HOME MIXED FERTILIZERS. I3I 



purchase of unmixed goods will lead to an intelligent use. It is 

 impossible to imagine an intelligent man using unmixed goods 

 on different crops and soils through a series of, years without 

 coming to a fairly clear understanding of the chemical needs of 

 the soil and crops, even though he may know nothing of the 

 principles of chemistry. It is furthermore equally difficult to 

 conceive of such a man using unmixed goods year after year 

 without being impelled to study and to read. Just as hundreds 

 of skilled, intelligent feeders have been developed by reading, 

 study, experiment and observation, so equally scientific users 

 and conservers of plant food would be the result of intelligent 

 home mixing. 



Two reasons are commonly advanced against home mixing : — > 



On small purchases there is little or no saving. This is a 



matter of dollars and cents, and inquiry as to cost of materials, 



and the same weights of plant food ready mixed, will enable any 



one to answer the question of economy for himself. 



It is also claimed that owing to the lack of proper facilities the 

 farmer can not mix as well as the manufacturers. That he can 

 do so with a tight barn floor, and no other implements than a 

 shovel, a screen and a rake has been shown over and over again 

 in every state in the East and South. 



A MANUFACTURER'S VIEW OF HOME MIXING.* 



"As to mixing at home, they who do it cannot readily obtain 

 their materials at first hand or in an absolutely raw condition. 

 In the first place, the phosphate or bone must be ground and 

 treated with sulphuric acid if available or soluble phosphoric 

 acid is desired. This cannot be done on the farm. The tank- 

 ages, blood or fish must also be ground for home mixing, also 

 the chemicals, for most of them come in a lumpy condition and 

 need remilling. For this expense of preparation the home 

 mixer must of necessity pay some one, for it is a part of the cost 

 of manufacture. In fact it is the larger part, for when the raw 

 materials are prepared, the phosphates ground and acidulated, 

 and the other materials put into a fine mechanical condition the 

 most important and costly steps in the process of manufacture 

 have been taken. The last step, of putting them together, is 

 the least expensive of them all. 



♦Extracts from a personal letter. 



