Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-15
FERTILIZERS

There was time not so many years
ago when the home gardener had no
serious fertilizer problem. All he had
to do was to order load or two of ma
nure, according to the size Of his gar
den, and he was assured of a good gar
den. Now the situation Is quite differ
ent and more involved. Stable manures
are in many cases not to be had except
in sacks and at pretty high cost If
needed for any considerable area. Nat
urally the home gardener, like his pro-
fessional brother, has turned to COM
mercial materials. Just how far the
commercial fertilizer can be substituted
for stable manure is a question. It IS
true that as far as actual ingredients
are concerned the commercial material
is much NOR: reasonably priced and
much less bulky. The trouble is that
commercial fertilizers do not supply IN
any quantity that elusive substance, or
ganic matter or humus, which keeps up
the life Of the soil-that substance which
the forest supplies so effectively through
its decaying leaves and logs.
The gardener VINO seeks 70 keep his
soil productive over period OF years
will hove to grow cover crops, such as
clover, rye or coWpeas, in addition to
supplying commercial fertilizer from
sack. 1t would be safe to say that this
declining fertility, with its resulting in
ferior crops, has driven as many home
gardeners out Of the gardening enter
prise as has any lack Of diligence. A
program of commercial fertilizer, espe-
cially the nitrogen fertilizers, such as
nitrate Of soda dried blood and sui
pllate of ammonia: Of ground limestone
or hydrated lime in moderate quantity,
and Of cover crops would do whole lot
to keep home gardens producing and
home gardeners satisfied.
Most fertilizers are beneficial II used
wisely, but there are confusing num-
Der of brands. The value Of the fertilizer
depends on what is actually in it, and
this is stated on the package or sack.
Content Of nitrogen given simply as
nitrogen or as ammonia is most impor-
tant Of all because nitrogen is most
often the limiting clement in the gar
den soil Nitrogen is also the most cost
~ element of the three. nitrogen, phos-
phorous and potash, usually thought OF
as fertilizers. Obviously 1t Is the first
to be decreased in inferior fertilizers.
ANY fertilizer containing less than per
cent of nitrogen will, generally speak
ing, be of little value in the garden.
Perhaps the well rounded out complete
mixtures are most satisfactory OF all,
for although one may be applying some
IlOb ACC0Cht AlN Aot VA 1AAN SNAA~t
hand, reasonably sure Of supplying what
is needed for the various crops Some
plants use more Of certain fertilizing
substances than do others.
The wisdom of using the new concen-
trated fertilizers is not certain. Some
of these contain very large percentages
Of nitrogen, PHOSPHORUS or potash as 1t
may be, and trials at some of the agri-
cultural experiment stations have shown
them to be equal to standard brands
provided equivalent quantities are used.
But there is still to be. determined
whether their freedom from impurities
is not actually a handicap, since the
impurities often supply substances such
as boron and copper which are not gen.
erally thought OF as fertilizers. but
nevertheless are needed in minute guam
titles by all plant life.