, 1876-10-28
THE VALUE OF COMMERCIAL
FERTILIZERS.
From tie New York Herald.)

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Perhaps tillers Of the soil excepting a few
Of theml are not aware that commercial fer
tiIizers may be employed to impoverish land,
in many instances, without exerting any per-
ceptible effect on the growth and development
of crop plants. The fact will be perceived
more impressively where the soil consists of a
light, sandy loan, than when the land is
composed largely of clay and calcareous ma
t~erial. The condition of the soil will often be
in such a low state of fertility that a generous
dressing with commercial manure will not
increase the growth Of crops even when the
season, rain and sunshine are all as favorable
as could be desired. Farmers were once &C.
cus.omed to suppose that a ton of commercial
fertilizers applied to impoverished land would
augment the yield Of grain just as many
bushels per acre as the same quantity would
do if applied to q richer soil. But we'll con-
Quoted experiments have proved that the more
a soil has been impoverishe the less valuable
would be the action of commercial fertilizers
by way OF developing crop plants. Hence
agricultural chemists are beginning to Under
stand that the agricultural value of a fprIili-
ger will depend ON the condition Of the land
under treatment, and that one of It's consli.
tuerts will exert The greatest effect which Is
most wanting in the soil by The plants under
CuIliyation. The amount and relative proper
ton Of the active plant food in the soil will
control the yield Of crops, provided that wea-
ther and climate are favorable. 10 secure
the highest possible yield will require sufficient
manure to eSable The plant to fin at any pc.
riod Of growth the largest amount of each
kind Of plant food they are capable Of turning
to account. When the grain is sold from two
thirds to four.ifjhs of the phosphorio acid alb
stracted from The soil is lost for the next crop,
and SO on year after year. Considering also
that this loss is but slowly made good by
natural agencies, the final results cannot be
doubtful. The general condition Of farm lands,
regarding their present reduced store Of active
phosphorio acid, will alone account for the
rapid and universal Endorsement Of phOsphOrio
fertilizers, for it is contrary to The teachings Of
exact experimental inquiry to ascribe to phos-
ph0ric acid a particular virtue over any other
essential element of plant food. Not only are
potash, phO3poriu acid, nitrogen, lime, &c,
essential, but, according to trustworthy ex-
periments, they are Of equal importance {;
which means, that in case one is wanting as a
general rule, the rest cannot act. The fact
that of two crops which require the same plant
food one continues to yield satisfactorily after
the other has failed does not contradict these
statements. 4 close examination in such
cases will show that these crops either live
upon different elements of soil or their
roots are more or less capable of absorb
ing the available plant food. They have
more fne ~rootlets or they spread over a larger
area. for the absorption of plant food by roots
depends largely on the surface they present to
the soil. Hence, the first step by way of
renovating an impoverished soil will be to
develop a generous supply of humus and
humic acid, after which commercial fertilizers
may be used with satisfactory profit.