288 



SOILS "AND MANURES 



foods, judiciously mixed together, and are well adapted 

 for their ostensible purposes. The following are the adver- 

 tised guarantees of some of the mixed manures now on the 

 market : 



The prices charged by reputable firms are generally 

 fixed according to quality, i.e., to the amounts of fer- 

 tilising ingredients. Sometimes, however, they are 

 ridiculously out of proportion to the cost or value of 

 the goods. In any case, it is obvious that compound 

 manures cannot be sold at the same rate as the simple 

 untreated or unmixed materials from which they are 

 prepared. 



The use of compound fertilisers cannot be recom- 

 mended from the point of view of economy. The fer- 

 tilising ingredients can generally be obtained at a cheaper 

 rate in the form of simple unmixed manures, and pro- 

 duce quite as good results when applied to the soil 

 separately. Some of the constituents of a compound 

 manure containing phosphates, nitrogen and potash, are 

 bound to be wasted if it is applied indiscriminately to all 



