168 Fertilizers 



a complete fertilizer, so called, is really only a mixture of 

 the various manufactured fertilizing materials, has sug- 

 gested the use of what are called "home mixtures," 

 that is, their mixing by the farmer himself. This has 

 proved to be very satisfactory under proper conditions, 

 since, as already stated, the cost of the constituents is 

 much less than if secured in the average manufactured 

 brand (often from 25 to 50 per cent), and the mixing can 

 be performed by the regular labor of the farm, and thus 

 not add directly to the cost of the constituent. 



This matter of home mixtures has been carefully 

 studied by a number of the experiment stations, notably 

 Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey. The re- 

 sults of their studies are published in their regular reports, 

 and show that the materials can be evenly mixed on the 

 farm, that the mechanical condition is good and that the 

 results obtained from their use are entirely satisfactory. 

 It must be remembered, however, that whatever method 

 of purchase is used, the object should be to obtain the kind 

 and form of constituent best suited to the conditions under 

 which they shall be used, at the lowest price a pound. 



In any method of purchase which contemplates the 

 use of a mixture, care should be taken in the selection of 

 the brand or of the formula, since in mixtures as well as 

 in the raw materials, there are two grades, the high-grade 

 and the low-grade high-grade in the sense that in 

 quality the constituents are all good, and in the sense that 

 maximum quantities are contained; and second, high- 

 grade only in that constituents of good quality are fur- 

 nished. They may be low-grade in the sense that both 

 the quality and amount of constituents contained are 

 low, and also in the sense that only the quality of the 

 constituents is low, the quantity being sufficiently high. 



