The Present Fertilizer Situation 
Are Any Economics Possible? 
DR. J. P. STEWART 
THE ECONOMIC POSITION of the American 
farmer is now more difficult than at any time since the 
world war started. Up to the present time his general 
■selling market has been on the upward grade. So long 
as this condition lasted he could afford to increase acre¬ 
age and continue paying the advancing costs of pro¬ 
duction and still stand a reasonable chance of coming 
out whole in the end. The peak in his market, how¬ 
ever, has now been reached and he is starting on the 
downward grade. At the same time the actual world 
need for food is fully as great as ever before. Anyone 
doubting this statement is referred to the waves of 
hunger and Bolshevism now rolling westward over 
Europe. Our nation is endeavoring to stem that tide 
with twenty million tons of food, or two-thirds more 
than was sent over last year, from reserves which are 
no greater. 
PRODUCTION MUST CONTINUE.—'These sup¬ 
plies must be maintained and replaced by the farmer. 
He is therefore not only expected to continue meeting 
the general food crisis, but he must also do it at a much 
lower cost. This, moreover, must be done in spite of 
the fact that the prices of practically everything re¬ 
quired for producing the coming crop have as yet shown 
no signs of a break. On the contrary, some of them 
are still going up. This situation is certainly not likely 
to secure the results in food production which must be 
obtained during the coming year, if the barest needs of 
the world are to be met. 
. E\ ER^ONE MUST HELP.—In view of these facts, 
it would seem to be the plain duty of all, and especially 
of everyone connected with agriculture, to assist the 
farmer in every way to meet the unusual burdens of the 
year just ahead. At the present minute the writer 
knows of no better opportunity for this kind of service 
than is just now presented by the situation in the fer¬ 
tilizer industry. 
THE WAR AND FERTILIZERS.—In this indus¬ 
try, as in many others, the prices of the goods produced 
have risen very greatly during the war, while the quality 
has usually gone down. By the Fall of .1918 this had 
resulted in more than doubling the pre-war prices on 
practically all fertilizer materials, and in some special 
cases the prices had become fully six times as great. 
On mixed goods, moreover, during the year ending with 
the Fall of 1918, the prices to the furmer have generally 
risen from $5 to $7 a ton. These increases were 
naturally attributed to war conditions and to special 
demands or shortages of the materials concerned, and 
they were generally accepted and endured by the farm¬ 
ers without special complaint. 
RAW MATERIAL SITUATION IMPROVED.— 
But now that the war is over and the nitrates, am? 
moniates and sulphuric acid required for making the 
fertilizers are beginning to pile up at an unprecedented 
rate, and now that even a fair supply of potash from 
American sources is also in sight—at least 50.000 tons 
being reported as lying idle in one general section, and 
the present American production apparently amounting 
to several hundred tons a day—the farmers and the 
better class of local dealers are naturally beginning to 
inquire as to what effect these new conditions are to 
have on the quality and price of the fertilizer which 
the farmer is to use next Spring. They naturally feel 
that these changes iu operating conditions’ are' suffi¬ 
ciently great and have come sufficiently soon to effect a 
very marked improvement in both the quality and price 
of the fertilizers offered. 
THE FARMER PAYS MORE.—A brief conference 
with the nearest fertilizer dealer, however, will quickly 
dispel this hope. Instead of improvement, the farmer 
now finds that the same general brands are to be of¬ 
fered as during the past Fall, and that the prices for 
these brands are to be still higher. The amounts of the 
new increases are approximately $1.25 per ton to the 
trade on all mixed goods, and there is apparently no 
difference at the present time between any important 
manufacturers, in the prices offered to the trade from 
any given point. At present, therefore, there is no 
evident commercial escape from the increased prices on 
fertilizer now being offered to the farmer, for use next 
Spring, and none of the benefits which should already 
be available as a result of the greatly improved situa¬ 
tion in the general fertilizer field are now expected to 
reach the farmer .before next Fall. 
AN UNJUST BURDEN.—This situation would 
evidently be serious enough if it were confined to the 
parties immediately involved. But this is by no means 
the case. It simply means that the American farmer 
is being asked to continue maintaining the world’s food 
supply with an additional burden, lie is also to do 
this in the face of a practically certain reduction in 
his compensation. . A\ e have already been warned that 
“the peace food crisis ahead is a greater crisis than the 
war food crises we have met and conquered,” and it 
even now appears that the bread line in Central Europe 
has become of greater importance to civilization than 
ever was the Ilindenburg line. If these things are 
true, is it not high time that the farmer was receiving 
some real aid in his efforts? 
