136 FERTILITY AND FERTILIZER HINTS 



How to Purchase a Fertilizer. — Some time before you intend 

 to purchase your fertilizer write to your Experiment Station or 

 State Board of Agriculture for bulletins on the crops you in- 

 tend to raise and also for a fertilizer bulletin. These bulletins 

 may be had free of charge. Study these bulletins. In the 

 bulletins on crops you will no doubt learn the plant food require- 

 ment, that is, the amounts and kinds of plant food most suitable 

 for the crops you are interested in. The fertilizer bulletin will 

 no doubt acquaint you with some timely suggestions on how to 

 purchase fertilizers and will also give you the names, guarantees, 

 analyses, and valuations of the fertilizers sold in your state. 

 You can in all probability select a fertilizer that will meet your 

 requirements. If any element as nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and 

 potash is not needed, do not waste your money by purchasing 

 a complete fertilizer but select one that contains the constituents 

 you need and in the form or forms you desire. You are now 

 ready to talk business with your merchant or dealer. Find out 

 from him if he has the particular fertilizer you wish. Perhaps 

 he has not it in stock and he will no doubt tell you he has some- 

 thing just as good. If the amount and kind of plant food that 

 you wish is present in the brand that he has, why it is just as 

 good and if not it is not what you want. No doubt the factory 

 for which he is agent puts out a fertilizer of the composition 

 you desire ; you can find this out by referring to your fertilizer 

 bulletin. If so, you may be able to get your merchant to order 

 it for you. If his factory has not got it buy from one that has. 

 You have your fertilizer bulletin and you can easily write for 

 your fertilizer and perhaps save the agent's profit. 



Study the Guarantee. — You have learned that many of the 

 fertilizer materials as cotton-seed meal, tankage, bone-meal, dry 

 ground fish, etc., do not always contain the same amounts of 

 fertilizer constituents and are quite variable in composition. 

 Therefore do not buy any of these products just because they 

 are so named. Consult the guarantee and find out how much 

 plant food is oflfered for a certain price.* 



Fertilizers Should Reach their Guarantees. — The manufacturers. 



