Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-07
ARTIFICIAL MANuRes. FOR GARDENS.
Advice Applicable Alike to Amateur Gull
tivators and Market Gardeners.

tivators and Market Gardeners.
Amateur cultivators of suburban gar
dens meet with frequent failures, while
the market gardeners around them are
reaping golden harvests. Two difficult
ties, as rule, present themselves to the
gardeners of small plots; first. the garden
is not arranged for horse culture, and
spade work Of short regular trenching
cannot compare in thoroughness with the
breaking down by large pillow and a
pair Of heavy horses, fCsspwed by a
spring toothed harrow and home made
plank drag. The second difficulty is
that of procuring manure, and at best it
is disagreeable to handle and not nearly
so convenient as the commercial manures
which are now made in such a thorough
manner by reliable firms.
Many of our most successful farmers
have demonstrated that they cen grow
better and cheaper crops by using the
concentrated fertilizers on the vegetables
and letting the accujnulations of animal
manures go upon their grass lands. But
a thin sprinkling of commercial fertilizer
will not make a garden rich.
A Virginia gardener Of successful re-
pute stated in a recent issue of Garden
and Forest that he uses from 600 to / 200
pounds per acre of the best rawbone su-
perphosphate, and for some crops mixes
in portion of nitrate of soda and sui
phate of potash. For peas and beans
the superphosphate and a little potash is
best; for radishes and lettuce superphos-
phate and nitrate of soda, which is also
good for the cabbage crop; but for these
a top dressing of nitrate of soda en-
courages a rapid growth and enables
them to outgrow the worms.
In using artificial manures in the gar
den he does not apply them broadcast.
All his vegetable crops are planted wide
enough apart to allow of horse cultiva-
ton. In buying fertilizers he advises
amateurs to deal with the manufacture
ers and never buy less than 200 pound
sack, even if the garden is very small.
The manufacturer can supply first
class superphosphate for $50 to S95 per
ton, probably the latter price if bought
by the single sack, but the little packages
of fertilizers sold by seedsmen usually
cost about four prices.
In one of the recent bulletins of the
Cornell university it was shown that an
article sold by a leading scotsman under
the name of Economic Seed Manure" in
fancy packages at the rate of $4,000 pc,
ton was really worth but little over $50
per ton. 1t is best, therefore, to buy seed
from a scotsman whom you are sure you
can trust, but buy your fertilizers from
a reliable manufacturerer, and. let some
one else pay for the fancy packages. A
superphosphate made from raw bones or
bone black is preferable to one made
from South Carolina fossils. This last
can be bought for S16 to SIG per ton; the
raw bone phosphate at $50 is more salts
factory for vegetables.
A rank odor in fertilizer is often de-
ceptive. 1t does not require large per
centage of ammonia 30 exhale strong
smell if it is in volatile condition. and
the fertilizer which has the most pun
gent ammoniacal smell is the one to
avoid, because it is rapidly depreciating
in value. But there are other and more
worthless substances used in many fer
tilizers merely because they offend the
for manufacturers know that
SO many people judge this article by the
smell that they CRAFTY this prejudice
with old leather, fish acraps and the like.
Shun 'ammoniated" superphosphates;
you can ammoniate it more cheaply and
better yourself by adding nitrate of soda,
and you can add the sulphate of potash
for such crops as the legumes and leave
out the nitrogen. 1t is, therefore, de-
sirable and cheaper to get these three
separately.