The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-11-20
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS

fIie- 1ito
Fertilizers were discussed at length
at the opening of the Extension School
Thursday morning. 1t was shown how
the use of fertilizers rests ON a firm
basis today, since the growth of plants
and their food requirements are pretty
well understood. At one time il was
believed that plants lived on rain wat
er; this erroneous belief gave way to
one that air and water combined could
support plant life and in turn this was
supplanted by the belief that IL the
particles of soil could be made fine,
the plant in some way could take them
through the roots and digest them
very much as a piece Of meat Is d.
gested Not knowing how the plant
actually obtained its food the use Of
fertilizers naturally had no sound bas-
Is. These ideas have all been replaced.
The rapid increase in the past of the
fertilizer industry is proof that the
practice Of using commercial forms of
plant food Is both practicaI and profit
able. But Is 1t as practical and profita-
BILE as 1t ought to be? Does the aver
age person have as clear an idea as he
ought of what his soil needs; of the
best methods of adding the proper
forms of plant food; and whether he is
|putting back enough or too much?
These are big problems and require not
the work and experience of one man
but that of many men. Seasons vary
and SO the experience of one man for
one particular year may be worthless
but the work and accurate records OBJ
tanned by our experiment stations
through series of years cannot be
considered too highly. The combined
results of many years eliminate the
differences.
Despite the use of fertilizers, many
farms are annually becoming poorer.
1t Is because the wrong kinds are
used, because they are used in insult
flcient quantities or because some 9TH
er factor Of soil fertility has been neg
lected when faith has been put in COM
mercial fertilizers.
THE SiLO AND SlLAGE
In his talk on "The Silo and Silage"
at the Extension School, w. II. Palmer
emphasized the great advantages OBJ
tanned by the stock farmer who is us
Ing the silo. 1t not only enables the
farmer to get the greatest amount of
roughage from an acre, enabling him
to carry from 25 to 30 per cent more
crop has been properly put In the slo
1t furnishes succulency which is very
Important factor In winter feeding
Where the silage Is used as a part OF
the ration, especially with cattle. II
not only produces larger gains but les
sens the cost of producing the gain.
On almost every farm the corn crop
Is one of the most important crops
A great deal Of time and hard work are
devoted to getting good stand, cult
vating and harvesting Should not the
farmer then do everything possible tC
utilize this crop? II he has silo he
can utilize all the corn crop. There
was time when land was cheap and
the abundance OF coarse feed at hand
had little market value. Under these
conditions 1t was not a serious matter
II part OF the corn crop was lost. Al
and feeds high In price. conditions are
quite different. When the ears of corr
are husked In the ordinary way, ant
the fodder is left In the field only from
go to 20 per cent OF the food value o
the corn crop Is In the ears, while 81
to 40 per cent remains with the fodder
II Is impossible to realize nearly al
the value of the fodder, even II tn,
best of care Is taken to preserve it,
MANURE
Some fundamental facts regarding
the use of manure were emphasized II
the soil fertility lecture at the Exten
sion School Thursday afternoon. ]
Is surprising to note the value of tn,
elements of plant food in manure whel
they are figured up on the same basi
as their cost In commercial fertilizer
Manure has commercial and an agrl
cultural value. The commercial valu
can be said to be determined by tn,
amount of plant food which 1t contains
lnamuch as the plant food in manur
! and In commercial fertilizers is tn
I same, II Is reasonable to apply tn
same valuation to each In this wa
4 the value OF manure ON commerclu
i basis is around $2.25 per ton. The as
! ricultural value OF manure Is deter
mined by what Il will produce meai
ured In terms of crops In the rotaatlol
o This vaue may be more or less tina
n the commercial value.
j. A few OF the things which help ,
increase the agricultural value ,