APPENDIX 



MIXING FERTILIZERS 



ALL the ' machinery ' necessary is a tight floor or a smooth hard place on the 

 ground, scales, a shovel or hoe, an iron rake, and a sand screen. Lumpy materials 

 should be pulverized and run through the screen before they are added to fine ones. 

 The most bulky material should be spread on the floor in a layer about six inches 

 deep, then the next material should be spread on top of this, and so on till all are 

 added in layers to the pile. The pile should then be shoveled and raked over from 

 top to bottom so as to mix the materials well. This process should be repeated three 

 or four times and then the mixture passed through the screen. It is then ready 

 for use. 



Acid phosphate is the cheapest and one of the best sources of phosphoric acid. 

 Various grades are sold, ranging from 7 to 18 per cent available phosphoric acid. 

 The higher grades are the more economical. 



Nitrate of soda is 15 J to 16 per cent nitrogen; sulphate of ammonia 19 to 20} 

 per cent; dried blood 12 to 14 per cent; tankage 5 to 12^ per cent; and cotton- 

 seed meal 6\ to 7^ per cent. 



Nitrate substitutes may be made on the following basis : for one pound of nitrate 

 of soda use one pound of high grade dried blood, or two pounds of cotton-seed meal. 



Muriate of potash, which is 50 per cent potash, is the cheapest form of potash for 

 crops such as corn, peas, and cotton; but the salt in the muriate or in kainit, which 

 is 12 or I2| per cent potash, injures the quality of some crops, such as tobacco and 

 potatoes. For these it is better to use sulphate of potash, 1 8 to 52 per cent potash, 

 or hard-wood ashes, 2 to 8 per cent potash. Ashes should never be mixed with acid 

 phosphate unless both are perfectly dry, and neither ashes nor lime should be mixed 

 with stable manure. 



Potash substitutes may be made on the following basis : for each one pound of 

 muriate of potash use one pound of high-grade sulphate of potash or four pounds of 

 kainit or ten pounds of dry unleached hard-wood ashes. 



Fertilizer formulas should give the per cent of available phosphoric acid, nitrogen, 

 and potash. Often instead of the per cent of nitrogen there is given the per cent of 

 ammonia which is }| nitrogen, and the per cent of sulphate of potash which is about 

 50 per cent potash. The fertilizer which claims 8 per cent sulphate of potash is 

 therefore equal to one which claims 4 per cent potash, and one which claims 4.5 per 

 cent ammonia is equal to one claiming 3.8 nitrogen. 



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