The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1903-12-24
Agriculture
FERTILIZERS OF Glover.

OF agriculture, Professor Hopkins talk
ed as reported BY Farmers Voice, We
quote
"To the ordinary farmer OF ordinary
person. who has not studied the ques-
ton OF commercial fertilizers, they
know only the one tsrm Commercial
Fertilizers Now, commonly a com.
meieial fertilizer is a material which
contains about TO ) per cent Of the
element nitrogen, sometimes as high as
6 per cent, TO ) per cent Of the Gle.
ment potassium and to 5 per cent Of
the element phosphorus, amounting
really to more than "a per cen. OF all
three Of these elements OF plant food
and the other S. per cent Of an absolu.
,ely waste material. Or il may be sim
ply a s,imulant that has been added,
which serves to exhaust the soil
causes il to give up what It has-sueh
as gypsum or land plaster. However,
the materials OF that sort which are
commonly sold as fertilizers are not
worth half their cost. The element
nitrogen can be obtained from the at
mosphere at very much less expense
than il can be obtained in poor form
Of fertilizer, think | am perfectly safe
in saying that Investigations now prove
without doubt that nitrogen can be
obtained from the air by the practical
farmer at cost of less than l cent per
pound and cannot be bought in com
mercial fertilizers at less than IS cents.
1t seems to me that there is no ques-
ton but what we should rule out that
element completely as one which far
mers in general practice ought never to
buy. 1t may be that it proiitably can
be bought for market gardening, for
use on land near the city, which is
worth thousand dollars an acre and
where the crop is worth $500, but on
the general farm lands ii should not be
bought.
Following Prof. Hopkins talk came
an interesting discussion. One Of the
editors asked:
| observed that you put the cost of
nitrogen to the farmer where he secur-
ed it through the growing of legumes
as cent pound. Does nitrogen ac-
tually cost cent pound where the
legumes are grown as soilng crops or
cut feed? Or in other words, is it not
true that the crop Of legumes pays for
all expenses incurred in getting the nj
trogcn into the soil,
Prof. Hopkins 1t certainly does,
and many times over. | am glad that
question was asked. II is one of the
things that we want to do, and we want
the press to help us to do. namely, to
convince the farmer that the cheapest
method of securing nitrogen is byl
growing legumes. In many cases clov
er is the most satisfactory. Seeing an
acre of clover will cost not to exceed ST.
and this will reeult in the adding of
100 pounds of nitrogen to the acre.
This nitrogen has commercial value
of IS cents per pound. Show the far
mer that he is getting fortune by the
very act of the labor of putting it in the
soil. The fact that farmer can sow
clover seed in his oats for ST an acres
'ometimes75 cents, and occasionally
only 50 cents, ought to convince any
one familiar with agricultural condi-
ions, that it is profitable practice.
It is difficult to get farmers to do this,
'ut before long they will see the value
If such practice. Clover seed also can
DC sowed in corn when it is laid by, at
bout the same cost. The clover seed
AN be put in with five-hoe drill. This
$ a substitute for the last cultivation.
t takes the place of the cultivator and
osts nothing but the seed and usually |
will produce from seventy-fve to 100
POUNDS of nitrogen to the acre"
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