The Richest Manures 



should determine for himself the value of the 

 manure in comparison with the merchant's price. 

 These are problems in the solving of which the 

 farmer ought to be very skilled, and their under- 

 standing would in itself be of great service to him 

 annually. 



We have spoken of the very bad habit of using 

 manure by the hundredweight or ton. For the 

 most part such manuring indicates nothing. Here 

 is an example. There are basic slags which contain 

 21 to 25 per cent. Ph. Ac. ; there are others which 

 contain 40 to 41 per cent, and even more. It is 

 obviously impossible to make comparison between 

 fields on which the first is employed and those 

 where one has used the second. Supposing, for 

 example, that we employ 18 to 28 ton units of Ph. Ac. 

 per acre, or 4 ton units of Potash to the acre, etc. 

 We have so many acres to manure, and we must 

 look for a manure which will give us these quantities 

 at the most advantageous price. 



The Richest Manures. 



On principle one would buy the richest manures — 

 that is those containing the most units of fertilising 

 matter to the same weight. When at the place of 

 origin the price of the unit of the same manure is the 

 same, the manure which costs most is the cheapest 

 to buy. This is obvious, because a manure contain- 

 ing only 15 per cent, fertilising matter will cost in 

 transport, sacks, time lost in spreading just as much 

 as that which contains 30 per cent, fertilising matter, 

 and in the end it is the units of fertilising matter 

 which coimt. 



17 c 



