MANURES. 19 



our neighborhood has adopted this method for years, 

 and in extensive experiments with different kinds of fer- 

 tilizers, with and without being mixed, finds a saving of 

 quite one third in quantity in thus treating tiiem. He 

 finds that 1,200 lbs. of guano, mixed with two tons of 

 garden soil, and sown over the surface after plowing, and 

 then harrowed in, is eqnal in effect to 2,000 lbs. of guano 

 used without mixing. 



We have ourselves experimented with guano, blood 

 and bone, and bone flour, with nearly like results, and 

 as a top dressing for grass we think the advantage of mix- 

 ing is even more marked. AVhen fertilizers are applied 

 to corn, potatoes, tomatoes, etc., in hills or drills, it is 

 not only more economical to mix in this manner, but 

 much safer in inexperienced hands; for when any strong 

 fertilizer is used pure, injury is often done to the roots by 

 their coming in contact with it in too great quantity in the 

 raw state, owing to imperfect mixing in the hill or drill, 

 while, if composted as advised above, the danger is much 

 less. 



In regard to which of the fertilizers is most desirable, 

 we find but little difference, provided each is pure. 

 Guano at $80 per ton is relatively as cheap as blood and 

 bone fertilizer at $65, bone flour at $50, or superphosphate 

 at $40 ; for in the lower priced articles we find we are 

 obliged to increase the quantity to obtain the same results, 

 so that the cost is nearly alike whichever be used. The all- 

 important point is the purity of the article, a matter that 

 few working farmers or gardeners ever attempt to decide 

 except by the results in culture; hence we advise each one 

 who has been using a fertilizer that has proved satisfac- 

 tory, to experiment but lightly with another until the 

 new article has proved its merits. The competition in the 

 manufacture of articles so much in use as fertilizers, has 

 in many instances forced down prices below the point at 

 which they can be profitably produced in a pure state; hence 