GOVERNMENT NITRATE.—Some of this aid. 
we are glad to note, is already in sight. The Govern¬ 
ment has recently announced its intention of making a 
large portion of its war nitrate available to the farmers 
for a limited period, at a price of $81 a ton. Assuming 
that this nitrate will average at least 15.5 per cent 
nitrogen, this action will enable the farmer to secure 
that important part of his fertility requirements at a 
cost of about $5.25 per unit of nitrogen, plus freight. 
This is somewhat higher than last year, but it offers 
some improvement over the present commercial rates, 
which have been running about $6.25 per unit when 
purchased in nitrate alone, and affords a very consider¬ 
able improvement over the present rates for nitrogen 
in mixed goods, which are running as high as $8 per 
unit. 
THE MOST EFFECTIVE MOVE NOW.—With the 
farmer, as with everyone else, however, the most ira- 
enables him to help himself, 
at a favorable rate for a 
only 
„ _ the 
see that the farmer is enabled 
portant fertilizer materials which he may desire, eithei 
singly or mixed, with no important restrictions and at 
as reasonable rates as the present conditions will per 
mit. With the aid of the Federal agricultural ex 
tension service, the nation should then put on a na 
tional campaign for the application of simple materials 
whether mixed or not, which will not only enable tin 
farmers to make an important saving in' their entiri 
fertilizer bills this year, but will also furnish then 
with the methods and means of protecting themselves 
as 
portant aid is that which 
The securing of nitrogen 
limited period this year is 
The next step, and by far 
one step in the process, 
most effective one, is to 
to secure any other im- 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
against any possible price encroachments at any time 
m the future. This, moreover, is the logical additional 
step needed to secure the maximum benefit from the 
present governmental distribution of nitrate. 
WIIAT MIGHT BE DONE.—I at once anticipate 
objections to this proposition, but let us see just what 
it might accomplish. At the present writing one of the 
best commercial mixtures that I find offered for Spring 
sale in Pennsylvania is a 3-8-1 combination—which 
means that it contains approximately 3 per cent of 
ammonia. 8 per cent of phosphoric acid (P 2 O s ), and 
1 per cent of potash (Yv 2 0). This combination is being 
offered at the uniform trade or dealer’s price of $48.50 
per ton, f. o. b. Baltimore. Its price, therefore, will 
probably be at least $5 more on the average by the 
time it reaches the farmer. The same trade lists offer 
16 per cent acid phosphate at $24 per ton, or $1.50 
per unit, at the same point, and we now have direct 
quotations on smaller lots at the same figure or less. 
It also appears that favorable rates on acid phosphate 
are now available from two large mail order houses. 
We also have direct quotations on American potash in 
carload lots at not more than $4.25 per unit, delivered 
at Eastern points. 
Assuming, then, that the simple materials—consisting 
of nitrate, acid phosphate and potash—are bought at 
the prices now available when purchased in sufficient 
quantity, and are used iu making up the equivalent of 
2.000 pounds of the 3-8-1 combination, we find that 
3 per cent actual nitrogen instead of ammonia can be 
secured at a cost of $15.75, the phosphorus at a cost 
of approximately $12. and the potash at a present cost 
of $4.25. This makes a total cost for the entire home 
Combination of an even $32, partly f. o. b. shipping 
point. Instead of the $48.50 at which the equivalent 
commercial mixture is now being offered to the trade. 
The total weight of the ingredients in the resulting home 
combination also should be not over 1,500 pounds. 
Iu fact, many of the brands now offered are so close 
to a simple application of acid phosphate that it is 
very doubtful whether a complete change to that ma¬ 
terial would result in any important loss in the field, 
and the economy which can thus be effected will often 
amount to fully 50 per cent in both cost and weight. 
I’KA( ITC'AL ECONOMIES.—These are certainly 
remarkable economies, and ones that look almost too 
lug to be true. But there is nothing wrong with the 
figures so far as I am aware. They have been obtained 
either directly from signed trade contracts or from the 
most authoritative sources now available. The labor 
of mixing at home has not been included in the above 
comparison, but it is usually not important, as it can 
often be done/on a rainy day, and it may also be 
omitted and the ingredients be applied separately with 
equal or greater effect. It is also largely offset by 
the. lower weight of the equivalent home combination, 
which will normally reduce the freight and general labor 
of handling by at least one^fourth. The cost of the bags 
may also be important just now, but it is already be¬ 
ginning to drop, considerably, and this difficulty can 
likewise be largely overcome with the home resources 
and with the aid of the bags received with the original 
ingredients, if they are properly cared for. 
