The Rural Voice, 2002-05, Page 48Gardening
Book explores the fascinating historg of fertilizer
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Spring time is bursting forth and
we all revel in the glory of Mother
Nature: the incredible growth all
around us, the tiniest first blossoms in
our gardens to the amazingly green
crops in the fields. But we cannot
leave it all alone and turn to a wide
selection of fertilizers and soil
amendments. In our hardware stores,
garden centres and yes even our
grocery stores, the shelves are
groaning with a selection of plant
candy that would seduce even the
most jaded plant into taking a second
look.
We cannot be faulted for believing
that Mother Nature needs a helping
hand. After all we do demand double
yields, bigger blooms and heavier
fruits and vegetables. While you may
think that modern fertilizer came
about as a result of new technology
developed after WWII, there is a
book that will set you straight. The
History of the Fertilizer Industry in
Ontario produced by the Fertilizer
Institute of Ontario Foundation and
edited by our own Wingham-area
native, Lorie Jamieson, is a
wonderful historical tome filled with
not only the history of the valuable
companies in Ontario but also of the
product itself. Once you read the
first couple of chapters, you have to
appreciate the amount of work our
early ancestors put into trying to
create the best conditions for growing
the necessary crops.
I was surprised to read about salt
as a soil additive. Salt was considered
a valuable fertilizer back in the mid -
1600s and even as late as 1875 its
virtues were being written about in
popular farm journals. Tons were
shipped from the massive salt beds in
Huron County to farms across
44 THE RURAL VOICE
southwestern Ontario. Before the full
effects of salt were appreciated, it
was being applied at the rate of 100
to 500 pounds per acre.
Some of our favourite additives
have some startling beginnings.
European immigrants brought to the
new world their knowledge of
burying bones around fruit trees and
grinding bones to apply over their
crops. It was in 1700 that someone
noticed how green the grass was
growing over the refuse from a
cutlery plant where bone dust from
the manufacture of knife handles was
spread.
Scientists discovered that the
phosphate in bones could be more
easily available for plants if treated
with sulphuric acid. Thus the
creation of superphosphate hit the
market. Working with sulphuric acid
was dangerous but short lived. It was
not long before a mineral called
apatite was discovered in Quebec and
in Lanark County in Ontario. It was
mined, crushed and ground to
produce the first superphosphate from
mineral sources.
Ammonium sulphate was
recovered from the gases produced in
coking coal to convert it into coal oil.
Later it was recovered from the
production of lamp gas used for street
lighting.
Nitrogen was found in
slaughterhouse waste. The refuse
from slaughterhouses was hauled
away by fertilizer manufacturers to
be hcated, the fat skimmed off and
the rest boiled down, dried, and then
ground. Not a pleasant job and not a
pleasant place to live near. But it was
big business during the late 1800s.
Potash was derived by burning off
the forests that covered the farmland.
Clean ashes were collected, washed
and then boiled down into a black salt
residue that was melted into a purer
form of potash. Ashes from three to
four acres of forest could produce
five barrels of potash.
But the excitement grew with the
blending of new products and the
development of legislation to protect
consumers. The history of fertilizer is
woven with the settlement of Ontario
and Canada and with the growth of
farming from a single family business
to an industry that we know and love
today.
While you are out in your garden
this month surveying all the work that
has to be done, pause and think about
the pioneers that worked so hard to
improve agriculture and thus improve
our Iives.0
READY TO LAY
PULLETS
WHITE & BROWN EGG LAYERS
FISHER POULTRY FARM INC.
AYTON, ONT NOG 1C0
519-665-7711
TE -EM
FARM
Where wonderful ideas
and plants grow
Beautifying Huron County and your
gardens since 1981
A must stop for the gardener who
appreciates top quality and selection
Bring your containers and we will lovingly
fill them with the plants you like.
OPEN HOUSE
May 4-5
gam -6 pm
Open
Mon. - Fri.
8 to 8
Sot. & Sun.
9 to 6
TE -EM FARM
R.R. 41, Bayfield
Orchard Line 77688
482-3020