound, and is equal
to about 27 cubic inches, or a square box 3 inches
long, 3 inches wide and 3 inches deep.

A quart of water weighs nearly 2 pounds, and is
equal to a square box of about 4 by 4 inches and 3}4
inches deep.

A gallon of water weighs from 8 to 10 pounds, ac-
cording to the size of the gallon, and is equal to a box
6 by 6 inches square and 6, 7 or 7l^ inches deep.

A peck is equal to a box 8 by 8 inches square and 8
inches deep.

A bushel almost fills a box 12 by 12 inches square
and 15 inches deep. In exact figures, a bushel con-
tains 2150.42 cubic inches.

A cubic foot of water weighs nearly 64 pounds
(more correctly 62 >^ pounds), and contains from 7
to 8 gallons, according to the kind of gallons used.

A barrel of water almost fills a box 2 by 2 feet
square and 1 Yi feet deep, or 6 cubic feet.

Petroleum barrels contain 40 gallons or nearly 5
cubic feet.

202 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Square Measure.

144 sq. inches = 1 sq. foot. 160 sq. rods = 1 acre,
9 sq. feet = 1 sq. yard. 43,560 sq. feet = 1 acre.

3034 sq. yards = 1 sq. rod. 640 acres = 1 sq. mile.
2.47 acres == 1 hectare.

Facts for Builders.

One thousand shingles, laid 4 inches to the weather,
will cover 100 square feet of surface, and 5 pounds
of shingle nails will fasten them on.

One-fifth more siding and flooring is needed than
the number of square feet of surface to be covered
because of the lap in the siding and matching.

One thousand laths will cover 70 square yards of
surface, and 1 1 pounds of lath nails will nail them on.
Eight bushels of good lime, 16 bushels of sand, and
one bushel of hair, will make enough good mortar to
plaster 100 square yards.

A cord of stone, 3 bushels of lime and a cubic yard
of sand, will lay 100 cubic feet of wall.

Five courses of brick will lay one foot in height on
a chimney; 16 bricks in a course will make a flue 4
inches wide and 12 inches long, and 8 bricks in a
course will make a flue 8 inches wide and 16 inches
long.

Cement 1 bushel and sand 2 bushels will cover 3^
square yards 1 inch thick, 43^ square yards ^ inch
thick, and 6/4 square yards >2 inch thick. One
bushel cement and 1 of sand will cover 2'4 square
yards 1 inch thick, 3 square yards -ji inch thick, and
4>^ square yards 3/2 inch thick.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

203

Number of Brick Required to Construct Any Building.
(Reckoning 7 Brick to each Superficial Foot)

Superficial

Feet

ofWaU

Number of Brick to Thickness of

4 Inch

8 Inch

12 Inch

16 Inch

20 Inch

24 Inch

1

7
15

23

30

38

45

53

60

68

75

150

225

300

375

450

525

600

675

750

1,500

2,250

3,000

3,750

4,500

5,250

6,000

6,750

7,500

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

300

450

600

750

900

1,050

1,200

1,350

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

7,500

9,000

10,500

12,000

13,500

15,000

23

45

68

90

113

135

158

180

203

225

450

675

900

1,125

1,350

1,575

1,800

2,025

2,250

4,500

6,750

9,000

11,250

13,500

15,750

18,000

20,250

22,500

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

270

300

600

900

1,200

1,500

1,800

2,100

2,400

2,700

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

18,000

21,000

24,000

27,000

30,000

38

75

113

150

188

225

263

300

338

375

750

1,125

1,500

1,875

2,250

2,625

3,000

3,375

3,750

7,500

11,250

15,000

18,750

22,500

26,250

30,000

33,750

37,500

45

o

90

3

135

4 . .

180

5

6

225
270

7

315

8

9

10

20

30 ...

360
405
450
900
1,350

40

50

1,800
2,250

60

2,700

70

3,150

80

3,600

90

4,050

100

4,500

200

9,000

300

13,500

400

18,000

500

22,500

600

27,000

700

31,500

800

36,000

900

40,500

1000

45,000

Weight of a Cubic Foot of Earth, Stone, Metal, Etc.

Article

Alcohol

Ash wood

Bay wood

Brass, gun metal .

Blood

Brick, common . . .

Cork

Cedar

Copper, cast

Clay

Coal, Lackawanna
Coal, Lehigh

Pounds Article

49
53
51

543
66

102
15
35

547

120
50
56

Cider

Chestnut

Earth, loose . .
Glass, window

64

38

94

165

Gold 1,203^

Hickory, shell bark

Hay, bale

Hay, pressed

Honey

Iron, cast

Iron, plates

Iron, wrought bars .

43

9

25

90

450

481

486

204 POOD FOR PLANTS

Weight of a Cubic Foot of Earth, Stone, Metal, Etc.

Article Pounds Article Pounds

Ice SJYz Pine, red 37

Lignum Vitae wood .... 83 Pine, well seasoned 30

Logwood 57 Silver 62534

Lead, cast 709 Steel, plates 48734

Milk 64 Steel, soft 489

Maple 47 Stone, common, about . . 158

Mortar 110 Sand, wet, about 128

Mud 102 Spruce 31

Marble, Vermont 165 Tin 455

Mahogany 66 Tar 63

Oak, Canadian 54 Vinegar 67

Oak, live, seasoned 67 Water, salt 64

Oak, white, dry 54 Water, rain 62

Oil, linseed 59 Willow 36

Pine, yellow 34 Zinc, cast 428

Pine, white 34

What a Deed to a Farm in Many States Includes.

Every one knows it conveys all the fences standing
on the farm, but all might not think it also included
the fencing stuff, post rails, etc., which had once been
used in the fence, but had been taken down and piled
up for future use again in the same place. But new
fencing material, just bought, and never attached to
the soil, would not pass. So piles of hop poles stored
away, if once used on the land and intended to be
again so used, have been considered a part of it, but
loose boards or scaffold poles merely laid across the
beams of the barn, and never fastened to it, would not
be, and the seller of the farm might take them away.
Standing trees, of course, also pass as part of the
land; so do trees blown down or cut down, and still
left in the wood where they fell, but not if cut and
corded up for sale; the wood has then become per-
sonal property.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 205

If there is any manure in the barnyard or in the
compost heap on the field, ready for immediate use,
the buyer ordinarily, in the absence of any contrary
agreement, takes that also as belonging to the farm,
though it might not be so, if the owner had previously
sold it to some other party and had collected it to-
gether in a heap by itself, for such an act might be a
technical severance from the soil, and so convert real
into personal estate ; and even a lessee of a farm could
not take away the manure made on the place while he
was in occupation. Growing crops also pass by the
deed of a farm, unless they are expressly reserved;
and when it is not intended to convey those, it should
be so stated in the deed itself; a mere oral agreement
to that effect would not be, in most states, valid in
law. Another mode is to stipulate that possession is
not to be given until some future day, in which case
the crops or manures may be removed before that
time.

As to the buildings on the farm, though generally
mentioned in the deed, it is not absolutely necessary
they should be. A deed of land ordinarily carries all
the buildings on it, belonging to the grantor, whether
mentioned or not; and this rule includes the lumber
and timber of any old building which has been taken
down, or blown down, and packed away for future
use on farm.

Hints for Farmers.

Vincent's Remedies for farm animals have been
used with considerable success for several years, and
they are recommended here as being worthy of trial.

206 FOOD FOR PLANTS

First for Horses. When horses have chills, or have
taken cold, or have colic, 15-20 drops of Aconite in a
teacup of warm water will start perspiration, and if
the horses are kept heavily blanketed, if the ailments
are not more than ordinary, they will come out of
them in good condition.

