Food for Fifth. Crops grown with Nitrate of Soda seem to resist 



Plant> the attacks of parasitic organisms better than those grown 

 *4 without its aid. 



Sixth. Nitrate of Soda does not exhaust the land. 



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 be- 

 tween 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 three 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 fertilizers, we find 

 that there is an actual difference of nearly $14 in their com- 

 mercial values, whereas the difference in price made by the 

 manufacturer is only $5. 



The fertilizer materials in the higher priced fertilizers 

 are about thirty-three per cent, cheaper than those in the 

 lower priced article. 



As a general rule the more concentrated the form of fer- 

 tilizing materials in commercial fertilizers, or the higher the 

 grade of unmixed raw materials purchased by the farmer for 

 home mixing, the greater will be the saving in actual cost. 



The higher the grade of materials the less will be the 

 expense for freight, mixing, and spreading upon the land. 



There are these decided advantages about the mixing 

 of materials at home, viz., each raw material can be sepa- 

 rately examined, and if there is any cause for suspecting in- 

 ferior forms of Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash, samples 



