Why 

 Fertilizers 

 Are 

 Bought 



the current season. He considers the following season when 

 he gets to it. 



Therefore, in deciding between chemically prepared goods 

 and "dry mixed" or "home-mixed" goods, there are two points 

 to be considered: 



First: Fertilizers are purchased and used, not for their 

 crude plant food, but for their available plant food. They are 

 bought to supplement the crude manure on the farm, to start 

 crops as well as to carry them through to maturity, to produce 

 results in dry seasons as well as in wet seasons. Will "dry 

 mixed" or shovel-mixed goods which have not been sub- 

 jected to chemical treatment give the same results as chemically 

 mixed goods? Will they be as soluble, as active and as sure? 



Second: Will "dry mixed" or shovel-mixed goods be 

 as thoroughly mixed and blended as chemically prepared goods? 

 Will each pound of soil get its half-grain or grain of fertiHzer? 

 It must be remembered that when we apply as large a quantity 

 as a ton to the acre of concentrated fertilizer, we are giving each 

 pound of soil less than a grain of plant food. For this infin- 

 itesimal quantity to be thoroughly and evenly distributed, the 

 goods must be dry and drillable as well as soluble and available. 

 Finally, we must remember that in this latitude the growing 

 season for most crops is limited to 120 days. Will crudely 

 mixed fertilizers insure crops to the same extent that chemically 

 prepared goods will insure them? Judging by the enormous 

 increase in the consumption of chemically mixed fertilizers, the 

 practical farmer has decided in the negative. 



The Availability of Fertilizers 



Availability 

 and 



Mechanical 

 Condition 



It must be borne in mind that commercial manures are 

 applied chiefly to hoed crops, many of which have small root 

 systems, mature in from sixty to one hundred and twenty days, 

 and are often put to it to find sufficient moisture. Theoreti- 

 cally and practically the commercial farmer, for best results, 

 wants every seed to germinate, every plant to mature, and hence 

 every pound of the soil to be enriched with its fraction of a 

 grain of available plant food. Therefore availability , diffusi- 

 hility and fine, dry condition for even distribution are of para- 

 mount importance to the man who is growing quick crops for 

 quick returns in this latitude. Will "home-mixed" or "dry 



20 



