Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1913-07-03

farm manures available Is much too
small. Besides, the constituents con-
tanned in such manures, being in part
but slowly available, are less useful
than the more active forms contained
In commercial fertillzing materials.
Market garden crops are In sense
artificial crops and, as n rule, need
artificial supplies Of plant food.
Fruit culture, an industry Of grow
Ing Importance, is profitable, particu-
larly on the poorer soils near the east
ern markets, largely in proportion to
the amounts of the mineral elements
applied in excess of those contained in
soils otherwise well adapted to the
crops. A proper supply of food not
only enables the trees to resist unfa.
vorable conditions, but improves the
quality of the fruit and prolongs the
bearing period Of the orchards and
vineyards.
1t will be thus seen, that commercial
fertilizers can be used most advan-
tageously either In reinforcing farm
manures in general or in providing a
generous supply Of quickly available
plant food in specialized, intensive
farming. 1t should be the aim in ap-
plying such fertilizers to supplement
rather than to replace entirely the
manurial resources of the farm, for
the best results from their application
may be secured only on soils well
stocked with organic matter (humus),
a material that can be maintained in
the soil only by the systematic appli.
cation Of the bulky barnyard or green
manures.
Nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash
are the constituents most likely to be
deficient In soils or most quickly ex-
hausted by the production and removal
Of crops. They are known as lessen.
tia" fertilizing constituents, and the
value Of commercial fertilizer Is de-
termined almost exclusively by the
amount and form of the nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash which 1t
contains. 1t does not follow, however,
that all soils or crops will respond
equally to applications of materials
containing these elements, for the
needs Of soils and the requirements of
crops vary.
Soils differ as to their needs for
specific fertility elements, owing ell
ther to their method of formation or
to their management and cropping. A
sandy soil is usually deficient In all
the essential plant food constituents
nitrogen, phosphoric acid ana potash
while cleyey soil usually contains
the miners; elements in abundance,
particularly potash. On the other
i,mnd, soil very rich in vegetable
matter is frequently deficient in min.
eral matter, while limestone soil Is
likely to contain considerable proper.
lions of phosphoric acid.
These are the Indications in a gen,
eral way, and they explain why it is
that different kinds of soil that have
not been cropped differ as to their
need of the different fertilizing con
stituents. ..
Methods Of management and crop
ping also exert an influence. For ex
ample, soils of equal natural fertility
may not respond equally to uniform
methods of fertilization, because IN
the one case n single-crop requiring fol
its growth proportionately more of one
Of the essential elements than of an
other is grown year after year, and Il
may be that the element required /,
the one that exists in the soil in leas
quantity.
On the other hand, crops may bt
grown that demand but minimum
amounts of the element In question.
Summarizing the conclusions of sci
ence and practical experience in regar,
to the use of commercial fertilizers, |
may be said:
First = Commercial fertilizers ar
mainly valuable because they furnisl
the elements - nitrogen, phosfhori
acid and potash-whlch serve as food
not as stimulants.
Second.-The kind of farming in tn
past and the demands for special prod
ucts In the present make their use nee
essary m profitable farming.
Third. IN order to use them pro6tO
bly, the farmer should know
(al That nitrogen, phosphoric aci,
and potash are the essential manuria
constituents.
(b) That the agricultural value o
these constituents depends largel
upon their chemical form.
(c) That these forms are containe
In specific products Of well define
character and composition and may b
purchased us such from dealers an
manufacturers and may be mixed SUI
cessfully on the farm.
Fourth.-The agricultural value OF
fertilizer bears no strict relation I
the commercial value. The one Is dC
termined by soil. crop and cllmati
conditions, the other by market an
trade conditions only.
Flfth.-The variations in the compC
sltlon and value Of manufactured fel
tillzers which contain the three essel
tial constituents are due to variation
In the character and In the proporlo
OF the materials used
Slxth.-The ton basis alone is not
safe guide in, the purchase of thes
commercial fertilizers, Low ton price
mean either low content of good form
of plant food or the use of poor'
forms. Fertilizers, high grade both
quality and quantity of plant foo
cannot be purchased at n low price p,
: ton.
Seventh. THE best fertilizers cann
, exert their full effect on soils that II
too dry or too wet. too compact or I,
: porous. They cnn furnish but one
, the conditions OF fertility.
! Eighth.-The kind and amount 10 n
| ,sh IA, -