172 Fertilizers 



Formula No. 4 illustrates a mixture which, while rich 

 in total constituents, is not high-grade in its quality. 



All of these considerations should therefore be care- 

 fully observed in the purchase of mixtures, or even in 

 the purchase of raw materials for home mixtures, and the 

 analysis, if properly made, will give positive evidence on 

 these points. 



The expensiveness of low-grade fertilizers, as repre- 

 sented by formulas Nos. 2 and 3, is not fully appreciated 

 by the purchaser in all cases. He does not stop to think 

 that it is quite as expensive to handle the material which 

 contains no plant-food as it is to handle material which is 

 rich in plant-food. 



The cost of handling "make-weight." 



A comparison of the advantages of low-grade and 

 high-grade mixtures in this sense of total quantity of 

 plant-food may be illustrated as follows: 



It has been shown by continued studies at the New 

 Jersey Experiment Station that the charges of the man- 

 ufacturers and dealers for mixing, bagging, shipping and 

 other expenses are, on the average, $8.50 a ton ; and also 

 that the average manufactured fertilizer contains about 

 300 pounds of actual fertilizing constituents to a ton. 

 A careful study of the fertilizer trade indicates that these 

 conditions are also practically true for other states in which 

 large quantities of commercial fertilizers are used. 



A mixture of formula No. 1 would contain 460 pounds 

 of actual available fertilizing constituents in each ton 

 160 pounds, or over 50 per cent more than is contained 

 in the average manufactured brand. That is, a farmer 

 purchasing a brand similar to formula No. 1 would secure 

 in 2 tons as much plant-food as would be contained in 



