CORN growers' association. 49 



What do these experiments mean? At first sight one might say 

 that potash was the one thing needed. But this is not the proper in- 

 terpretation of the results. The bone and blood are materials that are 

 first to appear in the wheat sections and almost always give good re- 

 turns on wheat for some years, but when used on spring crops they 

 have not always proven profitable. Hence, these experiments were 

 made to compare a partial fertilizer already in common use with a com- 

 plete fertilizer. In these experiments the partial fertilizer was used at 

 a loss, while the complete fertilizer converted this loss into a handsome 

 profit. 



These plain facts are presented, not for advertising purposes, but 

 with a view to calling attention to the desirability of testing your soils 

 and to the necessity of using complete fertilizers made from the standard 

 materials in the proper proportions in making these simple tests. Of 

 course, a more elaborate system of tests can be made in which the re- 

 sults show just what plant foods are needed, but in a section where the 

 fertilizer question is not well understood the farmer wants first to know 

 whether any fertilizer will be profitable, and to arrive at this knowledge 

 with the least possible trouble. Once he has found that the complete 

 fertilizer is profitable he is quite willing to experiment further to see if 

 all the ingredients are profitable. 



It will be noted tliat the quantities per acre are larger than the 

 wheat farmers are accustomed to use, and that the cost per acre is also 

 high, from $12 to $20. Yet the increase in yield paid for the fertilizer 

 and gave a handsome profit on the money invested. The lowest profit 

 was 21 per cent, and the highest 243 per cent on the money invested. 

 The highest per cent of profit was on the highest expenditure per acre. 

 However, we must bear in mind that there is a limit beyond which profits 

 begin to be reduced. This depends upon the kind of crop and the con- 

 dition of the land. The wheat crop limit would be much lower than that 

 for potatoes or fruit. The better the land the greater the amount of 

 fertilizer that can be profitably used upon it. This is because poor lands 

 generally have such bad physical conditions that they do not retain 

 enough water to mature a maximum crop, even when the other plant 

 foods are suppliel in abundance. 



The question of the use of commercial plant foods is well worthy 

 of your attention. It will pay you to find out whether you can use one 

 or more of them profitably. To find this out, use known quantities of 

 high grade plant foods. Having found out what is needed, buy what 

 you need without regard to what the agent may try to sell you. High 



