The Use Of Nitrogen

Categories: THE NEED OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS

There is no fully satisfactory way of determining

the kind and amount of fertilizer that should be used at any particular

time for any one crop. Perfection in this respect is no easier in

attainment than in other matters. There are, however, means of arriving

at conclusions that are a valuable guide.



In a general way, nitrogen is in scant supply in all worn soils.

Wherever the cropping has been hard, and anure has not gone back to

the land, the growth in stalk and leaves of the plant is deficient. The

color is light. Inability of a soil to produce a strong growth of corn,

a large amount of straw, or a heavy hay crop, is indicative of lack of

nitrogen in nearly every instance.



The legumes, such as clover, and the stable manures are rich in

nitrogen, and when the scheme of farming involves their use on all the

land of the farm, no need of purchased nitrogen may arise in the

production of staple crops. In the black corn soils the nitrogen

content originally was high.



Lands that naturally are not very fertile rarely have enough available

nitrogen. Where timothy is a leading crop, the demand for nitrogen is

heavy. A cold spring or summer, checking nature's processes in the

soil, may cause a temporary deficiency in available nitrogen in land

that usually has a sufficient supply. Associating a rank growth of

stalk and leaf with an abundance of nitrogen, the experienced man can

form a pretty safe opinion regarding the probable profitableness of an

investment in this element. It costs nearly four times as much per

pound as either of the two other constituents of a fertilizer, and so

far as is feasible it should be obtained through the legumes and stable

manure.