88 



soluble forro. Its cost, however, is quite liigli, and its con- 

 sumption is somewhat limited. 



COMPLETE FERTILIZERS. 



As the name implies, fertilizers of this class contain all 

 three of the chief fertilizing constituents of value, though 

 the proportions of these ingredients are extremely variable. 



The basis of the complete fertilizer is the super-phos- 

 phate, and with this are mixed some common forms of nitro- 

 gen and potash, the proportion of these elements being 

 largely dependent upon the manufacturer's ideas of the 

 needs of the soil or crop, Kainite and cotton seed meal are 

 more commonly employed than any other materials to fur- 

 nish potash and nitrogen to the mixed fertilizers, and plan- 

 ters wdll, in many cases, find it a good policy to prepare their 

 own complete manures by purchasing the materials referred 

 to and mixing them to suit the requirements of the crop or 

 soil of their particular section. 



With these materials at hand, the farmer can prepare a 

 fertilizer of a certain composition for his cotton and a mix- 

 ture of a still different composition for his corn, the propor- 

 tion of nitrogen required in the latter case being in general 

 greater than in the former. 



Of course, fertilizers prepared according to any definite 

 formula would not be equally well adapted to all soils and 

 sections of the State, and to those who have written to this 

 ofiice for information with regard to the composition of fer- 

 tilizers best suited to the needs of their particular locality, 

 the formulas furnished in reply have been largely governed 

 by the characteristics of the soil, both as regards composi- 

 tion and location. For instance, on many of our hill soils 

 which consist very largely of particles derived from mica- 

 ceous and feldspathic rocks, the addition of potash is of 

 very doubtful necessity, and in some cases, quite recently, it 

 has been recommended that for such soils potash either be 

 omitted entirely, or else used in very small quantities. For 

 the same reasons, the addition of excessive quantities of 



