CHAPTER XV 

 THE PURCHASE AND MIXING OF FERTILIZERS 



It is hardly three-quarters of a century since the fertilizer 

 industry began its development. In that time the use of 

 commercial fertilizers has spread to all the important agri- 

 cultural states of this country. Their sale amounts to 

 more than $110,000,000 annually, of which fully one-half 

 is expended by the farmers of the South Atlantic states, 

 in an area lying within three hundred miles of the seaboard. 

 Nearly one-half of the remainder is purchased in the Middle 

 Atlantic and New England states, while only about five 

 percent is used west of the Mississippi river. 

 J A large utilization of fertilizers in a region is often, but 

 not always, an indication of an intensive agriculture. The 

 importance of fertilizers in farm practice and the large 

 expenditure that their use involves, together with the possi- 

 bilities for profit, when they are properly used, make it de- 

 sirable that those who utilize fertilizers should thoroughly 

 understand the commercial, as well as the agricultural, 

 values of these products. 



252. Brands of fertilizers. — The various fertilizer con- 

 stituents or carriers that have been described are purchased 

 toy fertilizer manufacturers, who mix them into various 

 combinations, each of which is called a brand. Each of 

 these brands usually contains nitrogen, phosphoric acid 

 and potash, in which case it is called a complete ferti- 



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