94 FERTILIZERS. 



melon, squash, onions, oats, grass, beet, and Hungarian 

 millet. 



HOW TO COMPOUND OUR OWN FORMULAS. 



To start with, we will aim to get our three elements 

 from more than one source, believing that the greater the 

 variety from which they are obtained, the better it will be 

 for the varied and varying wants of the crop. In making 

 up my formulas, I start with some one fertilizer, .and then 

 add to it, from various sources, what I need to complete 

 it. To illustrate, let us take the first on the list, that for 

 potatoes. 



The potato formula calls for : ammonia, 6 per cent ; pot- 

 ash, 8 per cent ; phosphoric acid, 8 per cent ; quantity re- 

 quired, 1,000 pounds. That is, of this 1,000 pounds, 6 per 

 cent, which is 1,000 X .06, must be ammonia, = 60 pounds ; 

 8 per cent potash, that is, 1,000 X .08, = 80 pounds ; 

 and 8 per cent phosphoric acid, = 1,000 X .08, 80 

 pounds. The formula would stand thus : 



Ammonia. Potash. Phosphoric acid. 



Wanted : 60 pounds. 80 pounds. 80 pounds. 



Let us start with a superphosphate, which we will 

 assume to analyze as follows : Ammonia, 3.50 ; available 

 phosphoric acid, 11. From this we will supply the phos- 

 phoric acid needed in the formula, which, as there are 11 

 pounds in every hundred, will require as many hundred 

 pounds as 11 is contained in 80, which will be 7 hundred, 

 and ^ 3 T , which would be just about 27 pounds more, making 

 727 pounds in all. Now, in taking these 727 pounds of 

 the phosphate, as each hundred has, besides the phosphoric 

 acid, 3 pounds of ammonia, we have at the same time 3J 

 per cent of 727 pounds of this element, = 25 pounds : we 

 have thus obtained all the phosphoric acid needed in our 

 formula, and (60 - 25 = 35) all but 35 pounds of the 



