The Wilmington daily Republican., 1902-01-10
INTEREST TO CHANGERS
and FARMERS.

on every subject pertaining to til
grange and farm.
While driving through section 0
8. New Castle County last fall | noticet
a farmer as he emptied a bag of phos
: phate, take a sample Of it> and SEA
carefully. Then l learned he wa
$granger and that all the granger
in that section did the same and sen
tthe samples for analysis to DeIawar.
college, to see if the fertilizer was u
70 the standard for which they paid
XWho will say the grangers did not ACT
fesely?
s1n an interview on fertilizers, S. II.
-,.Derby, Of Woodside, Master of the
State Grange says:
Some years ago it was thought that
Ohe chemists could take a sample of
Soil from field and analyze it and
tell the farmer just what fertilizer
TO use to MAKE his land productive.
The chemist now says that is impos.
Sibleand the reasons as he gives them
are plain to be understood by any
Farmer who has kept at all in touch
with modern farming. The land
Jtself now Is relied upon to make the
analysis and the farmer is the chemist
Most farms vary in their soils and
not all tieldscan be treated exactly
alike. From this fact has come about
that many farmers buy not mixed fer
tilizers but the fertilizing material
such as nitrate Of soda, fish scrap,
dried blood sc. for nitrogen supply:
the German potash salts and wood
ashes for potash. animal bone, fossil
bone, Stag phosphates etc. for plos-
phoric acid. 81
These materials the farmer mike.
and uses, may be the three el emcnts
may be only two and perhaps applied
only one as the soil and cropdemands.
TO Illustrate IA little: a clover crop
only requires phosphate. and phosphor-
1c acid. The clover gets from the airl
(at no cost to the farmcD not only the
nitrogen the clover plant needs but
an excess than can be used in grow.
ing other crops. In growing sweet
potatoes, potash lsmainly needed, and
while all three elements are usually
used, phosphoric acid and nit rogen
're usually used in small supply. In
middle Kent the practice has grown
OF using nitrogenin the form of nitrate
of soda, in order to quickly start the
plant into growth and to haye the {
potatoes started into growth at once,
then the crop will be of Il size and not
little and big as would be the result ,
of using a form of nitrogen that {
slowly came into shape for the plant ,
10 use in mid season and perhaps not t
nntil'the crop ought to be rpening |
lnstegd of making vines and caves l
These two illustrations simply show C
that every farmer can be the plac- l.
tical chemist. lie may 60 on with
every crop and every soil and make a
tests that IL the results are properly p
read will furnish the true analysis of
The soils. lie must in making the n
readings take into account all the fac 81
tOrs, such as time fertilizers were ap- t,
piled, the physical condition of the
;oils when applied. 1t is recog nized "
act that farm yard manures usually II
give better crops than result from Il
ertilizers even when theSame amount h
\ real fcrtiizing material is used in q
tch case. Why? That question has tc
In referred to the soil and the tu
nSwer has been that when the same tl
mount OF vegetable matter has been
lSaU With thn nouhmnr. fort ;Iiynu, ; p
S with the farm yard manures the OF
eSult was the same. One Of the ways ht
hat the vegetable mattcrcan be Oh
aimed to combine with the CONNER til
ial fertilizer is to put tile fertilizer Y
n the clover or other leguminols pa
rops then permit the fertilizer to re
row the clover and then plow it to
own. How easy the crimson clover
N Is itself to that method. Put the r;
,rtilizer on the cloves in the fall and WI
efore such crops as corn and the like m
'puire the land the clover has made er
S full growth andtilled the soil with az
'getable matter and all this growth lie;
hile the poor tired farmer was tax 1t
g his winters nap and rubbing the ar
md out of his eyes on his wake in
le spring. ,r
So much for the fer tilizcrs them til
Ives and their uses, and it is barely Iii
'uching what is known, and what m
known is proDably but little to ar
hat will be knownin thcnear future tic
any problems there are to solve and
any Ofthem the farmers should and ap
obably must solve for hims elf. w
lille the uses lof commercial fer fire
izers touch the pocket and great pc
Wings can be made in their proper ON
c, there is great loss in buying Gee
rtilizcrs on crop time. a little igur acl
& will show those who buy that an'
" that they ale paying as high as AM
per cent for the use of the money. Vel
, farm in Delaware can afford to Of
y such interest. Probably very few toe
rmers have studied the fertilizer pei
siness enough to understand that gr:
ey are paying a percentage. In for
1t few farmers by themselves will {
the amount Of studying need ed. orc
1t only that question but host or eac
ler economic questions are taken fro
and studied In the grange and pru
len no member of the grange can enc
We the expert outside aid is called ing
to help. The experts sometimes Spl
] give definite advice. sometimes gra
" set the patron tc thinking for hay
nself and to set the farmer tor !
mixing is the most practical educa- yol
n the grange can give, orc
At the meeting of the Diamond ing
tie Grange held in Stanton Hall Th
Monday and the following officers dis
re elected, w. Master, Edward sen
lOdWard: w. OYerSeGr. William obs