COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 73 



seasons it is likely to be so dry that roots cannot grow in it. Plant food 

 does little good so long as it remains at the surface. It is not so essential 

 to put the soluble nitrates in this lower zone because there is a great 

 tendency for them to pass downward in the soil. 



Where very small applications are used it is often thought advisable 

 to deposit the fertilizer with the seed or plant in order that it may have 

 an abundance of plant food at the very outset. This method stimulates 

 the plant in its early stages of growth. It is probably more applicable 

 to crops that are seeded or planted very early when the ground is cold 

 and bacterial activity is slow. 



In the cotton belt there are two methods of applying fertilizers. 

 Experiments at the Georgia Experiment Station have shown that the 

 method known as " bedding on the fertilizer" has given better results 

 than applying the fertilizer through the fertilizer drill at time of seeding 

 cotton. In the first method the fertilizer is distributed over the bottom 

 of a furrow in which the cotton is planted one week or ten days later. 

 The second method deposits the fertilizer in close proximity to the seed 

 at planting time. As an average of four years the per cent profit on the 

 investment in fertilizer was 48 when applied with the seed and 90 when 

 " bedded on the fertilizer." 



Purchase of Fertilizers. The concentrated high-grade fertilizer 

 materials necessarily command a higher price than low-grade materials 

 and those containing small amounts of plant food. As a rule the high- 

 grade materials are the cheapest. The inexperienced farmer is too much 

 inclined to purchase fertilizers chiefly on the ton basis, without regard to 

 the amount or form of plant-food constituents they contain. He should 

 bear in mind that he is not buying mere weight, but that he is paying for 

 one or more of the plant-food constituents, and those fertilizers that 

 are richest in plant food will generally supply these ingredients at the 

 lowest cost per unit. This is obvious from what has been previously 

 said relative to the costs of manufacturing, handling and shipping fer- 

 tilizers. It is well also to consider the relative economy of retail versus 

 wholesale rates on fertilizers. The more hands a fertilizer passes through 

 the greater will be its cost when it reaches the consumer. Each dealer 

 must of necessity make some profit on his transaction. Small shipments 

 and small consignments call for higher freight rates and additional labor 

 in making out bills and collecting accounts. These all entail increased 

 expense. 



There is now an increased tendency on the part of farmers to co- 

 operate in the purchase of fertilizers. As a rule the character of fertilizer 

 that best meets the needs of a farmer in a particular locality will in general 

 be a good fertilizer for his neighbors. It is possible for neighbors to com- 

 bine and purchase their fertilizers in carload lots directly from the manu- 

 facturer, saving the profit of the middleman and getting carload freight 

 rates which will very materially reduce the cost of the fertilizers laid 



