132 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I904. 



"There may be a few farmers who can figure out a saving by 

 home mixing, but this is not the case with the great mass of 

 farmers ; and even if the home mixers constituted the great mass 

 they would not be able to get their goods direct but would have 

 to take them through distributing agencies in order to secure 

 them in time. In any event, they must pay for the preparation 

 of the materials, freights, bags, and to this cost will also be 

 added a certain percentage for losses and shrinkage, whether 

 they buy the mixed or the unmixed goods ; and finally they must 

 pay a profit, for all business is based on a fair return. 



"I have never objected to home mixing and to the Experiment 

 Stations urging it for I know that through it many farmers who 

 have not used chemicals will be led to use them and will event- 

 ually become large users of mixed fertilizers. I consider it an 

 excellent educational process and a good introduction to the use 

 of mixed manures. Some of our best customers for complete 

 fertilizers, I may say the best customers that we have ever had 

 began as home mixers." 



IS HOME MIXING PRACTICABLE? 



To make it evident that Maine farmers do and can mix goods 

 that are in all particulars equal to the best factory mixed, the 

 Station made in 1904 cooperative experiments upon home mix- 

 ing with farmers in Brunswick, Houlton and Fort Fairfield 

 (Maple Grove). 



The completeness of the mixing is illustrated by the following : 

 A number of farmers at Brunswick clubbed together and pur- 

 chased bone tankage, cottonseed meal, nitrate of soda, acid phos- 

 phate and sulphate of potash. The tankage was not in as good 

 mechanical condition as was desirable but this was remedied by 

 passing it over a screen with 3 meshes to the inch, and rejecting 

 all that did not go through. The coarser particles were not 

 wasted but were used around fruit trees, etc., where the nitrogen 

 and phosphoric acid would slowly become available and utilized. 



After all of the goods had been screened, samples for analysis 

 were taken by the writer. The materials were then weighed out, 

 and spread out in layers, one above the other, on the barn floor, 

 care being taken to put the bulkiest materials at the bottom. 

 They were then mixed by shoveling together four times and 

 bagged. The writer took a sample of the mixed goods, and the 



