CHAPTER X. 

 MIXING FERTILIZERS ON THE FARM. 



A great deal has been said and written of late years in regard to the 

 mixing of fertilizers on the farm. The manurial requirements of the dif- 

 ferent crops vary to such an extent that the same fertilizer is not always best 

 for all, and it is of great advantage to vary the proportions of the various 

 constituents to suit the crop grown. It is difficult and expensive to do this 

 by buying the ready mixed articles. Then, too, it has been shown that for the 

 soil of many sections of the country, particularly in New England, the ready 

 made fertilizers all have too large a proportion of phosphates to the potash 

 and nitrogen used. 



In the reports of analyses of commercial fertilizers by the Agricultural 

 Experiment Stations it is a common practice to give the commercial value 

 of each. This value means that the plant-food in the mixture can be bought 

 at retail on the market for the price named. But the commercial value of a 

 fertilizer and its agricultural value are two entirely different things. It 

 must not be assumed that because a fertilizer is rated high in commercial 

 value it is also the best for all soils and crops. The agricultural value 

 depends on the needs of the land on which it is to be used, and in buying by 

 the commercial valuation the farmer may be buying matter which his soil 

 does not need, and hence will be wasting money in the purchase. 



If there is no need for the purchase of nitrogen, for instance, the farmer 

 can save at least half the cost of the fertilizer by buying an incomplete fer- 

 tilizer, containing potash and phosphoric acid only. 



The various Experiment Stations have given a great deal of attention to 

 the investigation of fertilizers, and their unanimous conclusion is that the 

 farmers can buy the materials and mix their own fertilizers more cheaply than 

 they can buy the factory mixed, and at the same time get just as good results 

 from their use on crops. 



In regard to the valuation and selling price of commercial fertilizers, 

 the Vermont Station (Bulletin No. 71) says, from an analysis of 137 brands 

 made by eighteen different companies, "two-fifths of the brands carried no 



(85) 



