PREPARING THE SOIL

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Vegetables—recommends either .75 pound of blood meal (14% N) . . . 1 pound of fish meal (10% N) . . . 2 pounds of cottonseed meal (8% N) . . . or .75 pound of hoof and horn meal (14% N) per 100 square feet of garden. For a garden rated medium in nitrogen, he triples this dosage. And he roughly quintuples the proportions for a plot ranked very low in the element. In case you'd like to try working out some substitutions of your own, feather meal contains 10 to 13% nitrogen, processed municipal sludge 4 to 5%, poultry manure 4 to 6%, and most animal manures 2 to 4%.

PHOSPHORUS

Phosphorus promotes cell division, root development, and—most notably—fruit growth. If your soil tests show a very low phosphorus content, or if last year your green crops exhibited a reddish purple coloration in their stems and leaf veins, or if your fruiting crops were leafy but unproductive (never did get any tomatoes, you say?), you may need to add this element to your soil. For soils already rated very high in phosphorus, Jeavons recommends either 1 pound of bonemeal (24 to 28% P) or 2 pounds finely ground phosphate rock (30% P, but slow-releasing). He doubles the dose for ground rated medium and triples it for plots rated very low. Colloidal phosphate (20% P) and single superphosphate (20% P) are other good—and relatively fast-acting—sources.

POTASSIUM

Also known as potash, potassium is vital for cell division and growth, helps plants form strong stems and fight off disease, and promotes root growth. (Have a problem with your root crops last year? Notice a lot of yellow-streaked leaves and spindly plants?) For plots with a very high potassium rating, Jeavons recommends 1 pound of kelp meal (3% K) . . . 2 pounds of greensand (7% K) . . . or 3 pounds of crushed granite (4% K). For soil rated medium in potash, he suggests 1 pound of kelp plus 1.33 pounds of greensand (or 2 pounds of crushed granite) . . . 3.33 pounds of greensand . . . or 5 pounds of crushed granite. And for very low-rated soil, he doubles all of the "medium" numbers except the kelp. (Because kelp meal contains some growth hormones, Jeavons feels you should never add more than a pound of it per 100 square feet per year.) Some other organic sources of potash are feldspar dust (5-15%0), wood ashes (8% and sulphate of potash-magnesia—or Sul-po-mag—(22%).

TRACE ELEMENTS

These micronutrients—boron, calcium, chlorine, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sulfur, and zinc—are necessary in smaller amounts than nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium, but, like the spices in a good recipe, are no less important to the end result.

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