For Cattle. When cows get chilled, and if for any
reason after dropping calves, the cows appear to
shake, 15 drops of Aconite in a teacup of warm water
will start perspiration, and if the cows are kept well
blanketed, they will come out of the trouble without
further treatment, unless the ailments are more than
usual.

For Calves. A disease which has killed many fine
young animals, even under the best conditions, is
known as "scours." Vincent's cure in this case is a
teaspoonful of Essence of Peppermint in half a tea-
cup of warm water. This is to be administered after
feeding night and morning, and is almost a certain
cure, having saved the lives of many valuable
calves.

For Sheep. A disease known as "stretches,"
caused by some stoppage in the bowels, can be fre-
quently remedied by raising the sheep by its hind
legs and holding it in that position for some minutes.
In nine cases out of ten, a permanent cure is effected.
This is worth remembering on account of many
sheep having died from this cause.

FOOD FOR PLANTS

207

Relative Value of DiflFerent Foods for Stock.

One hundred pounds of good hay for sto-.k are equal to:

Articles Pounds Articles

Beets, white silesia 669

Turnips 469

Rye-Straw 429

Clover, Red, Green 373

Carrots 371

Mangolds 3681/4

Potatoes, kept in pit 350

Oat-Straw 347

Potatoes 360

Carrot leaves (tops) 135

Hay, Ei.glish 100

Pounds
89

Lucern

Clover, Red, Dry 88

Buckwheat 785^

Corn 621^

Oats 59

Barley 58

Rye 53y2

Wheat 441/4

Oil-Cake, linseed 43

Peas, dry 37^^

Beans 28

To Revive Ferns.

Nitrate of Soda dissolved in water should be given
to ferns that are small or weak, one-quarter of an
ounce of Nitrate to a gallon of water. One-half an
ounce of Nitrate to a gallon of water should be used
on plants that are large and vigorous. Soot and salt
are also good to use occasionally.

Capacity of Cisterns for Each 10 Inches in Depth.

feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
8 feet
7 feet
61/4 feet
6 feet
5 feet
41/4 feet
4 feet
3 feet
21/4 feet
2 feet

n diameter holds 3,059

n diameter holds 1,958

n diameter holds 1,101

n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds,
n diameter holds.

959

827

705

592

489

396

313

239

206

176

122

99

78

44

30

19

gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons
gallons

208 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Surveyor's Measure.

7.92 inches 1 link, 25 links 1 rod, 4 rods 1 chain, 10
square chains or 160 square rods 1 acre, 640 acres 1
square mile.

Strength of Ice of Different Thickness.

Two inches thick — will support a man.

Four inches thick — will support a man on horse-
back.

Five inches thick — will support an eighty-pound
cannon.

Eight inches thick — will support a battery of artil-
lery, with carriages and horses.

Ten inches thick — will support an army; an in-
numerable multitude.

Amount of Oil in Seeds.

Kinds of S&ed Per Cent Oil Kinds of Seed Per Cent OU

Rapeseed 555 Oats 6^

Sweet almond 47 Clover hay 3

Turnip seed 45 Wheat bran 4

White mustard 37 Oat straw 4

Bitter almond 37 Meadow hay 3y2

Hempseed 19 Wheat straw 3

Linseed 17 Wheat flour 3

Indian com 7 Barley 2%

How to Kill Poison Ivy.

Spraying with arsenate of soda (one pound to
twenty gallons of water) will kill all vegetation.
One application, if the plants are young and tender,
will do this. In the middle of the summer, however,
they should be cut down first, and more than one
application given.

FOOD FOR PLANTS 209

To Find the Number of Plants to the Acre.

Divide the number of square feet in an acre, which
is 43,560, by the multiplied distance the plants are set
each way. For instance : Suppose the plants are set
two feet apart and the rows are four feet apart.
Four times two are eight; dividing 43,560 by eight
we have 5,445, the number of plants to the acre when
set 2 feet by 4 feet. If set 5 by 1, there are 8,712
plants to the acre, etc.

Savings Banks Compound Interest Table.

Showing the amount of $1.00, from one year to
fifteen years, with compound interest added semi-
annually, at different rates:

One year

Two years

Three years

Four years

Five years

Six years

Seven years

Eight years

Nine years

Ten years

Eleven years

Twelve years

Thirteen years

Fourteen years

Fifteen years

Results of Saving Small Amounts of Money.

The following shows how easy it is to accumulate
a fortune, provided proper steps are taken. The

Three
'er Cent

Four
Per Cent

Five
Per Cent

$1.03

$1.04

$1.05

1.06

1.08

1.10

1.09

1.12

1.15

1.12

1.17

1.21

1.16

1.21

1.28

1.19

1.26

1.34

1.23

1.31

1.41

1.26

1.37

1.48

1.30

1.42

1.55

1.34

1.48

1.63

1.38

1.54

1.72

1.42

1.60

1.80

1.47

1.67

1.90

1.51

1.73

1.99

1.56

1.80

2.09

Daily Savings
One cent

The Result
$ 950

Ten cents

9,504

Twenty cents

19,006

210 FOOD FOR PLANTS

table shows what would be the result at the end of
fifty years by saving a certain amount each day and
putting it at interest at the rate of six per cent. :

Daily Savings The Besult

Sixty cents $ 57,024

Seventy cents 66,528

Eighty cents 76,032

Thirty cents 28,512 Ninety cents 85,537

Forty cents 38,015 One dollar 95,041

Fifty cents 47,520 Five dollars 4:5,208

Nearly every person wastes enough in twenty or
thirty years, which, if saved and carefully invested,
would make a family quite independent ; but the prin-
ciple of small savings has been lost sight of in the
general desire to become wealthy.

Time in Which Money Doubles at Interest.

Rate Simple Interest Compound Interest

Two per cent 50 years 35 years, 1 day

Two and one-half per cent 10 years 28 years, 26 days

Three per cent 53 years, 4 months 23 years, 164 days

Three and one-half per cent ... 28 years, 208 days 20 years, 54 days

Four per cent 25 years 17 years, 246 days

Four and one-half per cent ... 22 years, 81 days. 15 years, 273 days

Five per cent 20 years 14 years, 75 days

Six per cent 16 years. 8 months 11 years, 327 days

One dollar loaned one hundred years at compound
interest at three per cent, would amount to $19.25,
at six per cent, to $340.00.

How to Measure an Acre.

In measuring an acre by yards, the usual practice
is to lay off 70 yards in length by 70 yards in width.
This, though only approximate, may be considered
near enough for practical purposes; but as 70 yards

FOOD FOR PLANTS 211

each way encloses 4,900 square yards, this area ex-
ceeds one acre by 60 square yards.

To determine an accurate acre it may be measured
70 yards in length by 69 ^/^ yards in width. The same
result will be obtained by measuring 220 feet in
length and 198 feet in width, or by measuring 73^/4
yards in length by 66 yards in width.

Laying Out Plots.

In laying out an acre in the manner described
above, the sides of the area would be of equal, or
approximately equal length.

If the length or width of any field or plot be known,
the required width or length to enclose an acre may
be ascertained simply by dividing the known distance
in yards or feet into the number of square yards
(4,840) or square feet (43,560) contained in one acre.

A forty-rod field is 220 yards, or 660 feet, in length.

Dividing 4,840 by 220, we obtain 22, the width
in yards required to give one acre. Therefore, 20
rods (110 yards) by 22 yards would represent half
an acre; 10 rods (55 yards) by 22 yards, one-quarter
acre, and so on.

A Planter's Guide.

Showing the number of plants required to plant one acre

at various

distances apart.

Distance

No. of

Distance

No. of

Feet.

