8 Station Bulletin 362 



Table 2. — Size of Fertilizer Purchases of Certain Farmers in 1943 

 (Superphosphate, potash, and 0-14-14, three counties) 



Superphosphate Potash 0-14-14 



(farmers') (tonnage) (farmers') (tonnage) (farmers') (tonnage) 



Under one ton 29% bought 9% 53% bought 12% 34% bought 13% 



One to five tons 65% bought 1Z% 42% bought 61% 65% bought 71% 

 Five tons or over 67o boug-ht 18% 5% bought 27% 1% bought 16% 



About one-third of the farmers bought under a ton of these fertilizers but 

 they accounted for a relatively small percentage of the total tonnage. See Table 

 2. A more detailed tabulation is shown in Appendix, Table A-7. 



FERTILIZER ANALYSES AVAILABLE TO FARMERS 



Changes in Fertilizer Analyses from Year to Year 



A large number of mixed fertilizers of different analyses are sold in 

 New Hampshire, and offerings change considerably from year to year. 

 This may be explained in part by the availability of materials, their rela- 

 tive costs, changes in recommendations for crops, and probably also be- 

 cause companies wish to carry some non-competitive analyses. From the 

 standpoint of the farmer a more limited number of analyses and fewer 

 changes from year to year would seem desirable. The number of differ- 

 ent analyses has been reduced in this war period and this \\ as especially 

 noticeable in the 1943 and 1944 season. (See Table 3.) 



Competitive and Noncompetitive Analyses* 



Many fertilizer analyses are offered by but one company in any 

 given year. Price lists of eight different companies which handle most 

 of the fertilizer in New Hampshire \\'ere checked over a six-year period. 

 Of 67 different analvses of mixed fertilizer which were checked in the 

 1938-1939 to 1943-1944 period: 



28 were offered in but one year 16 were offered for four years 



6 were offered for two years 10 were offered for five years 



7 were offered for three years were offered for six years 



In reviewing the offerings of these eight companies over the six-year 

 period, it was found that the listings were about as follows: 



47% of the offerings were quoted by but one company 



13% of the offerings w^ere quoted by two companies 



14% of the offerings were quoted by three companies 



9% of the offerings were quoted by four companies 



6% of the offerings were quoted by five companies 



4% of the offerings were quoted by six companies 



5% of the offerings were quoted by seven companies 



2% of the offerings were quoted by eight companies 



Thus almost half of the listings were noncompetitive in that they 

 were offered by but one company over the six-year period. 



* The term analysis, as used here, refers to the formula naming chemical content as 5-8-7 (5 per 

 cent nitrogen, 8 per cent available phosphoric acid, and 7 per cent water soluble potash). 



