60 Fertilizers 



are made, the possibility of loss is increased, because of the 

 rapid change of the ammonia into the nitrate form. In 

 the case of organic materials, the losses from leaching 

 are seldom worthy of consideration in good practice, 

 since an appreciable time is required, even in the case 

 of the best forms, to change all of the nitrogen into am- 

 monia, and then to a nitrate; while in the case of the 

 poorer forms, still more time is necessary to cause the 

 change, and losses are not liable to occur. In the making 

 up of fertilizers, all of these considerations should be care- 

 fully balanced. It is the practice on the part of many 

 manufacturers to use a part of each of the three forms, 

 so that a continuous feeding of the plant may be insured. 

 Therefore, while the fact remains that fertilizers con- 

 taining only the one form may not be the poorest, the 

 chances are that those which contain all forms are likely 

 to give more satisfactory results. 