Plants.

Feet.

Plants.

1

43,560

9

537

154

19,360

10

435

2

10,890

12

302

2^2

6,969

15

193

212 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Distance No. of Distance No. of

Feet. Plants. Feet. Plants.

3 4,840 18 134
3^ 3,556 20 108

4 2,722 24 75

5 1,742 25 69

6 1,210 28 55

7 889 30 48

8 680

Tables of Weights and Measures.

Avoirdupois Weight.

16 drams =1 ounce

16 ounces = 1 pound

7,000 grains ==1

14 pounds =1 stone

100 " ^1 hundredweight

or central
20 hundredweight =1 ton

Dry Measure.

2 pints =1 quart

8 quarts =1 peck

4 pecks = 1 bushel

Liquid Measure.

4 gills =1 pint

2 pints =1 quart

4 quarts =1 gallon

A cubic foot of water weighs almost 1,000 oz., and con-
tains almost 6^4 gallons.

Surface, Square or Land Measure.

144 square inches == 1 square foot

9 square feet =1 square yard

30^4 square yards =1 square rod

160 square rods or 4,840 sq. yards =1 acre

10 square chains ==1 acre

640 acres =1 square mile

FOOD FOR PLANTS 213

Cubic or Solid Measure.

1,728 cubic inches =1 cubic foot

27 cubic feet =: 1 cubic yard

128 cubic feet =1 cord

Measures of Length.
Mile Geographical, Admiralty Knot, or Nautical

Mile, 6,080 Feet = 1.15 Mile Statute.

League = 3 Miles.

Degree ==60 Geographical, or 69.121

Statute Miles.

Inch, in =72 Points or 12 Lines.

Nail, 1/16 yd ==2^ Inches.

Palm =3 Inches.

Hand =4 Inches.

Quarter (or a Span) ==9 Inches.

Foot = 12 Inches.

Cubit = 18 Inches.

Yard = 36 Inches.

Pace, Military =2 Feet 6 Inches.

Fathom =6 Feet.

Rod, Pole, or Perch = 5^ Yards.

Chain (100 Links) =22 Yards (4 Poles).

Link = 7.92 Inches.

Cable's Length = 100 Fathoms, 600 Feet.

Furlong =40 Rods, 220 Yards.

Mile =8 Furlongs, 80 Chains, 320

Rods, 1,760 Yards, 5,280
Feet, 63,360 Ins.

Weights of Agricultural Commodities by the Bushel.

Unless a bushel by measure is specially agreed upon, it
must weigh the number of pounds set opposite each article.

Weight in
Dominion
Standard
Bushels Lbs.

Barley 48

Beans 60

Buckwheat 48

214 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Weight in
Dominion
Standard

Bushels Lbs.

Bituminous Coal 70

Blue Grass Seed 14

Castor Beans 40

Clover Seed 60

Hemp Seed 44

Indian Corn 56

Lime 70

Malt 36

Mangels 50

Oats 34

Peas 60

Potatoes 60

Rye 56

Timothy Seed 48

Turnips 50

Wheat 60

Methods Used in the Application of Nitrate.

In orchards, gardens and comparatively small field
areas, Nitrate may be conveniently broadcasted by
hand from a pail, hand-sowing hopper or directly
from the wagon box in which the Nitrate has been
brought to the scene of operations.

On larger areas — no special fertilizer sowing ma-
chine being available — the Nitrate may be rapidly
and efficiently distributed by means of the fertilizer-
sowing attachment of a modern grain drill. In this
way the Nitrate — alone or mixed with phosphate, or
potash, or both — should be drilled in usually prior to
seeding or planting. Subsequent applications of
Nitrate — if required — to the growing crops may be
topdressed by means of the same machine with disks

FOOD FOR PLANTS 215

raised sufficiently to avoid interference with the
young growing plants.

In very light applications of Nitrate greater ease
and uniformity in its distribution may be attained by
first mixing it with an approximately equal bulk of
dry, loamy soil.

The importance of applying the Nitrate early can-
not be too strongly emphasized.

How to Use Nitrate in the Vegetable Garden.

In order to obtain the full benefit from its use, the
Nitrate should be applied early — preferably by scat-
tering it broadcast over the surface soil, just before
planting — and lightly worked in by rake or hoe.

For application around growing plants the Nitrate
should, first of all, be mixed with equal or double
its bulk of dry loamy soil. This will permit its more
uniform distribution and prevent scorching of wet
foliage.

For leafy crops — especially cabbage and spinach
— further applications of Nitrate may be made at in-
tervals of a week or ten days during the early part of
the season of growth, the frequency and rate of appli-
cation desirable being indicated by the appearance of
the crop.

Rates of Application per 200 Square Feet.

For cabbage, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, spinach,
and Swiss chard. Nitrate may be applied at planting
time at the rate of 1>< pounds per 200 square feet,
with subsequent application, if and when required.

216 FOOD FOR PLANTS

For beets, carrots, onions, parsnips and radishes
a single application of Nitrate at the rate oi V/z
pounds will suffice.

For corn and tomatoes apply one pound of Nitrate
per 200 square feet.

For citrons, cucumbers, squash, melons, etc., apply
one pound of Nitrate at planting, followed, if re-
quired, by occasional smaller applications.

For beans and peas, one-half to three-quarters of
a pound of Nitrate may be applied at planting time.

Weights and Measurements.

1 oz. per square yard equals 300 lbs. per acre.

1 lb. per 200 square feet equals 220 lbs. per acrs.

2 lbs. per sq. rod (I614 ft. x 16^ ft.) equals 320 lbs. per acre.

If planted twelve (12) inches apart, 3 rows 3 feet
long would equal one square yard; or 10 rows 20 feet
long would equal 200 square feet; or 8 rows 34 feet
long would equal one square rod (16>4 ft. x 16>^ ft.),
of which there are 160 in an acre.

Analyses of Commercial Fertil

izing

Materials

.

£

1

o

1 1 .

Phosphoric acid

Name of substance

s

5
£

AvaU-
able

Insolu-
ble

Total

I. Phosphatic Manures
Apatite

36.08

7.00
4.60

35.89

Bone-black

28.28

Bone-black (dissolved)

16.70
8.28

0.30
15.22

17.00

7.47

4.12
6.20
1.70
2.60

23.50

Bone meal (free from fats)

20 10

29.90

Bone meal (dissolved) . .

13.53
0.60

4.07
27.43

17.60

S. Carolina rock (ground)

S Carolina rock (floats)

1.50

28.03

27.20

11.60

3.60

15.20

II. Potash Manures
Carnallite

13.68
23.80
13.54

8.42
52.46
45.19

2.04
38.60
23.50
16.65
18.00

5.50

1.10

1.12
1.62

Cotton-seed hull ashes

7.33
3.20
4.82
2.00
1.93
6.31
1.25
4.75
7.25
2.75
12.0C

■l3.09

' '2.43

8.50

Muriate of potash

Nitrate of potash

Spent tan-bark ashes

1 61

Sulph. potash (high grade)

Sulph. potash and magnesia ....
Sylvanite

Waste from gunpowder works..

Wood-ashes (unleached)

Wood-ashes (leached)

1.85

1.40

III. Nitrogenous Manures

9.98

6.80

12.50

12.75

10.17

7.27

12.09

7.40

1.25

6.00

8.54

1.00

13.20

10.61

9.27

5.56
6.66

10.52
7.25

13.25
4.50

10.44
4.04

15.65
2.30

12.12

20.50
6.82
2.29
5.64

2.16

Cotton-seed meal

1.45

Dried blood

1.91

Dried fish

0.45

0.35

5.20

8.25

1.83

3.52

Meat scrap

2.07

2.20

1.70

Nitre-cake

0.40

Oleomargarine refuse

0.88

Sulphate of ammonia

6.44
1.30

0.10
0.40
23.20
0.86
0.70

5.02

6.23

11.25

Tobacco stems

0.60

0.29

IV. Miscellaneous Materials

0.10

Ashes (bituminous coal)

0.40

Ashes (lime-kiln)

Ashes (peat and bog)

15.45
5.20
4.40

' 0.30

1.18

0.50

Gas lime

217

Analyses of Commercial Fertilizing Materials — Cont.

