Food for jj^ f}^g rainless region of Chili, to be used by the people to 

 ^°^^ furnish their crops with the necessary Nitrate when the 

 ^ natural supph" in the soil has become deficient. 



By "complete fertilizers," we mean fertiliz- 

 omp e e ^^^ containing Nitrogen, phosphoric acid 



^S!'^'Tl" »"! and potash. These fertilizers are called 



"Phosphates" the 4. i ^ u ,, j 11 <- n 



,- , T- . phosphates, and people have lallen into 



Most Expensive ,^ , T- r n- ^ r 



T,, ■ T- J the habit or calling any commercial terti - 



Plant Food. u 1 . ^^ -^u , 



izer a phosphate, whether it contains 



phosphate or not. Many so-called "complete fertilizers" 

 are merely low grade acid phosphates with insignificant 

 amounts of the other essential plant foods. Thev are un- 

 profitable and ill balanced rations for all crops. 



Bearing in mind that all that is of any value in these 

 "phosphates," no matter how high sounding their names, is 

 usually mostly phosphoric acid and potash, let us see what they 

 are really worth — that is, what the same amount of plant 

 food can be bought for in just as good, if not better, forms. 



The New jersey Experiment Station analyzed 195 dif- 

 ferent samples of brands of "Complete Fertilizers," and 

 published the results in a Bulletin. It was found that, in 

 some instances, complete fertilizers that sold for $34.00 to 

 536.00 per ton only contained plant food worth $15.00 to 

 $17.00. But they were not all as bad as this. The average 

 of all brands analyzed was as follows: They contained 2.74 

 per cent. Nitrogen, 7.70 per cent, available phosphoric acid, 

 and 4.50 per cent, potash. The selling price was $34.23 per 

 ton and the actual agricultural value $25.66 per ton. By 

 this is meant that the same amount of actual plant food that 

 is contained in the "complete fertilizers," costing $34.23, 

 could be purchased in the open market, in just as good forms, 

 for $25.66. As a matter of fact, it could be purchased for 

 much less than this in quantities often tons or more. In one 

 ton of the above "average fertilizer," selling for $34. 23, there is 

 154 pounds available phosphoric acid, which can be bought for 

 5i cents per pound in superphosphate or "acid phosphate," 

 as it is called by the trade. This 154 pounds of phosphoric 

 acid is therefore worth $8.09. There is 54! pounds Nitro- 

 gen, which can be bought in Nitrate of Soda for 15 cents 

 per pound, making it worth $8.22; 90 pounds potash, worth 

 4^ cents per pound, equals $4.05, making in all $20.36 for 

 the plant food contained in a ton costing $34.23. 



