The Republican., 1895-03-07
AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.
In Crop Feeding in Progress at the
horticultural Supply Co.'s
Greenhouses.

Probably no subject with which
the farmer has to deal is so little
understood by him as crop feeding,
and yet none is so important, none
where he can lose more money by
giving in excess those elements of
plant food with which his land is
already well supplied, or in falling
to supply the one element which is
lacking and thus prevent the crop
from using those elements Of which
there is a great abundance. For
example, certain field IS LAC 49,
in potaSh, having only s''nssgsh g1fasssh 81
that element IN the soil to make i
ten bushel crop of corn. Haying
failed to get satisfactory crops by
the use of stable manure (Which is
deficient in potash) a neighbor,
whose land probably has plenty of
potash but is lacking in phospho-
rous, tells him of what a fine crop
he produced by the use of "phos-
phateS," and forthwith he applies
from S. to S25 worth of phosphate
per acre. Whatever the amount,
he might as we'll have burned the
money so far as immediate results
were concerned, for only a ten
bushel crop OF corn can be raised
with equally favorable seasons and
Uniform tillage until more potash
is available or applied, and true
phosphate has none whatever. Nei-
ther has true phosphate any
nitrogen, and the term should never
be used to indicate fertilizer con-
tanning either potash or nitrogen.
In the case mentioned, if the
farmer had known what his soil
lacked and what his proposed crop
required Of each element like
investment would have made him a
GO to so bushel crop with the same
tillage and season, provided of
course. there was present nitrogen
and phosphate acid enough for such
a crop.
The question at once presents
itself, GLOW may the cultivator
know what each crop requires or
what each of his fields is most lack
ing in?" The answer to the first is
comparatively simple, because
plants are always about the same in
composition and consequently
chemists have analyzed them and
made tables showing just what the
finished crop contains. For exam
pie, crop of corn go bushels of
shel(ed) contains in the grain about
22 pounds of nitrogen, 9 of phos-
phoric acid and 6 of potash, while
the stalks contain only nine OF
nitrogen but III of phosphoric
acid and 73 of potash. To show
the great difference in the require
ments Of different crops, let us take
another example. Glover requires
for two and half ton crop 96
pounds nitrogen, 2S phosphoric
acid and SO potash, and this differ
ence is more real than apparent
from these figures for all of the
clover family through the action of
minute organisms (Which any far
mer can see for himself like little
eggs adhering to the roots) secure
their whole supply of nitrogen from
some other source, supposed to be
the air and leave the soil richer in
that element than they found it,
besides supplying in the case of a
heavy crop of clover, about $40
worth of fertility in addition. 1t
will also be seen from the above
that as nitrogen costs four times as
much as potash and twice as much
as phosphoric acid it makes very
great difference what is sold off a
place aid what is fed-four-fi -fifths
being retained in the latter case If
all yoidings are carefully absorbed
and housed till returned to the
land. Of course this point can be
carried still further and the plants
be fed according to their require
ments at different stages of their
growth which vary as much or more
than the requirements of animals
when growing, at work or idle.
The second question, what does