Name of substance

Phosphoric acid

IV. Miscellaneous Materials
— Cfliitinurd

Marls (Maryland)

Marls (Massachusetts)

Marls (North Carolina)

Marls (Virginia)

Muck (fresh)

Muck (air-dry)

Mud (fresh water)

Mud (from sea-meadows)

Peat

Pine straw (dead leaves or pine

needles)

Shells (moUusks)

Shells (Crustacea)

Shell lime (oyster shell)

Soot

Spent tan

Spent sumach

Sugar-house scum

Turf

1.73
18.18

1.50
15.98
76.20
21.40
40.37
53.50
61.50

7.80

19.50
5.54
14.00
30.80
50.20
19.29

0.30
1.30
1.37
0.20
0.75

0.30
0.10
6.20

0.20
1.00
2.10
1.94

1.2£

0.C4
0.4£

0.22
0.20

0.10
0.C4
0.20
0.04
1.83
0.10
0.30

0.38
1.05
0.56
0.09

0.26
0.10

0.20
0.03
2.30
0.20

0.04
0.10

Analyses of Farm Manures.

Taken Chiefly from Reports of the New York, Massachusetts and
Connecticut Experiment Stations.

Name of SubsUnce

Moisture

Nitrogen

Potash

Phos-
phoric
acid

Cattle (solid fresh excrement) . . .

* 77'.20
95.90

' 73.27

0.29
0.58
1.63
0.44
1.55
1.00
0.60
0.80
0.55
1.95
0.50
0.60
0.43

0.10
0.49
0.85
0.35
1.50
0.25
0.20
0.30
0.15
2.26
0.60
0.13
0.83

0.17

Hen manure (fresh)

1.54

Horse (solid fresh excrement) . .

0.17

Human excrement (solid)

Human urine

1.09
0.17

1.40

Sheep (solid fresh excrement) . . .

0.31
0.01

Stable manure (mixed)

0.30

Swine (solid fresh excrement) . . .

0.41
0.07

218

Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Products.

Name of Substance

Hay and Dry Coarse Fodders.

Blue melilot

Buttercups

Carrot tops (dry)

Clover (alsike)

Clover (Bokhara)

Clover (mammoth red)

Clover (medium red)

Clover (white)

Corn fodder

Corn stover

Cow-pea vines

Daisy (white)

Daisy (ox-eye)

Hungarian grass

Italian rye-grass

June grass

Lucern (alfalfa)

Meadow fescue

Meadow foxtail

Mixed grasses

Orchard grass

Perennial rye-grass

Red-top

Rowen

Salt hay

Seradella

Soja bean

Tall meadow oat

Timothy hay

Vetch and oats

Yellow trefoil

Green fodders.

Buckwheat

Clover (red)

Clover (white)

Corn fodder

Corn fodder (ensilage) . .

Cow-pea vines

Horse bean

Lucern (alfalfa)

Meadow grass (in flower)

Millet

Oats (green)

Peas

Prickly comfrey

Rye grass

Seradella

Sorghum

Spanish moss

Vetch and oats

White lupine

Young grass

8.22

9.76

9.93

6.36

11.41

10.72

28.24
9.00
9.65

' 7.15
8.29

' 6.26
9.79

Vl'.26

Nitrogen

1.92
1.02
3.13
2.33
1.77
2.23
2.09
2.75
1.80
1.12
1.64
0.28
0.80
1.16
1.15
1.05
2.07
0.94
1.54
1.37

8.84

1.31

9.13

1.23

7.71

1.15

12.48

1.75

5.36

1.18

7.39

2.70

6.30

2.32

1.16

7.52

1.26

11.98

1.37

2,14

82.60

0.51

80.00

0.53

81.00

0.56

72.64

0.56

71.60

0.36

78.81

0.27

74.71

0.68

75.30

0.72

70.00

0.44

62.58

0.61

83.36

0.49

81.50

0.50

0.42

70.00

0.57

82.59

0.41

0.40

60.80

0.28

86.11

0.24

85.35

0.44

80.00

0.50

2.80
0.81
4.88
2.01
1.67
1.22
2.20
1.81
0.76
1.32
0.91
1.25
2.23
1.28
0.99
1.46
1.46
2.01
2.19
1.54
1.88
1.55
1.02
1.97
0.72
0.65
1.08
1.72
1.53
0.90
0.98

0.43
0.45
0.24
0.62
0.33
0.31
1.37
0.45
0.60
0.41
0.38
0.56
0.75
0.53
0.42
0.32
0.26
0.79
1.73
1.16

phoric
acid

0.54
0.41
0.61
0.70
0.44
0.55
0.44
0.52
0.51
0.30
0.53
0.44
0.27
0.35
0.55
0.37
0.53
0.34
0.44
0.35
0.41
0.56
0.36
0.46
0.25
0.78
0.67
0.32
0.46
0.53
0.43

0.11
0.13
0.20
0.28
0.14
0.98
0.33
0.15
0.15
0.19
0.13
0.18
0.11
0.17
0.14
0.08
0.30
0.09
0.35
0.22

219

Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Prod. — Cont.

Name of Substance

Straw, Chaff, Leaves, etc.

Barley chaff

Barley straw

Bean shells

Beech leaves (autumn)

Buckwheat straw

Cabbage leaves (air-dried) . . . .
Cabbage stalks (air-dried) . . . .
Carrots (stalks and leaves) . . .

Corn cobs

Corn hulls

Hops

Oak leaves

Oat chaff

Oat straw

Pea shells

Pea straw (cut in bloom)

Pea straw (ripe)

Potato stalks and leaves

Rye straw

Sugar-beet stalks and leaves . .

Turnip stalks and leaves

Wheat chaff (spring)

Wheat chaff (winter)

Wheat straw (spring)

Wheat straw (winter)

Roots and Tubers.

Beets (red)

Beets (sugar)

Beets (yellow fodder)

Carrots

Mangolds .'

Potatoes

Rutabagas

Turnips

Grains and Seeds.

Barley

Beans

Buckwheat

Corn kernels

Corn kernels and cobs (cob meal)

Hemp seed

Linseed

Lupines

Millet

Oats

Peas

Rye

Soja beans

Sorghum

Wheat (spring)

Wheat (winter)

13.08
13.25
18.50
15.00
16.00
14.60
16.80
80.80
12.09
11.50
11.07
15.00
14.30
28.70
16.65

77.00
15.40
92.65
89.80
14.80
10.56
15.00
10.36

87.73
84.65
90.60
90.02
87.29
79.75
87.82
87.20

15.42

Nitrogen

14.10
10.88
10.00
12.20
11.80
13.80
13.00
20.80
19.10
14.90
18.83
14.00
14.75
15.40

1.01

0.72

1.48

0.80

1.30

0.24

0.18

0.51

0.50

0.23

2.53

0.80

0.64

0.29

1.36

2.29

1.04

0.49

0.24

0.35

0.30

0.91

1.01

0.54

0.82

0.24
0.25
0.19
0.14
0.19
0.21
0.21
0.22

2.06
4.10
1.44
1.82
1.46
2.62
3.20
5.52
2.40
1.75
4.26
1.76
5.30
1.48
2.36
2.83

0.99
1.16
1.38
0.30
2.41
1.71
3.49
0.37
0.60
0.24
1.99
0.15
1.04
0.88
1.38
2.32
1.01
0.07
0.76
0.16
0.24
0.42
0.14
0.44
0.32

0.44
0.29
0.46
0.54
0.38
0.29
0.50
0.41

0.73
1.20
0.21
0.40
0.44
0.97
1.04
1.14
0.47
0.41
1.23
0.54
1.99
0.42
0.61
0.50

Phos-
phoric
acid

0.27

0.15

0.55

0.24

0.61

0.75

1.06

0.21

0.06

0.02

1.75

0.34

0.20

0.11

0.55

0.68

0.35

0.06

0.19

0.07

0.13

0.25

0.19

0.18

0.11

0.09
0.08
0.09
0.10
0.09
0.07
0.13
0.12

0.95
1.16
0.44
0.70
0.60
1.75
1.30
0.87
0.91
0.48
1.26
0.82
1.87
0.81
0.89
0.68

220

Analyses of Fertilizing Materials in Farm Prod.- — Cont.

