A FKW REMARKS ABOUT FERTILIZERS 1 37 



as a whole, are endeavoring to do an honest business. In mak- 

 ing their mixtures they aim to give a little more plant food than 

 they guarantee, so that the fertilizer will meet the guarantee 

 under reasonable conditions. The bulletins of the different 

 states setting forth the results of fertilizer inspection, show that 

 the majority of the factory mixed fertilizers exceed the guar- 

 antee. But sometimes fertilizers fail to reach the guarantee 

 in all constituents. Factory mixed fertilizers often fall below 

 the guarantee in one element but exceed the guarantee in other 

 elements so that the relative value is above the guaranteed value. 

 Of course the manufacturer should furnish the consumer with 

 fertilizer that reaches its guarantee in all elements as the pur- 

 chaser has a right to expect this. Such variation is often due 

 to poor mechanical mixture as the manufacturer usually puts 

 in enough of the raw materials to exceed the guarantee in all 

 constituents. When a shipment of fertilizer fails to meet its 

 guarantee in one or more elements, and runs above the guarantee 

 ir.i one or more elements, the purchaser should give the manu- 

 facturer some consideration and settle on an equitable basis 

 and allow the manufacturer for whatever excess that may be 

 present in any of the elements, within reasonable limits. If the 

 purchaser contracts for a certain amount or amounts of con- 

 stituents and they fall materially below the guarantee a rebate 

 should be demanded.* 



Fertilizers do not Deteriorate Much on Standing. — The mixed 

 fertilizers and the raw materials do not change much when 

 kept in dry storage. The mixed fertilizers are usually com- 

 pounded from materials that do not attack and set free the 

 nitrogen present. The soluble phosphoric acid may revert and 

 change to insoluble phosphoric but not to any appreciable ex- 

 tent. Therefore should a farmer have some fertilizer left over 

 from a past season he may rest assured that it is still valuable 

 provided it has been kept in a dry place. If fertilizer gets wet 

 from rain or becomes very moist from any cause, there may be 

 considerable losses of plant food.* 



The Time to Apply Fertilizer. — Nitrate of soda, sulphate of 



