CHAPTER XII 



COMPOUND AND MISCELLANEOUS MANURES 



COMPOUND MANURES 



IN addition to the simple substances described in the 

 previous chapters, a variety of fertilisers of more complex 

 origin and character can also be obtained. Some of them 

 are prepared from scrap and refuse materials that are 

 unsuitable for direct use, the plant foods being rendered 

 available by treatment with acids and by other pro- 

 cesses. Others are made by merely mixing simple 

 manures together in various proportions. Most com- 

 monly, perhaps, they consist mainly of some simple 

 manure mixed with larger or smaller quantities of various 

 kinds of scrap. 



Most of them contain phosphates and nitrogen, and a 

 few also contain potash. The last are general manures 

 and are more or less suitable for all crops alike. In 

 some cases the ingredients are blended together in pro- 

 portions supposed to be generally most suitable .for par- 

 ticular crops. They are called turnip manures, potato 

 manures, grass and grain manures, vine manure, and 

 so on. Others are described as compound fertilisers, 

 artificial guanos, etc., or by some personal or fancy 

 name. 



Some of the products are absolutely worthless or 

 barely worth the cost of carriage, but these are not now 

 so common as they formerly were. Many compound 

 manures contain adequate quantities of available plant 



