The Opelousas courier., 1892-01-23
EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS.

EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS.
FARMERS IN the older States are spend
ing millions of dollars annually for CON.
herclai fertilizers. IN this country, as
n Europe, they have become an absolute
necessity on WORKOUT soils; but to make
them profitable it is necessary that they
should tit the wants of the soil and crops
for which they are used. If a farmer
buys potash for land which abounls In
potash but needs phosphoric acid, he Of
course losses. The fundamental prinds
pie in the use of commercial fertilizers
is to select those materials which supply
in the best forms and at the lowest cost
the plant food 5fhieh the crop needs and
the soil fails toE5furnish.
In order to enable farmers to find out
the wants of their own soils and the best
way OF supplying them, and at the same
time to get light upon the properties of
soils IN different sections of the country,
a number of experiment stations are in
PRODUCING soil tests with fertilizers,
which are largely conducted both by the
stations and also by individual farmers
on their own farms. OF course many Of
the experiments are failures, but many
practical men who have engaged in this
work have declared that they have thus
learned a great deal which is practically
useful and highly instructive.
The results of these tests in general
show that e'soils vary greatly in their
capabilities of supplying food to crops.
Different ingredients are deficient in
different soils. The best way to learn
what materials are proper in any given
case is by observation and experiment.
The rational method for determining what
ingredients of plant food a soil fails to
furnish in abundance, and how these un-
furnished materials can be most economl-
cally supplied, is to put the question to
the soil with different fertillzing mate
rails, and get the reply in the crops pro-
duced. The chief use of fertilizers IS to
supply plant food. It is good farming
to make the most of the natural resources
of the soil and of the manures produced
on the farm, and to depend upon ar
tiicial fertilizers only to furnish what
more is needed. 1t is not good economy
to pay high prices for materials which
the soil itself may yield, but it is good
economy to supply the lacking ones in
the cheapest way"
Probably the most valuable practical
work that these experiment stations have
done has been to analyze these various
commercial fertilizers which are offered
for sale by manufacturers. In some Of
the States, in New jersey, for instance,
the fertilizers are analysed, and the
qualities Of chemicals found in each
sample compared with what the manu-
facturer claimed that the composition
contained. So as to make this perfectly
plain, the money value of the chemicals
found in each sample is noted, and COM
pared with the price charged by the
manufacturers. Some startling results
have been shown. One fertilizer selling,
say, at S25 per ton would be found to
have a value of $28; another, selling at
$40 a ton, would be foand to be worth
only S15; and in one instance | recall
the manufacturer charged S43 a ton fol-
his complete fertilizer, aud the chemist
found that its actual value was only
So. SO. Bulletins like these have GER
tainly done great good, for they have
warned farmers from buying inferior
chemicals, and they have compelled man.
ufacturers to keep their compositions VI
to the advertised standard. When there
is more universal education among the
farmers it will only be necessary to ex-
press the values of fertilizers ia chemi-
cal terms. We have the authority OF
the United States Agricultural Depart
ment for the statment that in the States
where experiment stations have long
been established the greater number oil
the farmers now need nothing more than
these chemical terms to guide them in
selecting the special fertilizers needed
il given cases.-Harper's Weesly.