Name of Substance

Moisture

Nitrogen

Potash

13.52

2.05

0.44

13.43

1.55

0.34

8.93

1.63

0.49

8.85

3.08

0.99

14.20

1.68

0.65

9.83

2.21

0.54

80.50

0.23

0.13

10.63

0.75

1.08

6.52

1.89

8.10

2.62

0.15

8.53

5.43

0.05

8.98

0.98

0.11

6.12

5.40

1.16

7.79

6.02

1.16

10.28

3.67

1.60

8.19

2.25

0.66

12.54

1.84

0.81

6.98

3.05

1.55

75.01

0.89

0.05

11.01

2.88

1.62

9.18

2.63

0.63

87.20

0.58

0.17

68.80

0.58

0.09

90.20

0.58

0.19

13.60

0.12

90.10

0.64

0.09

38.00

4.05

0.29

39.80

4.75

0.29

46.00

5.45

0.20

77.00

3.60

0.52

66.20

2.50

0.24

59.70

2.66

0.17

52.80

2.00

0.90

59.10

2.24

0.15

0.32

0.12

0.30

0.43

0.16

0.24

0.20

0.25

0.27

0.25

Phos-
phoric
acid

Flour and Meal.

Corn meal

Ground barley

Hominy feed

Pea meal

Rye flour

Wheat flour

By-products and Refuse.

Apple pomace

Cotton hulls

Cotton-seed meal

Glucose refuse

Gluten meal

Hop refuse

Linseed cake (new process)

Linseed cake (old process)

Malt sprouts

Oat bran

Rye middlings

Spent Brewers' grains (dry) ....

Spent brewers' grains (wet)

Wheat bran

Wheat middhngs

Dairy Products.

Milk

Cream

Skim-milk

Butter

Butter-milk

Cheese (from unskimmed milk) . .
Cheese (from half-skimmed milk)
Cheese (from skimmed milk) . . . .

Flesh of Farm Animals.

Beef

Calf (whole animal)

Ox

Pig

Sheep

Garden Products.

Asparagus

Cabbage

Cucumbers

Lettuce

Onions

221

222

FOOD FOR PLANTS

Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land.

(Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 23,

February, 1890.)

On low and decidedly wet land :

English Blue Grass.

Yield of

Amount Hay in

Per Acre Pounds

Fertilizer Used per Acre in Pounds Per Acre

Sulphate of potash 160 3,000

Muriate of potash 160 2,950

Nitrate of soda 160 3,100

Sulphate of ammonia 130 3,600

No fertilizer 2,850

Stable manure 20 loads 2,970

Tobacco stems 4,000 4,700

Fertilizer Experiments on Meadow Land.

Timothy.

Yield of

Amount Hay in

Per Acre Pounds

Kind of Fertilizer Used in Pounds Per Acre

Sulphate of potash 160 1,900

Muriate of potash 160 2,320

Nitrate of soda 160 2,670

Sulphate of ammonia 130 2,520

No fertilizer 1,620

Stable manure 20 loads 2,200

Tobacco stems 4,000 3,350

Time Required for the Complete Exhaustion of Available
Fertilizing Materials and the Amounts of Each Re-
maining in the Soil During a Period of Seven Years.

(From Scottish Estimates.)
On Uncultivated Clay Loam.

Exhausted Per cent remaining in soil unex-
Kind of Fertilizer Used (in years) hausted at the end of each year

12 3 4 5 6 7

Lime 12 80 65 55 45 35 25 20

Bone metal 5 60 30 20 10 00 00 00

Phosphatic guanos 5 50 30 20 10 00 00 00

Dissolved bones and plain super-
phosphates 4 20 10 5 00 00 00 00

High grade ammoniated fertilizers,

guano, etc 3 30 20 00 00 00 00 00

Cotton-seed meal 5 40 30 20 10 00 00 00

Barnyard manure 5 60 30 20 10 00 00 00

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

10

75

60

40

30

20

15

4

60

30

10

00

00

00

4

50

20

10

00

00

00

3

20

10

5

00

00

00

00

3

30

20

00

00

00

00

00

4

40

30

20

10

00

00

00

4

60

30

10

00

00

00

00

FOOD FOR PLANTS 223

On Uncultivated Light or Medium Soils.

Exhausted Per cent remaining in soil unex-
Kind of Fertilizer Used (in years) hausted at the end of each year

Lime

Bone meal

Phosphatic guano

Dissolved bones and plain super-
phosphates

High-grade ammoniates, guanos.

Cotton-seed meal

Barnyard manure

On Uncultivated Pasture Land.

Exhausted Per cent remaining in soil unex-
Kind of Fertilizer Used (in years) hausted at the end of each year

Lime

Bone meal

Phosphatic guano

Dissolved bone, etc

High grade ammoniated guanos.

Cotton-seed meal

Barnyard manure

The figures given above are used in fixing the
rental for new tenants. In this country no such care-
ful estimates have been made.

Amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash
Found Profitable for Different Crops Under Average
Conditions per Acre.

(Taken Chiefly from New Jersey Experiment Stations Reports.)

Nitrogen
Pounds

Wheat, rye, oats, corn 16

Potatoes and root crops 20

Clover, beans, peas and other leguminous crops

Fruit trees and small fruits 25

General garden produce 30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

[5

80

70

60

50

45

40

35

7

60

50

40

30

20

10

00

6

50

40

30

20

10

00

80

4

30

20

10

00

00

00

00

4

30

20

10

00

00

00

00

5

40

30

20

10

00

00

00

7

60

50

40

30

20

10

00

Phosporic
Acid
Pounds

Potash
Pounds

40

30

25

40

40

60

40

75

40

60

224 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Rotation in Crops.

In the changed conditions of agriculture elaborate
systems of crop rotation are no longer necessary.
With the help of chemical fertilizers and the judicious
use of renovating crops farmers are no longer subject
to rigid rule, but may adapt rotations to the varying
demands of local market conditions.

Some American Rotations.

1. Potatoes.

1. Potatoes.

2. Wheat.

2. Wheat.

3. Clover.

3. Grass, timothy and clover.

4. Clover.

4. Grass, timothy and clover.

5. Wheat, oats or rye.

5. Corn.

1. Roots.

1. Roots.

2. Wheat.

2. Wheat.

3. Clover.

3. Clover.

4. Clover.

4. Clover.

5. Corn, oats

or

rye.

5. Wheat.

6. Oats.

Plan for T op-Dressing Experiments.

