The Nevada County picayune., 1916-02-10
. THE USE OF COMMERCIAL FER
 ERS-HISTORY.

give a complete history of the use of commercial fertilizers, but only to show how this great industry began and grew in the Southern United States Generally speaking, the far mers of this generation inherited the habit of applying fertilizers 10 soils, 1 but have not been taught the underly- ing principles of The industry.
 The use of some kind of manures on soils with crops for the purpose of in creasng the yields goes back 10 an cient times. We know that many an cient people applied animal manures to their soils for this purpose. The Chinese centuries ago, applied ma nures of various kinds to their soils and gardens and with phenomenal re suits. In Von Tshudi's Travels in Pc ru we find that as early as the middle of the last century notes were being taken on the actual value of Guano by the Peruvians.
 Bousingaut speaks of seeing fields in Peru on which wheat had been grown every year for two centuries. and the yield still high and the grow CTS prosperous
 The practice of using mineral ferti llzers was introduced direct from Pc ru the United States in the year 1S4s, and was based on such reports as we find above. It had already been used in England before it found it's way into the United States, but Peru seems to be the country in which the application Of minerals te soils as plant food originated. We do not know this is true, but all evidence points 10 this. It Is of greater interest to us therefore that we know about the customs in Peru.
 The first man in the Southern States to use this Peruvian guano was David Dickson, of Sparta. Ga. who saw an advertisement of 1t in the old Ameri- can Farmer published in Baltimore The South has perhaps never had more successful farmer than David Dxon who made many millions of dollars farming, and who was a piO- neer in many other lines as well as in the use of mineral fertilizers. In the year lS46, the year after it was intro duced into the United States, he bought three sacks and used it, and on find ing that 1t paid him, bought 1t in in- cressing quantities till the year 1855 and 1856. when he went into it fully. As Is suggested above this is no doubt the first instance of the use of con. Cautratad m fartili7ar Op aottOp in the United States.
 The universal success with which MT Dickson met in the use Of this Pc ruyian guanO led many other promi- nent farmers to follow his example. and in every reported case. success followed It's use. We are constrained 10 believe that the way that the app'i- cation of this mineral fertilizer to the cotton anu other crops in the South could not possibly have been an accl- dent Its success was unquestionahy based on the actual needs of the soIl quickly available manure was what the crop needed. and when this was once applied results were evident.
 After time il was found that the Peruvian guanO, which contained prin- cipally nitrogen. produced too much stalk and not much increase in the yield of fruit ard hence It's use was somewhat discouraged for a season.
 About this time the war between the States began, and at the same tune the discovery of the potash beds of Germany also. the offering on the market of various kinds of mineral fertilizers resulting from the teach ings of on Liebig of Germany, who was at that time the greatest cham. pon in the world of agriculture and it's possibilities. As a result the pop ularity of Peruvian guano subsidod and more study was given to the gen eral question of the use of mineral mauures both by farmers themselves and the students of agriculture
 Two great contributing factors to the rise of the fertilizer trade in the south are first the abolition of slav- ery, and second. the rise of agricul. tural education. Before the war the question of land was secondary lt growing farm crops in the South wore the land out" there were plenty Of slaves to take in Tore land" It was cheaper to take in land than to pay for any artificial manure In lS62. the Morrill, Bnl passed Congress
 resting agricultural colleges In the various states after which there be gan a campaign for improving meth ods fin agriculture, Experiments at public expense were begun on small scale, and the public was induced to make greater use of plant foods of all ! kinds, as well as to improve methods of tillage This. of course. caused an immediate increase in the use of min eral plant foods. and out of which grew demands for great quantities of fertilizers From this great demand