Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-10-25
WHEAT FERTILIZERS.


Elements Required For Good Crop I'm.
provements Suggested.
There are sold il the eastern states
not less than so different brands of fer
tilizcrs or phosphatcs which the manu-
facturcrs claim are especially adapted to
the needs Of the wheat plant. The com
position of these fertilizers varies con-
siderably, as shown by the analyses
made at the experiment stations. A
writer in The American Agriculturist
finds, however, that the large majority
Of the fcrtil GERS contain about the fol-
lowing percentages Of the tmee essen-
tial elements of plant food: Nitrogen,
? per cent; nitrogen expressed us am
mOnia, ? y per cent; phOsphOric acid,
available, Sper cent; potash, ? per cent
1t will be noticed that in these fertilizers
there is only one-quarter as much nitro
gen as phOsphoric acid. About 250
pounds are usually applied Per acre,
which furnishes the quantities Of the
plant food shown in the last column.
Now let us consider what quantities Of
these elements are required by good
crop of wheat. There is contained in 30
bushels Of wheat and its ?, zoo pounds
Of straw, SO pounds Of nitrogen, 22la
pounds Of phosphOric acid and - pounds
of potash.
The amount Of nitrogen contained in
the crop and tho amount furnished by
the fertilizer is widely different If 500
pounds Of fertilizer be applied instead
of 300, the crop is usually increased but
this increase cannot be due to the phOs-
phoric acid furnished by the additional
amount of fertilizer, as the smaller
quantity furnished practically all of this
element that the crop could use. The
increase is, therefore, due either to the
extra amount Of nitrogen or potash. 1t
has been found that on good wheat land
potash is not required except III very
small quantities, there being al album
dant supply OH such soils. On light,
sandy land a larger quantity of potash
usually results in an increase of crop.
We must conclude, therefore, that it
was the nitrogen that produced the in
creased yield. 1t is well known that
barnyard manure produces better results
! as rule than commercial fertilizers
| This the writer quoted thinks is account
ed for when we consider that manure
contains twice as much nitrogen as it
does phOsphoric acid, while the average
fertilizer contains just the opposite to
this-twice or three times as much
phosphoric acid as nitrogen. In order
to make up for the lack of nitrogen in
the wheat fertilizer, it certainly is not
] nn,,,,,,,x~ a.,
tity of the material and thus waste the
phosphoric acid and perhaps the potash
that the extra quantity contains. Nor i.
it usually economical to use fertilizer
that contains more nitrogen, as sucf
fertilizers are sold at high prices, max
ing the nitrogen in them cost from q
to % cents per pound. 1t Is therefore
better to apply i'll connection with tn,
nitrogen some material that will furnish
nitrogen at the least expense.
We are told that the two most con
venient forms of nitrogen to use are III
trate of soda and sulphate of ammonia
1t has been found, however, that TIT
latter substance does not produce q
good results as does nitrate of soda, anC
since the nitrate can be bought consid
erably cheaper than the sulphate Their
is no object i'll using the latter FIT.
! pounds of nitrate of soda per acre in ad
dition to $50 pounds of wheat fer.ilize
will produce remarkable results, an
even at the present low price Of whea
will usually be very profitable invest
ment The nitrate can be mixed wit
the fertilizer and drilled i'll with tn
grain, or if mixed with dry loan,
sowed broadcast.