The above simple plan for Top-Dressing Experiments has been in
satisfactory use in Europe for several years. The plots may be of
any size from a square 20 feet x 20 feet, and upwards. The squares
marked O are not fertilized, and serve as check plots. The Nitrate
application recommended for a square 20 feet x 20 feet is one pound,
which is equivalent to one hundred pounds to the acre.

225

Table of Quantities of Seed Required per Acre.

Sow (if alone)
per Acre

Agrostis stolonifera — See Creeping Bent 2 bushels

Agrostis canina — See E. I. Bent 3 bushels

Agrostis vulgaris — See Red Top 3 bushels

Agrostis vulgaris — Fancy 20 lbs.

Alopecurus pratensis — See Meadow Foxtail 3 to 4 bushels

Arrhenatherum avenaceum — See Tall Meadow Oat Grass 4 to 5 bushels

Avena elatior — See Tall Meadow Oat Grass 3 bushels

Awnless Brome Grass 20 to 25 lbs.

Alsike or Hybrid Clover 8 lbs.

Alfalfa Clover 20 to 25 lbs.

Artichokes 8 to 10 bushels

Australian Salt Bush 2 lbs.

Barley Broadcast, 2 to 21/2 bushels; Drilled, IVb to 2 bushels

Beet Sugar 6 to 8 lbs.

Bermuda Grass 6 lbs.

Bromus inermis — See Awnless Brome Grass 20 to 25 lbs.

Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.

Broom Corn 8 to 10 lbs.

Buckwheat 1 bushel

Bean, Field Drilled, 1 bushel

Canada Blue Grass 3 bushels

Cynodon dactylon — See Bermuda Grass 6 lbs.

Creeping Bent or Fiorin 2 bushels

Crested Dog's Tail IV2 bushels

Cynosurus cristatus — See Crested Dog's Tail I1/2 bushels

Cow Grass — See Mammoth Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Crimson or Carnation — See Scarlet Clover 14 lbs.

Corn, Dent and Flint 8 to 10 qts.

Corn, Fodder Broadcast, 2 bushels; Drilled, 1 bushel

Corn, Pop 6 to 8 qts.

Carrots 4 lbs.

Cotton 15 lbs.

Dactylisglomerata — See Orchard Grass 3 bushels

Douras 8 to 10 lbs.

English Blue Grass — See Meadow Fescue .' 2V2 bushels

English or Perennial Rye Grass 21/2 to 3 bushels

Festuca elatior — See Tall Meadow Fescue 21/2 bushels

Festuca heterophyUa — See Various Leaved Fescue 3 bushels

Festuca ovina — See Sheep's Fescue 2^/2 bushels

Festuca ovina tenuifolia — See Fine Leaved Sheep's Fescue 3 bushels

Festuca pratensis — See Meadow Fescue 21/2 bushels

Festuca rubra — See Red Fescue 21/2 bushels

Festuca duriuscula — See Hard Fescue 21/2 bushels

Fine Leaved Sheep's Fescue 3 bushels

Flax Seed 1/2 to % bushel

Fiorin — See Creeping Bent 2 bushels

Grasses, Permanent Pasture Mixtures 3 bushels

Grasses, Permanent Pasture Clover for above 10 lbs.

226

FOOD FOR PLANTS 227

Sow (if alone)
per Acre

Grasses, Renovating Mixture 1 bushel

Grasses, Lawn 5 bushels

Herd's Grass (of the South) — See Red Top 3 bushels

Herd's Grass (of the North) — See Timothy Vi to 1 bushel

Hungarian Grass — See Hungarian MUlet 1 bushel

Hard rescue 21/2 bushels

ItaUan Rye Grass 3 bushels

June Grass— See Kentucky Blue 2 to 3 bushels

June Clover — See Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Japan Clover 14 ll>s-

Johnson Grass 1 l^ushel

Jerusalem Corn ^ J^^^-

Kaffir Corn 8 to 10 lbs.

Kentucky Blue Grass 3 bushels

Lupines 2 to 3 bushels

Lolium itaUcum — See Italian Rye Grass 3 bushels

Lolium perenne — See English Rye Grass 2V2 to 3 bushels

Lucerne — See Alfalfa 20 to 25 lbs.

Lespedeza striaU — See Japan Clover 14 l^s-

Meadow Foxtail 3 to 4 bushels

Meadow Fescue 21/2 bushels

Mammoth or Pea Vine Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Medicago sativa — See Alfalfa 20 lbs.

Millo Maize — See Douras 8 to 10 lbs.

MiUet, German and Hungarian 1 bushel

Millet, Pearl, Egyptian, Cat-Tail or Horse Millet

Drills, 5 to 6 lbs.; Broadcast, 8 lbs.

Millet, Japanese Drills, 10 lbs. per acre; Broadcast, 15 lbs.

Mangels 6 to 8 lbs.

Melilotus alba — See Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.

Onobrychis sativa — See Sainfoin 3 to 4 bushels

Orchard Grass 3 bushels

Oats 3 bushels

Parsnips 6 lbs.

Poa nemoralis — See Wood Meadow Grass 2 bushels

Poa pratensis — See Kentucky Blue 2 to 3 bushels

Poa trivialis — See Rough Stalked Meadow Grass 1 Vi bushels

Poa arachnifera — See Texas Blue Grass 6 lbs.

Poa compressa 3 bushels

Phleum pratense — See Timothy Vi to 1 bushel

Potatoes 12 to 14 bushels

Peas, Field 3 bushels

Peas, Cow 2 bushels

Pea Vine Clover — See Mammoth Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Perennial Red Clover — See Mammoth Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Rape, EngUsh 2 to 4 lbs.

Red Top 3 bushels

Red Top, Fancy 20 lbs.

Rhode Island Bent 3 bushels

Red or Creeping Fescue 21/2 bushels

Rough Stalked Meadow Grass 1 V2 bushels

Red Clover (Common or June Clover) 10 to 12 lbs.

Reana luxurians — See Teosinte 6 to 8 lbs.

228 FOOD FOR PLANTS

Sow (if alone)
per Acre

Rye 1 Vi bushels

BuUbaga 2 to 3 lbs.

Sorghum Halapense — See Johnson Grass 1 bushel

Sweet Vernal — true perennial 3 Vi bushels

Sheep's Fescue 21/2 bushels

Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass — See Kentucky Blue 2 to 3 bushels

Sweet Clover — See Bokhara Clover 10 lbs.

Scarlet Clover 14 lbs.

Sainfoin 3 to 4 bushels

Sorghums 8 to 10 lbs.

Sugar Beet 6 to 8 lbs.

Sugar Canes 8 to 10 lbs.

Sunflower 4 qts.

Swedish Clover — See Alsike 8 lbs.

Soja Bean % bushel

Texas Blue Grass 6 lbs.

Tall Meadow Oat Grass 4 to 5 bushels

Tall Meadow Fescue -.2V2 bushels

Timothy or Herd's Grass of the North V2 to 1 bushel

Trifolium pratense — See Red Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Trifolium pratense perenne — See Mammoth Clover 10 to 12 lbs.

Trifolium repens — See White Clover 8 lbs.

Trifolium incarnatum — See Scarlet Clover 14 lbs.

Trifolium hybridum — See Alsike Clover 8 lbs.

Teosinte 6 to 81/2 lbs.

Turnips 2 to 3 lbs.

Turnips, Rutabaga, Russian or Swedish 2 to 3 lbs.

Vetch, Spring (Tares) 2 bushels

Vetch, Sand or Winter 1 bushel

Various Leaved Fescue 3 bushels

Wood Meadow Grass 2 bushels

White or Dutch Clover 8 lbs.

