Purchasing Fertilizers in New Hampshire 13 



samples fully meeting guarantees. (See Appendix, Table A-8 for com- 

 plete sinmnary.) 



The extent of the variations from guarantees for individual compa- 

 nies is shown in Appendix, Table A-10 for a two-year period (1942- 

 1943). From a purchasing standpoint, this is more important. Those 

 companies with the poorest records show deficiencies of but 1.6 per cent 

 in nitrogen, 3.4 per cent in available phosphoric acid, and .2 of 1 per cent 

 in water soluble potash, while the companies with the best records show 

 an excess over guarantee of 18 per cent for nitrogen, 14.3 per cent for 

 available phosphoric acid, and 8.6 per cent for water soluble potash. (See 

 Appendix, Table A-9.) 



A comparison of guarantees and determinations can also be made for 

 units of the three chemicals. Determinations in terms of total chemical 

 units for all complete fertilizers of 12 companies during the two-year 

 period ending 1942-1943 ranged from .3 per cent below guarantees to 

 9.4 per cent above the guarantees. Thus, only one company in 12 gave 

 less in terms of total chemical units than guaranteed. (See Figure 7 a7id 

 Appendix, Table A-10.) 



USE OF LOW AND HIGH ANALYSIS FERTILIZERS 



Certain advantages exist in the use of either low- or high-analysis 

 fertilizers. Greater care in application may need to be exercised in the 

 case of high-analysis products. However, the savings in lower cost and in 

 fewer tons to be handled in the high-analysis fertilizers appear to the 

 writer to far outweigh any disadvantages. Although considerable em- 

 phasis has been placed on those advantages, the progress in that direction 

 seems to be very slow. As previously indicated, about three-fourths of 

 our total tonnage includes fertiHzers with fewer than 25 units of 

 chemicals. 



Comparisons in this discussion are made only on a basis of the guaran- 

 teed analysis, but farmers should bear in mind that other factors such as 

 organic content or inclusion of chemicals other than nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, and potash, should also be considered in making purchases. 



Cost of Chemicals in Fertilizers of Various Analyses 



Considerable variation exists in the cost of chemicals in fertilizers 

 of different analyses. Comparison has been made between the costs of 

 chemicals in mixed fertilizers with their cost if purchased separately. 

 (See Figure 8.) Low-analysis fertilizers are usually relatively more cost- 

 1\' since it costs money to ship and handle filler. The source of the chem- 

 ical, the amount of organic material included, and the presence of other 

 chemicals are also considerations in determining relative values. In the 

 comparisons made here, however, we are considering costs of nitrogen, 

 available phosphoric acid, and potash. 



Cash Savings in Purchase of High-Analysis Fertilizers 



In 1944, the nitrogen in sodium nitrate cost farmers about 50 per 

 cent more than in ammonium nitrate. In 1945 phosphoric acid in 20 per 

 cent superphosphate cost about a third more per pound than in 47 per 

 cent superphosphate. Potash in 48 per cent muriate of potash cost about 