IS HOME MIXING FEASIBLE?—Here we shall 
be told that this is all a snare and a delusion ; that 
home mixing has been tried before and has been given 
up; that the factories are specially prepared for this 
work and hence can do it bettor and more economically 
than the farmer; that the home mixtures are bound to 
be coarse and “cakey.” both before and after mixing, 
with a consequent reduction in the evenness of distribu¬ 
tion which is likely to have very serious effects in the 
field; that the combination of coarseness and splinters 
and other foreign materials, which may be picked up in 
an average barn-floor mixing, is likely to seriously inter¬ 
fere with the drilling, etc. Some of these objections 
are worth considering, and they should therefore receive 
the proper attention from those doing or directing the 
work.- ‘ Most of them can be overcome by simply omitting 
the mixing. Some 11 years of experience oii the part 
of the writer, moreover, with numerous samples of both 
mechanical and hand mixtures, have not revealed any 
special superiorities in the former preparations, and 
the fact that the agricultural leaders in some of our 
most progressive. States have continued advising and 
using the home mixing practice for years, does not in¬ 
dicate any serious weakness on its side. In other words, 
none of these difficulties is so serious that it can¬ 
not be overcome, and the present rewards for so doing 
are certainly worth the attempt. 
NO QUARREL WITH COMMERCIAL GOODS — 
At the same time I wish it distinctly understood that I 
have no quarrel with the commercial mixers. They have 
a large and important field, and are entirely capable of 
doing a vast.amount of good. There are' many low- 
grade materials which cannot be used directly or in the 
process of home mixing, and there are a great many 
people who do not care to take advantage of its possible 
economies or of its opportunities for improving the 
general fitness of the application to the crop or the soil 
immediately concerned. The commercial mixtures there¬ 
fore are in no danger of eradication. On the other hand, 
I feel that these mixtures are in no way obliged to 
occupy the entire field, and that it is really against the 
interests of the farmer and a serious obstacle to maxi¬ 
mum food production to have them even attempt to do 
so. I also feel that the resources of home mixing, and 
the opportunity to use the simple materials whenever 
preferred, should always be freely available to anyone 
desiring them. 
What the New Jersey Farmer Needs 
Every newspaper and every magizine that one picks 
up these days is full of propaganda looking toward the 
production of larger quantities of food and cheaper 
prices. A reduction in prices from overstimulated pro¬ 
duction ^ becomes disproportionate as compared with 
prices farmers must pay, and merely serves to keep 
them in the bondage of long hours for' the entire family 
and poor living conditions that much longer. The 
farmer must up and fight, and do it in a united wav. to 
head off every influence that tends to hold him down to 
a level below that of his fellow man. There is too much 
food production now for ordinary conditions. The im¬ 
mense waste of food in this country before the war 
was a glaring evidence of its relative cheapness and 
abundance. 
All of the food that this country needs can be pro¬ 
duced in an eight or nine-hour day.' True, prices would 
go up. So would farm wages, and some of the city 
ljibor would find its wny buck to tho fjirin. An oight or 
nine-hour day and prevention of child labor would mean 
prosperity for the farmer. It would increase his buy¬ 
ing power. Hundreds of millions would be spent for 
the improvements he needs on the farm. Demand for 
the manufacturer’s product would become enormous, and 
his prolits would go up. ('ity wngos would go higher 
aud the rank and tile would prosper there, also. Only 
321 
one thing will ever bring about shorter hours and im¬ 
proved living conditions for the farmer and his family, 
and that is organization by the farmer. 
I here is need for a State federation of agriculture. 
Such farming interests as do not yet see it are bound 
to come to it. Such a federation should include every 
organization of farmers and fanning interests in the 
State. It should be controlled by the bulk of whose 
income is derived from farming. It should cover every 
phase of agriculture. It should have various depart¬ 
ments. such as (1) a general welfare department; (2) a 
political department; (3) a business department; 
(4) a legal department; (5) an educational depart- 
merit, (0) a publicity department; (7) a home welfare 
department; and as many others as might be needed to 
cover every phase of the welfare of the farmer. 
1 he general welfare department would see to such 
matters as having representatives present wherever 
necessary to look after the interests of New Jersey 
agneulture and take care of such matters as are not 
otherwise provided for. The political department would 
handle the matter of getting more farmers into the State 
i; e £!i atur ®* c ? n ^ re « s ' 1 an . d local offices. The business 
department might help in putting through big deals 
where more than one section was interested in the same 
tiling it could also aid in organization work. The 
legal department would give legal advice and take care 
of lawsuits where matters of general concern arise that 
25® i a , rm T or organization could not carry through. 
