By C. a. Goessmann. 



A judicious selection of fertilizers from among the various brands 

 offered for patronage, requires in tlie main, two kinds of knowledge, 

 namely that the brand of fertilizer in question actually contains the 

 guaranteed quantities and qualities of essential articles of plant 

 food at a reasonable cost ; and that it contains them in such form 

 and such proportions as will best meet under existing circumstances 

 the special wants of soil and crop. 



In some cases it may be only phosphoric acid or nitrogen or 

 potash ; in others two of them ; and in others again all three. 



A remimerative use of commercial fertilizers can only be secured 

 by attending carefully to these considerations. 



To assist farmers in selecting their fertilizers with reference to- 

 tlie ivants of the crops they wish to cultivate, the writer has for years 

 published in his annual reports a compilation of the analyses of the 

 farm and garden crops to serve as a guide to all interested in a 

 rational mode of manuring plants. Copies of these compilations of 

 analyses may be secured by asking for them at the office of the 

 Hatch Experiment Station at Amherst, Mass. 



An economical use of manurial substances from any source is only 

 possible after the local condition of the soil under consideration as 

 well as the special wants of the crops to be raised, are each duly 

 considered. It becomes the business of every progressive farmer ta 

 acquire such information as is called for to select intelligently from 

 the various manurial resources at his disposal, those materials which 

 will meet best his wants for a complete fertilizer. 



