This manure is specially recommended for peat, clay, ^°o^ for 

 and sandy soils, also for moorlands and wet meadows. 



It can be mixed with Nitrate of Soda, but such mixtures ^^9 

 should only be made just before spreading on the land; 

 this phosphate must not be mixed with sulphate of ammonia, 

 as a part of the ammonia will be liberated and lost. English 

 authorities recommend that basic slag phosphate, when used 

 alone, be applied from six tcf eight weeks earlier than super- 

 phosphate, because of the greater solubility of the super- 

 phosphate; and that the basic phosphate be used in prefer- 

 ence to superphosphate on wet, peaty, and marshy soils on 

 account of its containmg an excess of free lime, w^hich 

 neutralizes the organic acids of the soil. Dr. Paul Wagner 

 recommends four and one-half hundredweight (five hundred 

 and four pounds) of basic slag phosphate per acre for gen- 

 eral crops. 



Economy in the Purchase of Fertilizers. 

 Home Mixtures. 



Economy in the purchase of fertilizing materials or of 

 agricultural chemicals depends not only on the price paid 

 per pound or per ton, but also on the relation existing 

 between the price paid and the amounts and forms of the 

 Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash furnished. To illus- 

 trate, we will assume that two fertilizers, both made from 

 the best class of materials, are offered by a manufacturer at 

 thirty dollars and thirty-five dollars per ton. The first is 

 guaranteed to contain three per cent, of Nitrogen, seven per 

 cent, of available phosphoric acid, and thr.ee per cent, of 

 potash. The second is guaranteed to contain five per cent. 

 of Nitrogen, ten per cent, of available phosphoric acid, and 

 seven per cent, of potash. 



We have but to calculate the commercial values of these 

 fertilizers to ascertain their true relation to the prices asked 

 by the manufacturer. By simply multiplying the actual 

 content of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash by the 

 trade values for these constituents in mixed feftilizers, we 

 find that there is an actual difference of nearly ^14 in their 

 commercial values, whereas the difference in price made by 

 the manufacturer is only ^5, 



