MANURES AND FERTILIZING MATERIALS. 



69 



SECTION XIV. MIXING FERTILIZERS. 



Home Mixing. When a farmer buys fertilizing 

 materials and mixes them at home it is called home 

 mixing. The materials containing the ingredients ni- 

 trogen, phosphoric acid and potash, are regular com- 

 modities, and can be purchased in most large towns 

 and cities. Often the cost of a home mixed fertilizer 

 is much less than the manufactured article furnishing 

 the same amounts of fertilizer ingredients and the 

 farmer can mix his fertilizer to suit the needs of his 

 crops. In making home mixtures the farmer should 

 find out just what ingredients and their amounts his 

 crops need and purchase the unmixed fertilizers ac- 

 cordingly. 



COMPOSITION OF FERTILIZERS. 



Mixing Fertilizers. Suppose a farmer wishes to 

 make a quickly available fertilizer containing 8 per 

 cent, available phosphoric acid, 1.65 per cent, nitrogen 

 and 2 per cent, potash. What materials should he 

 purchase and how much of each to make a ton of fer- 

 tilizer of the above composition? In the above table, 

 acid phosphate can be selected for the available phos- 

 phoric acid. Nitrate of soda would be preferable to 

 cotton-seed meal for the supply of nitrogen, because 

 a quickly available fertilizer is wanted. Kainit or 

 muriate of potash can be chosen for the potash. In 



