The Tupelo journal., 1906-11-23
Mr.. Thomas Kane Talks Of
Fertilizers and Their Uses.
Editor Tupelo Journal,
City.

Editor Tupelo Journal,
City.
Dear Sir
The note of warning sounded
by one of the most prominen
farmers of this section, Mr.. J
w. Yarbrough, and which recent,
lily appeared in the columns Of
your valuable journal, may not
be amiss for a little supplement-
ing.
Perhaps the most. important
topic for discussion by those who
follow up, or make the pursuit of
Agriculture their profession or
business, naturally would be,and
doubtless is, the successful cult
walton of the soil: how to get the
most from the land without de-
preciating it's value or decreas-
ling its productiveness are ques-
tons that have confronted scien-
tifc minds the whole world over,
and which the farming class have
been trying to respond. for a
number of years.
Chemistry teaches us that
plants consist of number of ele-
ments, all of which, excepting
three, are abundantly supplied
by nature, and plentifully found
in all soils except where they
have not been Wantonly used.
That there is a difference in the
quality of soil is well known to
all, but why is it that we find
one piece. of land rich and anotk.-
er piece poor? What makes the
difference between them? 1t is
because onepiece contains all the
elements of plant food in abund-
ance, while the other does not.
Commercially one piece may be
worth just as much in dollars and
cents as the other. Agricultur-
ally one piece,is worth a great
deal more than the other one is
productive, the other is not. Why
should this be SO? Because the
work Of nature, while sure, is
slow, and the years Of practical
experience and observation with
farming industries have demon
strated beyond every shadow of
doubt, this important fact, that
we can, and do exhaust the nat
ural resources of the soil much
more rapidly than nature sup
plies them, thus it is that we are
enabled to find, here one pieceof
land rich and another piece poor,
rich with the elements Of plant
food, poor because they have
been exhausted.
From time immemorial We have
saved all the waste products Of
the farm, returning the same
back to the land because we con-
sidered them both beneficial and
necessary, yet a determination of
the constituent parts of matter
proves to our satisfaction that
they are only@ valuable for the
quantity and quality of plant
food contained therein.
The use of the manures on the
farm is a candid admission that
something is wanting to compen-
safe for the drain on the soil
caused by constant cropping year
after year, and you who derive
a benefit from this small amount
of plant food contained in such
manures, how much more bene
fetal it would be to use a bounti-
full supply of artificial manure or
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER,
containing as they do, twenty
times more plant food than the
other? Besides, Commercial Fer
tllizers, when properly compound
ed, are in a state of soluhility III
the soil and ready for assimila-
ton bys the plant at once, while
the other relies on the slow work
of nature, decomposition must set
in before the plant gets any nour-
ishment whatever. Just as you
value farm manures as plant
food, so you must value in proper
portions artificial manures, for
all, whether guano, fertilizer or
manure or any other name you
choose to call them, are intrins-
ically Worth no more and no less
than the amount OF plant food
they represent.
In selecting or purchasing fer
tilizers, remember, the name of
the firm or the high sounding
!nane5of the brand, are no critic
rion Of its value as an agriculture
asset.
Here are three points for you
to watch:
LIST The anyalsis on the bag
denotes, in plain English the
exact number of pounds of plant
food you get in every bag, and
the one that gives yod the most
available plant food for your
money would De the one for you
to patronIZe.
End. ses that the mechanical
condition is such, as will give you
no trouble in distributing them,