The Van Buren press., 1894-08-18
FARMER AND PLANTER.
FERTILIZATION.


to Get the Most for the Least Money.
II farmers could conduct their busi-
ness on cash basis, even to the buy
ing Of their fertilizers for the cash,
they would find II worth considerah BILE
sum to them In the aggregate traiisae=
tions Of several yeafs. III the matter
81 fertilizers especially the great bulk
Of the sales for twenty years past, has
been made on a credit, and the price
the farmer has had to pay for plant
| food on this basis has been such as to
preclude the possibility of making
much, il any, profit out OF the pur-
chase. In thousands Of instances, no
doubt, he has paid more for his fer
tilizer than he could in reason expect
it to return him back. For years, in
deed, the farmer was the subject OF the
most bare faced swindle that Is prac-
ticed In civilized countries. Stuff was
palmed of on him at prices anywhere
from s25 To $50 per ton, the whole, OF
which, II applied to two acres, wotild,
not have brought him back even half
what he paid fof it.
The state came to the aid OF the
farmer and did away with the more
fraudulent features of the commercial
fertilizer trade. While the state con-
tinues to proteet the farmer from ar
fant imposition with more or less shc'
cess, still it can not furnish him with
the judgment to buy plant food judi
ciously. That is without its province.
The state can do nothing towards pre-
venting farmer from buying potash
fertilizer when he should have bought
phosphoric acid, or vice versa. Nor can
1t stop him from buying heterogeneous
manure when it should be mineral
manure that it would be best for him
to buy. How to buy intelligently and
in accordance with the needs of his
soil must depend upon the farmer, up
on the use he has made Of the vast
amount OF instruction that has been
provided for him in respect to this
matter: It is true, there Is
large number of farmers, white
and black, who are not able to make
use OF the instruction, but we have no
doubt it is true that there is very
large number who can and yet do not,
who are not willing to undergo the
necessary trouble to get the most for
their money. These will oftentimes
take whatever comes easy to hand, and
oftener than not with the conviction
that they are not doing anything like
what they should do. We are always
careful not to condemn without some
qualification the various acts of our
average southern farmer that show
lack of economy in his methods. He
can not buy for cash if he has not the
cash, and large percentage of small
farmers have to go in debt for the very
food they eat, not to mention CONNER
cial fertilizers, which they are fre-
quently, and to their disadvan-
tage, tempted to buy The deal
er in these articles will go out
of his way to look up a custom
er who will buy from him on a credit;
preferring to sell to farmer of average
reputation on these terms than to sell
for the cash. The farmer, without
knowing it, oftentimes pays interest
ranging from twenty-five to seventy
five per cent. per year. We know
whereof we speak when we assert that
q farmer buying for cash from reliable
sea-board dealers or from those in the
large interior cities, expending--say
one hundred dollars in the several ele-
mentary substance-and by which tern
we mean these substances that furnish
only one element of plant-food or but
little else than one. Such substances
as nitrate of soda, floats, acid phos-
phate, one or the other of the potash
salts, dried blood and the like.
Well, with a hundred dollars he
can buy, year in and year out,
as much plant food as he will get
for one hundred and fifty or even two
hundred dollars, when buying from
some local agent whose only concern is
to make the largest profit possible out
of that transaction, conscious at the
time, in all probability, that his GUS
toner is not likely to make second
purchase from him. There are plenty
of sellers and manufacturers of COM
mercial fertilizers as conscientious and
as honorable as the best merchants in
any other line of business, but these
are aware of the fact, and do not hesi-
tate to say that there have been very
and dishonest men en-
gagged in selling commercial fertilizers
dishonest fertilizers that in many
cases are even not worth hauling to the
farm.
So long as there are men who do not
hesitate to palm off adulterated food
and medicine upon their fellow-men it
is not to be wondered at that there will
be found those who are willing to make
money out of selling adulterated fertil-
izers.
While the state has done something
to mitigate the evil that was common
twenty-five years ago, she has not been
able to correct it entirely. It is be-
yond her power to do it. So long as
time lasts more or less adulterated
food, medicine and fertilizers will be
sold, in all probability, by some one.
So far as commercial fertilizers are
concerned, what is the remedy? Is
there perfect and effective remedy?
Perhaps not.
But it will help to buy only of rep
utable dealers. In SO far as you cen
buy the elementary materials and mix
your own fertilizers and to correspond
to the needs of your different soils, SO
far as you may be able to determine
the matter
1t is true that nitrate of soda, bone
meal and like substances are found in
the market adulterated, but we believe
there are dealers who know what pure
materials are, and who can procure
them for you. Do not wait until the
last minute before engaging in the