Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1876 — Preparation of Fertilizers and Manures. [ARTICLE]

Preparation of Fertilizers and Manures.

When tlio farmer has ascertained the kind of plant-food needed for the intended crop and required by the soil, he is then prepared to apply his fertilizers with intelligence and effect; and so far as it depends upon the mere presence of epriching material in the earth he will easily be able to bring his land up to any capacity of yield he may choose, being only limited dj the expense. , He will discover, liowever, that the mere presence of manure is not all that is required, even though it contains ihe precise ingredients that are lacking in the soil. The condition in which it is applied has no small influence on the effect it is .capable of producing. If any of the fertilizers are fn a hard. Concrete undivided mass they must be pulverized. If, in fact, they are not already in a state of, minute subdivision, they must be brought to that condition before applying them. Some of the saline fertilizers are procured in a state of powder, others in hard lumps that need to be crushed or dissolved. But the manure requiring most attention in this respect is that of the farmyard. It is not a little remarkable that in the very case where the process of reduction and disintegration is most of all needed it seems to be most neglected. The contents of the stalls and of the compost heap, which from the variety so materials they comprise need to be elaborately worked over and subdivided in order to be thoroughly intermingled, are yet frequently carted upon the land in rude lumps and unbroken masses that strangely contrast with the fine roots and fibers through the pores of which they have yet to enter before they can nourish the growing plant. Few farmers comprehend the importance of attending to this item in the preparation of their fertilizers. Plants feed mainly at the extremities of the rootlets, through mouths too small to be seen by the naked eye. The finer the manure is made, the more easily it is dissolved in water, and the sooner it passes Into the circulation. The cultivator who intends to secure a maximum crop, or even a tolerably paying yield, will find it necessary to attend to his fertilizers, whatever may be the kinds employed, and to reduce them to a suitable degree of fineness before applying them to his soil. —Christian Union. *■