Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-04-23

of commercial fertilizers is To supply
plant food the rule should be to select
those matcriaIS which supply, IN the
best foy'A3S and AZ tie forrest cost. the
plant .tood Which tic crop needs aad the
soil rails TO furnish. The ingredients of
plant food most often lacking in our
soils are phosphoric acid, nitrogen and
potash. and less frequently. sulphuric
acid and lime OF the commercial fertili-
zers which Vermont farmers Will do best
to buv 10 supply these substances taside
from plaster, which furnishes sulphuric
acid and lime and helps the growth of
crops in other ways also), the following
are among The most important.
PARTIAL FERTILIZERS.
For i'iosphor;c acid with sulphur c
acid and limel, Superphophates, i. E.,
dissolved bone black and mineral super
phosphates.
For lohosphorir acid rjh a HHic nj
hoyc,,, ''Nitrogenous' or .'ammoniated
superphosphates and ground bone.
For nitrogcp 0ad 7Dhosphoric acid
(hoth in considerable quantitiesl, Peru
vian guano and fish guano.
For Dofash, German potash salts of
the various grades, Of which the mt
riat2, with fifty per cent or more of ac-
tual potash, is generally preferable.
The following details will be useful to
purchasers:
l. S"perphosphat's prorCr, otherwise
called ''acid phosphatcs.' The chief
valuo Of these rests in their pAosphDsir
a~id. They are made by treating bone
black tcleaned bonci, Canada apatite,
and South Carolina, Navassa and other
fossil and mineral phosphates with sui
phuric acid, which renders their phos-
phoric acid soluble and hence available
II plants. Besides phosphoric acid they
contain sulphuric acid, lime and other
ingredients Of less or no value Dis
solved bone-black" and other superphos-
pilates OF this class with from ii TO 16
per cent Of soluble phosphoric acid are
sold in the Boston and New York mar
kets for $1,000 to $500 per ton, and
furnish soluble phosphoric acid at 10 TO
II cents per pound.
>. NfrO9,oons .Suptfijhoxi,Adtcs. -
Most Of the so-called superphosphates in
the markets, the ..ammoniated'' and mi
trogenous" supPrphosphatcs and qua
nos" other than fish guano" and true
Peruvian suano, are prepared by mixing
superphosnhates proper. of higher or
lower grades. with some materials to sup
ply nitrogen. like dried blood meat
scraps and tish-scraps. These mixtures
have the advantage over the the super
phosphutes proper that their nitrogen is
very valuable and often essential. and
the disadvantages that they supply less
phosphoric acid and that their valuable
fertilizing ingredients are more costly
than in the unmixed materials They
generally contain from s to l. per cent of
phosphoric acid, Of which from half t.
nearly all is available (soluble and .'re-
vcrted'' and J 10 per cent of nitrogen.
They are retailed at from $40 00 to 5000
per ton. which brings soluble phosphoric
acid al / to Is cents and nitrogen al 20
TO 30 cents per pound.
,. GroVHdbonc. Pure ground bone con-
tains usually from 90 to PC per cent Of
phosphoric acid aud from - to 3 per
cent Of nitrogen. 1t may he bought at
from 800 to $500 per ton, the phos-
phoric acii thus costing ) 10 cents and
the nitrogen 10 to Il cents per pound,
As compared with snperphosphates, bone
has the disadvantage Of being very SLOW
III lis action unless ground 10 Il very fno
powder; and the advantages that il fur
nishes more Of the available ingredients
at lower rates and that il is more lasting.
/. P,rugiam g5,ano. OF the various
grades the standard l0per cent ammonia
is one of the best This contains about 81
per cent Of nitrogen equivalent 10 10
per cent ammonia, II to l6 per cent
phosphoric acid and 5 to per cent of
potash, and rctails in Boston and New
York at $500 per ton. The nitrogen
thus costs about lG cents. the phosphoric
acid, soluble, II cents, aud reverted -
cents, and potash e cents per pound.
Peruvian gI:ano IS 4 concentrated, quick
acting fertilizer lis ingredients are in
readily available forms. Taking into ac-
count quality and price, ii is one of the
cheapest fertilizers in the market
). Fish poaao aod fsh ercaps are
prepared from the refuse, ''Pomacc,
left after extracting the oil ffom fish.
The scrap which is coarse is much used
along the coast The dried and ground
''iish guano contains usually some : to
5 per cent o: phosphorir acid and s per
cent oi nitrogen, and at $1,000 10 $500
per ton supph's pha.rh,rc acid at p. to
81 cents, AMI nitrogen Al; Is h. - cents
/ per pound. Dry ground fish j. quick
acting fertilizer and AN economical source
Of nitrogen and phpsphoric acid.
6. Ndrogca, Soii,aa'ccflnla,otjo,N Nj
hote ct .Sodo, Dri,9 Hfpod. Nitrate Of
soda is at present very high. .SUiphatc
Of ammonia, with 2j per cent Of ammo
MIA, equivalent to 20l per cent Of nitro
gen, is quoted at $500 per ton, which
brings nitrogen at about 20 cents per
| pound. 1t IS very concentrated, quick
acting fertilizer and very good for farm
ers 10 buy gs a source of nitrogen. Some
specimens contain less than - per cent
| ammonia and should be sold at cores
ponding rates. Dried 6iood varies in
nitrogen, usually from 10 | per cent,
and III price from $1,000 to Si5.OD per
ton. An article with 10 per cent nitro
| gen 02i per cent ammonml at $1,000
would supply nitrogen at % cents per
| pound.
:. P"tcH N1is hsldr from mleach-
ed ashes, the hosi source of potash 10 in
the German potash salts, of which there
ale three principal sorts IA our markets
/ N"iihGt's, H",juics. aud KuiRH The
sulphat's are the most expensive and are
dlliicnlt to obtain pHrc The muriates
with 80 per cent OF chioridr Of potassium
or more, corresponding to 30 per cent or
over OF actual potash, is sold ut aboui
$1,000 per ton, furnishes potash at 4
cents per pound. aud is 10 be highly
recommended. Some prefer the sulphatc
for potatoes, ON the ground that 1t is
said To- have u better effect ou the quality
But thisis hardl yproyonasa rule In thc
experiments the muriatc has brought ex-
cellent potatoes, and considering the less