I he educational department would concern itself with 
all agricultural education in the State and the educa- 
tmn of farm children. The publicity department would 
undertake to keep the public informed as to facts con¬ 
cerning the farming industry, carry on such general 
advertising as might be done, and perhaps publish an 
organization periodical for its members. The home 
welfare department would concern itself with the wel¬ 
fare of farm women and children, and better living con¬ 
ditions on the farm. 6 
fK? U <$f h n° r & anizati ° n . wo ; ,lfl strengthen the Grange, 
the State Board of Agriculture, the State College of 
Agneulture and Experiment Station, and Conuty A^ent 
and Home Demonstration Agent work, the Dairymen's 
Association, the Tomato Federation and every other 
agricultural interest iu the State. a. r. kohleb 
New Jersey. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
IS THIS WISE ECONOMY ?—The Cayuga County 
Board of Supervisors has cut down its appropriation 
8 of rn , tb( “ farrn bureau association from 
$3,UU0 to $2,o00. This county has the largest member¬ 
ship of any in the State, or very near 2,000. The cut 
■will moan that the association can no longer keep an 
assistant, and that but one community meeting will be 
held in each center, and but one project in each center 
wi 1 be aided. The directors have voted to co-operate 
with the Grange aud the Dairymen’s League in every 
wav possible, and to hold joint meetings with these 
bodies occasionally. 
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MAKES DEPART 
l RE. Ihe Auburn Chamber of Commerce has insti¬ 
tuted an agricultural course for the farmers of the 
county and adjacent territory. Prof. P. G. Holden a 
noted corn expert, will lecture on this and various other 
subjects; R. A. Hayne, associate editor of National 
btockman and Farmer, gives instruction on growing live 
stock and Alfalfa; R. R. Robertson, an Ohio Agricul 
turai College expert and a successful farmer, talks on 
horticulture, potatoes and gardens; Miss Zella Wigant 
specializes on home and school work, and will demon 
strate canning, drying and preserving fruits and vege¬ 
tables This is an effort worthy of imitation and shows 
the value some city business men and officials place on 
farmers interests and their prosperity. Mavor Koon 
opens the program of events. 
pkTTTLE PUBLICITY OF STATE GRANGE 
i i 4. ’— bils been deeply regretted by the people 
of the State this week that so little publicity has been 
given the annual session of State Grange, and it is to 
be hoped that the city that next entertains the order 
will have a daily press enterprising enough to get the 
news daily of the proceedings of this powerful order. 
It is hard to understand why so important a thing is 
not specially arranged for by the order itself, to see 
that the leading papers of the State get the news of 
the deliberations of this body while it is fresh—and 
that they get it straight. This indeed seems to be a 
weak point with most Pomona and Subordinate Granges. 
There is no class today so the victim of the lack of 
publicity as the farmer, and the Grange has a mission 
to perform iu letting the public know of conditions 
and of the farmers’ recommendations, not those of city 
men who are ignorant of the true situation. The people 
want to know what the Granges are doing. If they 
hear nothing, they must perforce conclude that the 
Grange is doing^ nothing, or little, in this period of re¬ 
construction. Every Grange should have a press re¬ 
porter who is willing to attend to the job of telling of 
the order’s activities. 
FARMERS INCORPORATE.—The Sears Dairy 
Products Co-operative Association of Cortlaudville has 
just been incorporated by the Secretary of State The 
directors for the first year include A. J. Sears E B 
Dickenson and Jerome Ilofll of Cortland. These dairy¬ 
men will be ready to care for their .own milk April 1 
HAY DEALERS PROTEST.—Members of the New 
York State Hay Dealers’ Association recently met in 
Syracuse. They protested the continuauce of war time 
rates on demurrage, which were raised from $1 to $10 
a day. They say the rate is altogether too high aud 
works hardships on shippers unjustified by present 
necessities. Opposition to Government ownership and 
increased freight rates were expressed. Trade condi¬ 
tions in the United States with regard to hay are not 
brisk, the dealers say. Consumers do not want to buy 
and farmers do not want to sell. The association will 
send representatives to Washington to get ocean tonnage 
to open buckwheat trade to Scandinavian countries, 
where there is a goad market, and its development 
would help the buckwheat business here remarkably, 
and would also help the hay trade. It was said that 
75 per cent of the 191S Government crop has been dis¬ 
posed of. The next meeting will be held August 15 
and 16 in Syracuse. J. L. Shultz of Skaneateles is 
president of the association and W. B. Rupert of 
Newark secretary. 
STATE VEGETABLE GROWERS’ MEETING._ 
At the State Vegetable Growers’ annual session iu 
Albany. February 20-21. Ellis N. Read of Cortland will 
tell how he has grown “Twenty Tons of Cabbage per 
Acre for Ten Successive Years.” C .E. Stewart of 
Fulton and J. II. Wilson of Cnnastota will speak on 
onion growing and several Cornell experts will speak on 
different phases of gardening and marketing; also l)r. 
1 orter on marketing problems. M q f 
