130 MAINE) AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I904. 



lished by the seedsmen, W. Atlee Burpee and Company, Phila- 

 delphia, is a comprehensive book that costs 50 cents ; and Pro- 

 fessor Voorhees' treatise on Commercial Fertilizers, published 

 by Macmillan and Company, New York, for $1.00, gives a clear 

 and not very technical presentation of the principles underlying 

 the use of the different kinds of plant food for different crops 

 and soils. If one feels that because of ignorance it would be 

 better to buy ready mixed goods than to attempt home mixing, 

 it must be remembered that there is little if any more likelihood 

 of making mistakes in the proportions when mixing than there is 

 of buying ready mixed goods unsuited to the purpose. A farmer 

 complained this year about a fertilizer that he used for potatoes 

 and inquiry revealed the fact that he had used on land in poor 

 condition a fertilizer intended for seeding down, which carried 

 very little nitrogen and with almost none of its constituents in 

 a readily available form. It is difficult to believe that one pur- 

 chasing and mixing chemicals for the first time would have made 

 such a serious mistake, in the forms and proportions of plant 

 food. 



WHY USE HOME MIXED GOODS. 



The reasons for and against home mixing are few and easily 

 stated. 



In general, if considerable quantities of fertilizers are used, 

 there can be a considerable saving in the purchase. 



When separate materials are purchased there is less likelihood 

 of being deceived. This does not apply, however, with very 

 great force when the goods are purchased from the well known 

 and reliable manufacturers. 



In home mixing the farmer can readily change the mixture so 

 as to more nearly adapt it to the requirements of different crops. 

 While the manufacturers do this to a considerable extent, it 

 rarely happens that a farmer growing several kinds of crops 

 takes advantage of this fact. He usually employs the same 

 brand regardless of the crop, whether grown on a clover turf or 

 with or without farm manure. This leads to the most important 

 reason of all for home mixing, stated in the next paragraph. 



There is a great educational value in home mixing. The use 

 of an unknown mixture gives little information, and the farmer 

 that has for years used ready mixed goods knows but little more 

 as to the needs of his land and crops than when he began. The 



