255 MORE ABOUT 



FERTILIZERS 



In mixing fertilizers, care must be taken not 

 to mix those which injure one another; thus 

 nitrate of soda and muriate of potash, both 

 take up moisture from the air quite readily, 

 and when mixed with other substances are 

 Uable to make the whole mass pasty, or even to 

 run together and bake in the bag ; these should 

 be mixed but a short time before they are to be 

 apphed. Nitrate of soda and acid phosphate, 

 when they are mixed and allowed to stand, be- 

 come damp and act chemically upon each other, 

 and the result is loss of fertilizer elements into 

 the air; the same is true when basic slag and 

 sulphate of ammonia are mixed together. 



We are frequently advised to apply fertilizers 

 to the crop while it is growing. Nitrate of soda 

 is generally used in this way, and to aid in 

 spreading it, it is often mixed with acid phos- 

 phate. Now both of these substances, as well 

 as muriate and sulphate of potash, are likely 

 to burn the foliage of plants with which they 

 come in contact; hence, broadcasting these over 

 growing plants on a damp morning is liable 

 to do serious injury to the foliage; it is safer to 

 apply them with a drill. 



Valv^ in Fertilizers. — In estimating the value 

 of fertilizers it is the custom to speak of the unit 

 of valuation. A unit is one per cent, of a ton. 



