COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



75 



mixed in small quantities. A hoe and square-pointed shovel are best 

 suited for the mixing. A broom and an ordinary 2 by 6 foot sand screen 

 with three meshes to the inch are all that are necessary. This assumes 

 that the fertilizer comes in bags of definite weight, and that by putting 

 in one bag of one ingredient and two or three of another, etc., a proper 

 proportion can be secured. Greater exactness can, of course, be obtained 

 by using platform scales and weighing roughly the amounts of the different 

 kinds that are brought together. It is suggested that the most bulky 

 ingredient be placed at the bottom of the pile and the least bulky on top. 

 After it is mixed with a shovel and hoe it should be thrown through the 

 screen. This removes all lumps and perfects the mixing. The lumps, 

 should there be any, should be crushed before they are allowed to go 

 into the next mixing batch. After thorough mixing the material will be 

 ready to return to the bags. It can be hauled to the field when needed. 



It is well to remember that most fertilizers absorb moisture, increase 

 in weight and later on dry out and become hard. It is, therefore, wise 

 to keep them in a building which is fairly dry. 



The following list of fertilizer materials, together with the per- 

 centage of the several ingredients which they contain, is given as an aid 

 to those making home mixtures of fertilizers: 



LIST OF MATERIALS USED IN HOME-MIXING OF FERTILIZERS.* 



REFERENCES 



"Manures and Fertilizers." Wheeler. 

 "Fertilizers." Voorhees. 

 "Fertilizers and Crops." Van Slyke. 



New York Expt. Station Bulletin 392. "Fertilizer Facts for the Farmer." 

 South Carolina Expt. Station Bulletin 182. "Potash." 



Texas Expt. Station Bulletin 167. "Commercial Fertilizers and Their Use." 

 Farmers' Bulletins, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture: 



" Incompatibles in Fertilizer Mixtures." 



398. "Commercial Fertilizers in the South." 



* From the Farmers' Cyclop-dia. 