Wheat 1 Vi bushels

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INDEX

PAGE

Acre, How to measure an 210

Agricultural commodities by the bushel, Weight of . . . . 213

Alabama cotton prize experiments, Report on 35

Alfalfa 100

Alfalfa, Grades of 99

Amount of barbed wire required for fences 189

Amounts of available fertilizing materials remaining in

soil 222

Amounts of nitrogen found profitable for different crops 223
Amounts of phosphoric acid found profitable for differ-
ent crops 223

Amounts of potash found profitable for different crops 223

Analyses of commercial fertilizing materials 217

Analyses of farm manures 218

Analyses of fertilizing materials in farm products 219

Appearance of nitrate of soda 7, 9

Apple growing areas of U. S. A. Commercial (Map) .... 132

Apple growing in the United States 131

Apple trees at State Agricultural Experiment Stations,

Results of investigations on fertilizing of 148

Apple trees, Pruning of 138

Apple trees. Spraying 141

Apples and apple trees, Diseases of 140

Apples and apple trees. Insects infesting 140

Apples, Benefits to be secured by the use of nitrate of

soda on 142

Apples, Climatic requirements of 133

Apples, Cultivation of 137

Apples, Establishing the orchard 135

Apples, Fertilization of 145

Apples, Harvesting 144

Apples, Instructions for using nitrate of soda on 146

Apples, Productive orcharding 152

Apples, Soil requirements of 133

Apples, Thinning 139

Apples, Varieties of 144

Application of nitrate, Methods used in the 214

Applications of nitrate to cotton. Early versus late 46

230

INDEX 231

PACE

Available fertilizing materials remaining in the soil.

Amounts of 222

Available fertilizing materials, Time required for com-
plete exhaustion of 222

Availability of nitrogen from different sources, Twenty

years' work on 171

Availability of nitrogen in various forms, Comparative 20

Average annual rainfall in the United States 189

Avoirdupois weight 212

Barbed wire required for fences, Amount of 189

Barometers, Farmers' 200

Benefits to be secured by the use of nitrate of soda on

apples 142

Blasting caliche. Method of (Diagram) 9

Bricks, Number required to construct any building. . . . 203

Buckwheat 109

Builders, Facts for 202

Burbank, What he said 129

Bushel, Weights of agricultural commodities by the. . . . 213

Business laws in brief 195

Business rules for farmers 190

Buy fertilizing materials, How and where to 22

Calcium 125, 127, 128

Caliche, Unrefined nitrate of soda 10

California, Soils and other factors in relation to crop

production in 116

California, Some concrete facts on fertilization in 121

Capacity of cisterns for each 10 inches depth 207

Carrying capacity of a freight car 192

Catch crops 24

Chemical composition of soils 25

Chemical properties of nitrate of soda 9

Chile, "Caliche" or nitrate found in 10

Chile saltpetre, another name for nitrate of soda 7

Cisterns, Capacity of for each 10 inches depth 207

Citrus growing in California 113

Citrus in California, Formula for 116

Citrus in California, Instructions for using nitrate of

soda on 115

Classification of Tobacco 48

Clay loam, Chemical composition of 26

Clay soil. Chemical composition of 26

Climatic requirements of apples 133

Clover 100

Commercial apple growing areas of U. S. A. (Map) 132

232 INDEX

PAGE

Commercial fertilizing materials, Analyses of 217

"Complete Fertilizers" 16

Composition of soils, Chemical 25

Concrete facts on fertilization in California, Some 121

Constituents in cotton crop, Fertilizer 36

Content of food for plants 5

Content of nitrate of soda 7, 9

Contents of explored and estimated contents of unex-
plored deposits of caliche (Diagram) 11

Corn experiments, New York State 58

Corn, Fertilizers for 53

Corn, How deep in the ground to plant 191

Corn in crib. How to measure 194

Corn, Sweet 57

Cost of transportation of fertilizers 187

Cotton and fiber plants 34

Cotton prize experiments. Report on Alabama 35

Cotton, Purebred seed for 42

Cotton weevil. How fertilizers beat the 44

Cow peas 100

Cranberry soils. Leaching of soluble fertilizer salts from 75
Crop production in California, Soils and other factors

in relation to 116

Crops take out of the soil in pounds per acre, What

various 122

Crop yields due to the use of 100 pounds of nitrate of

soda. Increased 162

Cubic or solid measure 213

Cultivation of apples 137

Currants 65

Data on yields of cotton experiments in Alabama 39

Deed to a farm in many states includes. What a 204

Diseases of apples and apple trees 140

Dried Blood 125

Dry measure 212

Early versus late applications of nitrate to cotton 46

Eggs, How to preserve 201

Elements in food for plants 5

Elements of plant food. Principal 27

Establishing the apple orchard 135

Estimating measures 201

Exhaustion of available fertilizing materials. Time re-
quired for complete 222

Experiments at Corona, California, on oranges 113

Experiments, New York State on corn 58

INDEX 233

PACE

Experiments on meadow land, Fertilizer 222

Experiments on sugar cane in Porto Rico 78

Experiments, Plan for top-dressing 225

Facts for builders 202

Facts for the weatherwise 199

Facts on fertilization in California, Some concrete 121

Farm, How to rent a 196

Farm manures. Analyses of 218

Farm manure and other products are valuable, Why. ... 28

Farm products. Analyses of fertilizing materials in. . . . 219
Farm products, Relation of prices to prices of nitrate of

soda 162

Farmers' barometers 200

Farmers, Business rules for 190

Farmyard manure compared with nitrate of soda 24

Fences, Amount of barbed wire required for 189

Ferns, To revive 207

Fertilization of apples 145

Fertilization in California, Some concrete facts on 121

Fertilization of apple trees at State Agricultural Exper-
iment Stations, Results of investigation on 148

Fertilizer constituents in cotton crop 36

Fertilizer experiments on meadow land 222

Fertilizing materials. Analyses of commercial 217

Fertilizing materials in farm products. Analyses of 219

Fertilizing materials remaining in soil. Amounts of

available 222

Fertilizing materials. Time required for complete ex-
haustion of available 222

Fibre plants. Cotton and 34

Fish meal 126

Flowers 72

Food withdrawn by crops. Plant 161

Foods for stock. Relative value of different 207

Formula for citrus in California 116

Formula for corn 63

Formula for cotton 48

Formula for currants 65

Formula for flowers 74

Formula for golf links 71

Formula for grapes 68

Formula for lawns 71

Formula for meadows 71

Formula for oats 107

Formula for raspberries 65

234 INDEX

PAGE

Formula for rye 109

Formula for strawberries 67

Formula for tobacco 52

Formula for wheat 105

Freight car, Carrying capacity of a 192

Functions of gypsum 128

Functions of nitrate, of potash and of phosphoric acid. . 31

Functions of nitrogen 125

Garden crops. What fertilizers to use on 20

Garden, How to use nitrate in the vegetable 215

Golf links 69

Golf links, Formula for 71

Golf links, Instructions for using nitrate of soda on. . . . 70

Gooseberries 65

Grades of alfalfa 99

Grades of hay 97

Grades of straw 99

Grain will shrink, How 191

Grapes 67

Greenhouse plant food 68

Green manure 123

Guide, A planter's 211

Gypsum 127

Gypsum, Functions of 128

Harvesting apples 144

Hay, Grades of 97

Hay in mow. How to measure 194

How deep in the ground to plant corn 191

How grain will shrink 191

How money crops feed 27

How to measure an acre 210

How to measure corn in crib, hay in mow, etc 194

How to preserve eggs 201

How to rent a farm 196

How to treat sunstroke 195

How to use nitrate in the vegetable garden 215

Ice of different thicknesses. Strength of 208

Increased crop yields due to the use of 100 pounds of

nitrate of soda 162

Insects infesting apples and apple trees 140

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on apples 146

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on citrus in Cali-
fornia 115

