No. 4.J COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 49 



essayist this question : Why do you use sulphate of ammonia 

 in connection with nitrate of soda, when your nitrogen costs 

 3^ou more a pound in that way than it would if you used ni- 

 trate of soda alone? And also, why do you use sulphate 

 and muriate of potash, when potash in the form of sulphate 

 costs more ? I may say while I am up that I have been 

 mixing my own fertilizers for quite a number of years. 

 Those of you who get hold of the Connecticut report will 

 find my name there among those who make their own mix- 

 ture. I commenced, like the speaker, to use various ingre- 

 dients. I used nitrate of soda in connection with orsanic 

 nitrogen and blood, bone and meat. I am led by my own 

 experience to ask him the question. I am after information. 

 I bought mixed fertilizers until I became convinced that they 

 cost too much money for the amount of plant food that was 

 in them. Since then I have bought the chemicals and mixed 

 them fnyself, and have carried on experiments on my place 

 to learn what my soil needs. It was formerly supposed, 

 especially by a good many manufacturers, that to obtain a 

 good crop of potatoes you must liave 10 per cent of potash 

 in your mixture. I used to think so, but my experiments 

 have led me to reduce that amount to aliout 4 per cent. I 

 have a neighbor who for three years carried out a series of 

 experiments under the direction of the Experiment Station, 

 and the consequence is that he only uses 2 per cent of pot- 

 ash, and he grows a splendid crop. I think, therefore, there 

 is an advantage in buying the chemicals rather than mixed 

 goods, as by so doing we can apply the proportion of the 

 different elements of plant food that our own soil requires. 



I want to take a little exception to what Mr. Low says. 

 He believes that the fertilizer manufacturers can mix them 

 better and cheaper than the farmer. But I kept an account, 

 and it cost me to mix it 80 cents a ton, and I believe the 

 farmer can do it equally as well as they can. 



Mr. Low. Do you consider the average farmer is com- 

 petent to mix his own chemicals ? Does he know the pro- 

 portion, etc. ? 



Mr. Fenn. In reply to the gentleman I will say that I 

 think any ordinary farmer can do it. It is a matter of meas- 

 uring his incrredients. That is all there is to it. I thoujrht 



