NV he practicable, it is best to avoid storage by hauling the manure directly to the field: and spreading it upon land occupied by plant.. Fri m II) to 40 tow. per acre is usually applied. Moderate applications at frequent intervals are referable to large but infrequent application:, except when the purpose 1s to warm the soil to force early crops. The forcing effect of fresh ma nure renders it k tter suited to tarty garden truck. grasses. and forage plants than to phut: grown for seed. such a. cereals. Direct appliva th ns to no. t crops. such as suzar beets. potatoes, or tobacco. often prove injurious. This result can. n, a rule. he avoided by applying the manure -cane month. bef• re the planting cf the cr. p or by usinz only well-rotted manure. Barnyard manure is it t applied to fruit tree: with the .atrie good results a. in case of other crops. It doe. not stimulate fruitin.: to the same extent a. the mineral fertilizer:. This i: probably due to the fact that it is r in t• tat and available n inert! constituent: and comparatively rich in nitro.zen, which tends 0, prow. to the gr. wth • f the tative rgans• its ten leney twirl; to duce Large growth but n poor quality of fruit. ••1 a rule, tier, fore. the best result: are likely to be • btained by using barnyard manure in ei n nettion with commereia 1 fertilizing materials. in psinn, etc.. either in con post 19 v.) rr rtrately.
Othi r natura l of impor tance are pe It ashes IT] v ), vio• 1 hh-h stain- on an average 7...1 per ci 1..t .ten.
1rt of ph. side, ric aeid and . cet•t f 1.1.1 . hair waste. e-..ntaining 7 r cent if nitre _•• n an 1 less thin I r cent r f spt ••ri • ei 1: felt waste with ahout •••• per cent. of nitro gen r w ith at» ut r ••• nt. of g. n. These sadist me.: Ire principally valuable I. r t' •n they •••• wain. t lit this is very sloedv av ail Ode to 1.1 in.: aid nee not of great v due.
There is a el ass of so) stain es usedr f• rtil itinz purposes %%hi. b is intermediate in character tween the natural r ir••• pr. per and arti gr gg r g rg 1.1 I. I/sr tar A firiff • bt in lair r r . • rg t d y I • r 'r'• t a r Ig r t * r • f WI, ft, t.
• • • r prg .
f •' 1 r r r r 1r -1 r .
c r ir 1 rti r r 1 • 1 r •• / • " the :source and availability of the essential con stituents of fertilizers. especially of the organic nitrogen. it is often desirable to purchase the unmixed materials, either for use separately or to be mixed on the farm as required.
To nsc fertilizers to the best advantage it is necessary to take into consideration a variety of conditions, ;trilling the more important of which are the character of the fertilizer itself, the char acter of the buil and it• previous manuring and cropping. the climate, and the crop to he grown. In general, concentrated fertilizers prove most profitable on: (1) soils in good physical condi tion. i.e. well tilled and abundantly supplied with humus: and 121 high value crops, such as are grown in markct•gardening. Different classes of farm crops vary in their fertilizer requirements.
growing beets and mangels; soluble phosphates in abundance for the turnip; and potash for po tatoes, white and sweet. That is, while the fertiliz ers should contain all three elements, individual crops, because of their peculiarities of growth. re quire certain fertilizing constituents in greater relative amounts and in immediately available forms. Fruit trees are slow-growing plants and therefore do not need quiek-aeting fertilizers as a rule. Highly soluble manures. such as nitrate of soda, are likely to be washed out of the soil without being utilized. For this reason the use of nitrate of soda is not advised except where the growth of nursery stock is to be forced or where bearing trees exhibit a lack of luxuriance in foliage. The old and still common practice of fertilizing fruit trees every few years with slow The cereals, maize excepted, and grasses are simi lar in their habits of growth, and arc able to utilize comparatively insoluble forms of mineral plant food, but are 11111C11 benefited by nitrogen. especially nitrates, applied in time to carry them through the period iireeeding maturity. 11 is for
the latter reason that nitrogen has been termed the ruling or dominant element for this class of plants. Leguminous pl a nt ,.—elover, peas, beans. etc.—which are capable of acquiring nitrogen partly from the air, make liberal use of the min eral constituents, especially tintash and lime. Fertilizers for such plants should therefore eon fain an abundance of the mineral constituents only, potash being the dominant element. Root and tuber crops require an abundance of all the fertilizing constituents in readily available forms. Of the three (lasses of fertilizing constituents, the nitrogen is especially useful for the slow ly decomposing manures, such as barnyard ma nure, leather waste, horn refuse, wool waste. leaf mold, tobacco stems, etc., Ls thus seen to have more or less of a scientific basis. Frequently, however, it is desirable to stimulate the growth and fruitfulness of the trees. and for this pur pose more active fertilizing materials than the above are needed. In selecting and mixing the latter the fact. that fruits are potash feeders should be taken into consideration. The fertilizer requirements of small fruit.: are similar to those of orchard fruits, but. being as a rule more rapid growers, they can utilize to advantage heavier applications of soluble fertilizing materials and do not derive the same benefit as orchard fruits from slowly decomposing manures, It may he said that in general crops grown on soils poor in decaying vegetable matter (humus) are as a rule benefited by applications of nitrog emus manures, while those grown upon soils well supplied with this substance are more bene fited by phosphates and potash. Upon heavy soils phosphates are likely to be more beneficial than nitrogen, while the reverse is the ease on light dry soil. Sandy soils are as a rule de nt in potash, while clayey soils contain this element in larger quantities. Deep-rooting crops with long seasons of growth are able to ac quire the necessary plant food where shallow rooted and short-season crops would suffer. As regards the different forms of fertilizing mate rials it may be said that nitrates and soluble phosphates should be applied only a short time before they are required by the plant. Potash salts, ammonium sulphate, organic nitrogenous matter, and insoluble phosphates. being less like ly to be converted into less available forms or leached out of the soil, may be safely applied weeks or even months before they are needed. In general farm practice the best results are likely to be obtained in the use of fertilizers by applying them systematically, i.e. by adopting a combined system of rotation and manuring which is adapted to the given conditions of crop, climate, and season, and which provides for the utiliza tion to the best advantage of the home and local supplies of manures.
The preparation and use of commercial fer tilizers on an extensive scale practically dates from the announcement of Liebig's theory of plant nutrition in 1S40 and the publication about the same time of the results of Lawes's experi ment on the preparation and use of superphos phates as a fertilizer. Since that date the in dustry has grown to enormous proportions. It is estimated that over $50,000,000 worth of ferti lizers are annually consumed in the United States alone. This large and rapidly growing industry is snider strict legal supervision for the pre vention of fraud. Every State in which com mercial fertilizers are used to any great extent has provided for fertilizer inspection.
The composition of the more important mate rials used in the preparation of fertilizers is shown in the table on the preceding page.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Sempers, Manures—How to Bibliography. Sempers, Manures—How to Make and- to Use Them (Philadelphia, 1893) ; Ai kma n, Mannres, and Manuring (Edin burgh and London, 1894) ; Roberts, The Fertility of the Land (New York, 1897) ; Storer, Jur/cul ture (New York, 1S97) ; Voorhees, Fertilizers (New York, 1898) ; Brooks, Agriculture, vol. ii. (Springfield, Mass., 1901) ; United States De partment of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletins 21, 44. See GREEN ANURING ; BONE FERTILIZERS; GUANO.