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legislature authorized the ai)i)oiutinent of a State agricultural chemist. 

 His reports coutaiu much valuable information relative to the use of 

 fertilizers, but since these publicatious are uot available at present a 

 compilation of geueral facts on this subject has been made in this bul- 

 letin. A brief history is given of the introduction of commercial fertil- 

 izers; the comi)osition of soils and i)lants, the \vi\y in which fertilizers 

 become available as plant food, the important elements of plant food, 

 and the principal fertilizing materials and their sources are explained; 

 the average composition of fertilizing materials is stated in a table com- 

 piled mainly from the reports of the Massachusetts State Station; ad- 

 vice is given regarding the selection, purchase, and use of fertilizers; 

 the relative advantages of home-mixed and factory fertilizers are dis- 

 cussed; directions and formulas for home mixing are given; the com- 

 position often common farm crops is compared with that often brands 

 of commercial fertilizers, by means of a table and diagram ; the question 

 whether the continuous application of phosphoric acid injures the land 

 by making it sour is discussed at considerable length ; the advantages 

 of laws for fertilizer inspection, the history of such legislation in Mary- 

 land, and the State law now in force are explained ; and the full text 

 of the law, which was approved April 3, 1890, is given. 



Home mixitig. — This has been strongly advocated and is considerably practiced. 

 Some of its advantages are the following: The buyer gets exactly what he prefers to 

 use, in the way of fertilizing materials; he is (perhaps) surer of getting unadulter- 

 ated articles than if mixed goods were bought ; the plant food can be found in concen- 

 trated form, and expense and labor saved in freight and hauling to the farm; the cost 

 of the factory work is saved, or rather replaced by the farm labor ; the home-mixed fer- 

 tilizer can be varied in composition, in any quantity, to suit the wants of a particular 

 field or crop. On a tight barn floor, or on an earth floor under cover if smooth, hard, 

 and dry, different fertilizing materials can be mixed just as well as at the factory, if 

 time and care are given to the work. The tools needed are platform scales, a shovel, 

 and an iroirhand rake or light hoe ; sometimes a sand screen is useful also. The re- 

 ducing of bones and rock phosphate to superphosphate on the farm has been recom- 

 mended, but this is very questionable advice. The process is not so simple as is rep- 

 resented, and concentrated suljiharic acid, or oil of vitriol, which must be bought, 

 transported, and used in considerable quantity, is a decidedly dangerous thing to 

 handle for persona unfamiliar with it. Home mixing had better stop short of super- 

 phosphate making, and be confined to the compounding of materials needing no fur- 

 ther chemical treatment. The mechanical iiart of it alone is comparatively simple. 



Factory fertilizers, on the other hand, are generally, as a matter of fact, more even 

 in composition and much better in mechanical condition than where the same in- 

 gredients are mixed on the farm. At the factory the work is usually done with the 

 aid of specially devised and labor-saving machinery, managed by skilled and ex- 

 perienced workmen. Add to these advantages the economy of handling large quan- 

 tities at a time, and it is probably true, as claimed, that the manufacturer can do the 

 work at less cost, bags included, than the farmer who employs the cheapest of day 

 labor. Moreover, if cheap hand-labor is nsed for this woi-k, nnless closely snpervised, 

 at additional cost, the home mixing is liable to be very poorly done. Where factory 

 fertilizers are bought, the price should be from $2.50 to $3 per ton more than the nn- 

 mixed ingredients of which they are made, in the same market; this represents the 

 average cost of mixing and rc-bagging. 



Home-made euperphosphatea. — It is at times convenient to reduce to a condition suit- 



