Sharp County record., 1916-03-31
6. FERTILIZERS AND THE HOME
GARDEN.

IA Aulu tudI VIC upCu W hhoW
quite well always put on his garden
plot sack of guano and three or four
loads of stable and other kinds of
barnyard manure. His garden cover
ed about one-fifth of an acre, and was
good land to begin with. In fact, he
had selected a good, rich spot of
ground for his garden. The fertilizer
he applied amounted to thousand
pounds per acre, and the barnyard ma
nure to about seven or eight tons. Of
course, he grew a good garden, as
most people do, and yet he often won
dered why his garden was so much
better than other parts of his farm.
He was good farmer and made plen-
ty of everything, and to spare. He
knew that he made liberal applica-
tions Of fertilizers and manures to
his garden, but was never quite will
ing to acknowledge that these made
all the difference in the yields.
Our gardens are usually the rich
est spots on the farm, and are SO only
because we make them so by fertili-
cation and cultivation. Every acre in
the average farm could be made just
as rich if we tried to make it so. We
do not consider sufficiently the fac
tors which make fertile land. We do
not strive to do intensive farming,
but rather make it as extensive as
our acres will allow. When we wish
to make an additional bale of cotton,
or bushel Of corn, we take in more
land instead Of enriching what is al
ready under cultivation.
DR.. L. H. Bailey has given in his
book, "The Principles Of Vegetable
Gardening" some valuable sugges-
tions on the use of commercial fertil-
izers. "The kind and amount Of fer
tilizers," he says, "are to be deter
mined by several circumstances: (D
The earliness or quickness with which
the crop is to be obtained; (2) the
intensity of the operations to which
the man is committed; (3) the char
acter Of the land as regards tilth and
texture; (4) the character Of the land
as regards richness in plant food; (5)
the kind or species Of crops to be
raised" Whatever the condition Of
| the land or the nature Of the crop,
it must be fertilized If the gardener
meets with success. Competition in
the truck-growing business can be
met in no other way than by liber-
ally fertilizing the ground on which
the crops grow. DR.. Bailey has wise
ly said that fertilizers must be ap'
piled in excess Of the actual needs
of the plants. It is impossible to dis
tribute very small quantity Of fertil'
izers over large area.
Vegetables are such rapid growing
plants that one need not fear that
much Of the fertilizer will leach out
through the soil on account Of rain.
II 1t Is applied close to or in the drill
row, all Of 1t should be saved, The
plants will absorb 1t before 1t gets
away. The formula generally recon-
mended consists Of complete fertil-
izer, though the acid phosphate and
nitrogen should come from different
sources, even In the same fertilizer
applied at any given time. The mix
ture for gardens should be composed
of as many kinds Of ingredients as
possible, carrying the three funda'
mental elements Of plant food--pot'
ash, nitrogen and pbosphoric acid
Voorhees, recommends heavy appli'
cations Of such mixtures to the COM
mercial gardens and to truck patches,
He says 1000 to 5000 pounds per
acre Of such mixture should be ap'
piled to asparagus, and as much to
beets and turnips; less than that to
peas and beans, With any amount
an after application has been found
profitable. This Is sometimes called
the second application, which Is not
generally complete fertilizer, but ID
composed Of nitrogen, or one Of the
other elements alone, The second ap
plication of fertilizers may be com
posed of ammonia and acid, or other
formula to suit the immediate crop,
Garden vegetables need large ap'
plications of fertilizer because any
check In their growth produces infe'
riority in quality. II is said by DR.,
Bailey that any delay In the growth
of lettuce or radlshes Will generally
cause a pungent flavor or sharp taste
that Ia undesirable, II cut down the
market value Tho way to remove
any cause for this Is to fertilize well
and properly and then cultivate, The
turnip Is made very Inferior when
there is u check In growth, The veg
etables that are thus stunted seem to
revert to the original type from which
they were derived, especially with re-
gard to taste, and hence should be
carefully looked after In regard to fer
tiiization and cultivation Fertilizers
should be applied to the vegetable