The possibility of making mixtures of fertilizer chemicals in various 

 proportions places in our hands the means of perfectly adapting the 

 material to the needs of our soils and crops. All such goods bear a 

 label showing what they contain, yet many men spend their money 

 for them without a thought of how many pounds of really valuable 

 material of each land they are buying, and without knowing whether 

 the material is suited to their needs. Too often the price is the 

 only thing that receives consideration. A fertilizer may be excellent 

 for fruit and commercially well worth the price charged for it and 

 yet be unprofitable if used on wheat. There is nothing so difficult 

 about the composition or use of these concentrated fertilizers that 

 an intelligent school boy may not understand the essential facts about 

 them. They place in our hands the means of producing crops under 

 the best possible conditions of plant food supply. 



As the fertility of our virgin soils becomes reduced, the question of 

 food for plants becomes of more vital importance. The starting point 

 for any real progress in this direction must be careful observation and 

 study of that great storehouse of plant food — the soil itself. 



