The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-09-05
Profitable CrOp Feeding,


As rule, it is considered poor policy
to grow any kind of a crop without
proper feeding There are cases, how
ever, where the manure supply is scant
and cannot well be roplenished. What
shall we do with tho amount at,ur dis
posal? This is a problem with many
farmers With view to assist in solv-
ing this problem, r. Greiner has the fol-
lowing to say in his book, practical
Farm Chemistry:"
The same quantity of plant foods
needed for the production of 30 bushels
of wheat would be sufficient for that OF
165 bushels of potatoes or 40 bushels
of corn, GOO bushels of apples or other
fruits in proportion, or several hundred
bushels of beets or carrots or other veg
etables in proportion. Thus a certain
amount of plant food in the form of
wheat will give us, say, $50; i'll the
form of apples, perhaps $3.50; in the form
of peaches or strawberries, perhaps $500.
This shows plainly how foolish it would
be to stint orchard and small fruit patch
es in order to put the manure ON the
wheatfield. If we had no fertilizer or
not enough, it will often pay to pur-
chase it for the orchard or strawberry
field, when it would be matter of
doubt whether we could afford to buy
it for making wheat of it.
Thus in many cases it is with pota-
toes. We might see our way clear to
purchase manure for potato growing and
make it pay, while we could not use it
for wheat production without loss.
Plant foods seldom have a greater COM
mercial value than in the form of mar
ket garden corps In this form they can
be expected to give us the highest re-
turns.
Ontr the florist, the nurseryman and
the seedgrowcr know how TO transform
plant foods into articles of still greater
commercial value. No principle is of
greater Importance than this-that our
raw materials of plant food should al
ways be used for the manufacture of
those among the crops we grow which
will bring us the most money
Another fundamental principle is this
that the use OF complete fertilizers in
wolves "a waste in all cases where the
soil already contains an abundance Of
one or two Of the chief elements Of
plant food and requires only the sup
Elementary addition of the missing one
or two elements to give us all the re-
suits we could expect from the complete
fertilizer. Another principle requires
the use of plant foods in most readily
available condition for crops that devel-
op and mature in short period. This
applies especially to nitrogen and phos
phoric acid. Spinach, radishes, lettuce
and similar crops that come to perfec
ton in few weeks need soluble food.
Trees and shrubs can in time utilize
plant foods that are not Immediately
available. Winter wheat sometimes pro-
duces as good yield on floats as on SUI
perphosphate, etc.
OF not less Importance is the observa-
ton that a slight excess of phosphoric
acid tends TO hasten the maturity Of
any crop. For this reason it is always
prudent to apply some superphosphate
to crops requiring long season, such
as tomatoes, melons, corn, etc. As the
last principle barnyard manure, al
though perhaps just what is wanted
otherwise, may be Objectionable for GER
tain crops, such as strawberries, onions,
etc, on account Of the weed seed it con-
tains.