14 Experiment Station Bulletin 363 



Purchasing Fertilizers in New Hampshire 



Commercial fertilizers constitute one of the most important pro- 

 ductive goods purchased by New Hampshire farmers. More attention 

 may well be given to such purchases in order to obtain products more 

 suitable for specific uses and to receive best values for the money spent. 



1. Source of product. The magnitude of the farm fertilizer ex- 

 pense justifies an investigation of the sources of purchases within the 

 community. 



2. Reliability of product. Guarantees may be checked against in- 

 spection reports available at the Agricultural Experiment Statiin or State 

 Department of Agriculture. In the inspection reports of various compa- 

 nies studied the amounts of chemicals found ranged on the average from 

 slightly below to 9 per cent over the guarantees. 



•suope^onb aoiad '£ Considerable variations in prices are found 

 for some analyses. Average maximum savings (difference between low- 

 est and highest quotations) for a five-year period on seven different pop- 

 ular analyses ranged from about $1.00 to $8.00 per ton. 



4. Early ordering. Consider available storage on farm and deter- 

 mine whether early ordering and acceptance of delivery will mean a net 

 saving. Some companies offer more attractive prices on early orders. 

 One company offered savings of $1.60 per ton. 



5. Economy in selected analyses. High analysis products aver- 

 age much lower in cost per unit of chemicals than do low analysis prod- 

 ucts. In 13 cases studied, the chemicals in low analysis products aver- 

 aged 23 per cent higher in price than in high analysis products. 



6. Mixtures vs. chemicals. Chemicals cost less when purchased 

 separately than in mixtures. From about $5.00 to $17.00 a ton less in in- 

 stances where the ingredients were purchased separately and were home- 

 mixed. 



7. Size of order. Discounts have commonly been made at the 

 four-bag, ton, 10-ton, and at carlot or higher levels. Savings on volume 

 orders may range from about $1.00 to $4.50 per ton, depending on the 

 amounts purchased. This may involve co-operative orders or close co- 

 operation \\ith a specific company. 



8. Delivery direct from plant. Size of order, time of ordering, 

 and location of farmer and fertilizer plant are all factors which enter into 

 arrangements for direct delivery from plants. Deliveries can often be 

 arranged at no extra charge, particularly in full truck loads. 



9. Car-door delivery. Car-door delivery is a possible means of 

 cutting costs. It may not be practicable for those not having trucks but, 

 in some cases, acceptance of delivery direct from car may make possible 

 a lower price than when rehandled from warehouse floor. 



10. Credit. Where credit is essential in fertilizer purchases, bank 

 credit will result in considerable saving over purchases which follow the 

 regular time-price schedules. Savings of from one to three dollars a ton 

 appear as reasonable possibilities. 



L. A. Dougherty 