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on corn 63

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on cotton 47

INDEX 235

PAGE

Instructions for using nitrate o£ soda on flowers 74

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on golf links. ... 70

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on grapes 68

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on lawns 70

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on meadows 70

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on oats 107

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on rye 109

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on tobacco 51

Instructions for using nitrate of soda on wheat 105

Investigation on fertilization of apple trees at State

Agricultural Experiment Stations, Results of 148

Investigations relative to the use of nitrogenous fertil-
izer materials 165

Land measure, Surface, square or 212

Late applications of nitrate to cotton. Early versus. ... 46

Lawns 69

Laws in brief. Business 195

Laying out plots 211

Leaching of soluble fertilizer salts from cranberry soils 75

Legumes, Action of micro-organisms with 12

Length of navigation of the Mississippi River 193

Length, Measures of 212

Liquid measure 212

Loam, Chemical composition of 26

Manure, Green 123

Manures, Analyses of farm 218

Manures and fertilizers, Quality of 28

Meadow land. Fertilizer experiment on 222

Measure an acre, How to 210

Measure, Cubic or solid 213

Measure, Dry 212

Measure, Liquid 212

Measure, Surface, square or land 212

Measure, Surveyor's 208

Measures, Estimating 201

Measures of length 213

Measures, Tables of weights and 212

Methods of refining nitrate of soda 11

Methods used in the application of nitrate 214

Micro-organisms, Action of with legumes 12

Mississippi River, Length of navigation of the 193

Money crops feed, How 27

Money doubles at interest. Time in which 210

Money on fertilizers. How to save 17

Money, Results of saving small amounts of 209

236 INDEX

PAGE

Most important and effective element o£ plant food,

Nitrate is the 6

Natural plant food, Sources of 33

Nitrate in the vegetable garden. How to use 215.

Nitrate of lime 125, 127

Nitrogen found profitable for different crops, Amount of 223
Nitrogen from various sources. Twenty years' work on

the availability of 171

Nitrogen in agriculture, our leading industry. The

position of 81

Nitrogen, Percentage in nitrate of soda 7

Nitrogen recovered in crops. Percentage of 180

Nitrogen withdrawn per acre by an average crop, Num-
ber of pounds of 161

Nitrogenous fertilizer materials, Investigation relative

to use of 165

Number of plants to the acre. To find the 209

Number of pounds of nitrogen withdrawn per acre by

an average crop 161

Number of pounds of phosphoric acid withdrawn per

acre by an average crop 161

Number of pounds of potash withdrawn per acre by an

average crop 161

Number of years seeds retain their vitality 194

Oats 105

Oats, Formula for 107

Oats, Instructions for using nitrate of soda on 107

Occurrence of nitrate of soda 7

Oil in seeds. Amount of 208

Orange groves in Florida Ill

Oranges, Experiments at Corona, California on 113

Orchard, Establishing the apple 135

Orcharding, Productive 152

Percentage of nitrogen in nitrate of soda 7

Percentage of nitrogen recovered in crops 180

Philosophical facts 197

Phosphate rock, Where found 6

Phosphates 16

Phosphatic fertilizers. How to apply 22

Phosphoric acid found profitable for different crops.

Amount of 223

Phosphoric acid in superphosphate or acid phosphate.

Soluble content of 6

Phosphoric acid withdrawn per acre by an average

crop, Number of pounds of 161

INDEX 237

PAGE

Plan for top-dressing experiments 225

Plant food withdrawn by crops 161

Planters guide, A 211

Plants to the acre. To find the number of 209

Plots, Laying out 211

Poison ivy. How to kill 205

Position of nitrogen in agriculture, our leading in-
dustry 81

Potash found profitable in different crops. Amount of. . 223

Potash, Percentage in wood ashes 6

Potash withdrawn per acre by an average crop, Number

of pounds 161

Predigested nitrogen. Nitrate is 28

Preserve eggs. How to 201

Prices of farm products. Relation to prices of nitrate of

soda 162

Principal elements of food for plants 27

Productive Orcharding 152

Pruning of apple trees 138

Purebred seed for cotton 42

Quality of manures and fertilizers 28

Quantities of seed required per acre 226

Rainfall in the United States, Average annual 189

Raspberries 65

Reference table for vegetable seed sowers 229

Relation of prices of farm products to prices of nitrate

of soda 162

Relative value of different foods for stock 207

Rent a farm. How to 196

Report on Alabama cotton prize experiments 35

Results obtained by scientists. Summary of 13

Results of investigation on fertilization of apple trees

at State Agricultural Experiment Stations 148

Results of saving small amounts of money 209

Rotation in crops 224

Rules for farmers, Business 190

Rye 107

Rye, Formula for 109

Rye, Instructions for using nitrate of soda on 108

Sandy loam, Chemical composition of 25

Sandy soils, Chemical composition of 25

Save money on fertilizers. How to 17

Saving small amounts of money. Results of 209

Savings bank compound interest table 209

Scientists, Summary of results obtained by 13

238 INDEX

PAGE

Seed for cotton, Purebred 42

Seed required per acre, Quantities of 226

Seed sowers, Reference table for vegetable 229

Seeds, Amount of oil in 208

Seeds retain their vitality. Number of years 194

Silage 56

Small fruits 64

Small fruits, Fertilizer for 19

Soiling 56

Soil requirements of apples 133

Soils and other factors in relation to crop production in

California 116

Soils, Chemical composition of 25

Solid measure, Cubic or 213

Sources of natural plant food 33

Sources of nitrogen 7

Sources of phosphoric acid 5

Sources of potash 6

Spraying apple trees 141

Square measure 202

Square or land measure, Surface 212

Stable manure, Content of . 20

Stock, Relative value of different foods for 207

Strawberries 65

Straw, Grades of 99

Strength of ice of different thicknesses 208

Sugar cane in Porto Rico, Experiments on 78

Sugar cane in Porto Rico, What nitrate did for an acre of 78

Sulphate of ammonia 125

Sulphur 125, 128

Sulphur, Ground 128

Sunstroke, How to treat 195

Surface, square or land measure 212

Surveyor's measure 208

Sweet corn 57

Thinning apples 139

Time in which money doubles at interest 210

Time required for complete exhaustion of available fer-
tilizing materials 222

Tobacco 48

Tobacco, Classification of 48

Tobacco at Kentucky experiment station, Experiment on 51

To find the number of plants to an acre 209

Top-dressing experiments. Plan for 225

Transportation of fertilizers, Cost of 187

INDEX 239

PAGE

Twenty years' work on the availability of nitrogen from

various sources 171

Unexplored and explored nitrate ground in Chile

(Diagram) 10

Value of different foods for stock, Relative 207

Varieties of apples 144

Vegetable garden, How to use nitrate in the 215

Vegetable seed sowers, Reference table for 229

Vegetables, Fertilizers for 19

Weevil, How fertilizers beat the cotton 44

Weight, Avoirdupois 212

Weight of a cubic foot of earth, stone, metal, etc 203

Weights of agricultural commodities by the bushel 213

Weights and measures, Tables of 212

What a deed to a farm in many states includes 204

What nitrate did for an acre of sugar cane in Porto Rico 78
What various crops take out of the soil in pounds per

acre 122

Wheat 101

Wheat crops, How increased by nitrate of soda 24

Wheat, Formula for 105

Wheat, Instructions for using nitrate of soda on 105

Wood ashes. Percentage of potash in 6

Yields due to the use of 100 pounds of nitrate of soda.

Increased crop 162

Yields of cotton experiments in Alabama, Data on 39