The Little River news., 1916-03-18
:. INTELLIGENT. U2E or FeF.1.
 LlzERS IN GE 2rlANY.

granted that the trade is profitable la farmers and merchants alike, aaG have therefore framed laws to regU. late it's manufacture and sale. In eVe:t state where fertilizer is sold in appre ciable quantities laws have been passed eXacting certain requirements or the manufacturer, because farme..s who are not able to analyze such ma terlais for themselves would be tic sufferers. Besides the trade, over-aH,- bilious, would forget it's obligation te the consumer and offer for ..ale in- ferior material under the name of fer tilizers. We may say without fear Of successful contradiction that the states themselves are largely responsible for the rise and volume of the fertilize: trade.
 It has long been recognized that Germany leads the world in many lines of science. This is perhaps true in regard to the use of fertilizers in carly years. Germany discovered that mineral salts applied to growing crops increased the yields immensely, and gave time and stuay to the under lylng causes, and has suggested to the other parts of the world many valu- able lessons on her findings. Ven Liebig through his studies and lee lures or modern agriculture has made known much of the work of Germany n the early history of the use of com +.4c o1 +rI tG,t Kuhlmann, German agricuitura: scientist applied salammOnac to a meadow in the year 1S45 and 1S4G, and found that on a hectare (212 ac-es) he gathered S,1A0 pounds of nay more than on the same kind Of meadow where he did not use the sal ammoniac. He secured this result by using about 200 pounds Of sal.aia- moniac to the acre.
 In commenting upon this Von Liebis has the following to say: Tt is quite certain, that in the action of the qua TO, which produced the crop next high. est after the Chili saltpeter an ul. mistalzable part was played by the ammonia contained in it. On the other hand, however, tine experiments with carbonate and nitrate of ammonia show that 0 quantity O. ammonia, or nitrogen, equivalent to that in 20 pounds of guano and employed under the same conditions, was almost With. out effect"
 A little further along he says: 'Tho most recent observations on the com. pertinent Of the soil towards the food of plants show how slight is the knowledge we possess of their mode of nourishment, and of the part which the soil, by it's physical condition, plays in it. The compartment of the salts of ammonia, of chloride of so- dium, and of nitrate of soda, towards the earthly phosphates in the soil may perhaps assist us in throwing some light on their action, or one of their actions,uon the growth of plants" This statement was made because it was always found that when common salt was added to certain mineral ma nures, greater yield was obtained, and Von Liebig came to the conclusion that this was due to the relation Of this added material to the liberation of potash in the soils
 Only a short time after the war be- tween the States the German potash beds were discovered and by rapid leaps and bounds this material gained in favor with planters as we'll as ex- perimenters. The necessity for find ing combination to liberate the pot ash in the soils was now removed and thorough satisfaction was found in the use of the nitrate of soda and the potash salts, and here the indus try stood for long tune. Liebig do as claim, however, that Tribasic phosphate of lime crept into the formula and was found efficient. This fact is very sig nificant and happened to be dscov, cred by a constant study of the use of the nitrate of soda and potash salts. Liebig thought that these two plant food materials had the power of dis solving phosphoric acid in the form uf earthly phosphates, and these in turn SISotiy tO 'hS yiOiU OL ltli III crops.
 We have here many hints of what afterwards really developed to be facts-namely that the three great clements of plant food that should be applied to the soil for good crop yields are phosphoric acid, ammonia and potash For many years these three elements have been the essential ele- ments of plant food in a fertilizer for mula.
 Today Germany applies more min eral salts pet acre to her crops than any other naSion in the world, and partly as a consequence gets higher yields of farm crops than any other nation It is. significant that these two facts are )so closely related, but it must be remembered that Germany has learned the lesson of good tiuaga deep plowmg, the proper use or veg, se aa5Ieu tct in ha a4il he staa- A aea.s Ice of eoatnuaa es 8ias with any single crop. It is also to pa remembered that the lands on which The most money can be cleared with