CHAPTER XIX 

 HOME-MIXING OF FERTILIZERS 



The Practice of Ho me -mixing. The business 

 of compounding fertilizers has been involved in 

 a great deal of unnecessary mystery. Many of 

 our best station scientists have labored to show 

 that the home-mixing of fertilizers is a simple and 

 profitable piece of work, and the heaviest users of 

 fertilizers in the east now buy unmixed materials, 

 but a majority of farmers use the factory-mixed. 

 Manufacturers are right in their contention that 

 many people do not know what materials are best 

 for their own fields, or what proportions are best, 

 but the purchase of mixed materials does not 

 solve their problem and it does not help them to 

 a solution as quickly as home-mixing. The source 

 of the plant-food in the factory-mixed goods is not 

 known, while it is known in the home-mixed. 



Effectiveness of Home-mixing. Van Slyke 

 says ("Fertilizers and Crops," p. 477) : "Manufac- 

 turers of fertilizers and their agents have persist- 



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