Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-03-12
FARMER AND PLANTER.
ABOUT FERTILIZERS.
A Few Hints to Farmers who Are COM
yelled to Use the Concentrated Fertilizers
kSf CNtnut arm,

Few Hints to Farmers who Are Com.
yelled to Use the Concentrated Fertilizers
OF Commerce.
A western correspondent writes.
"Will you please tell us about the maxi
Ing OF concentrated fertilizers at home?
Can we make fertilizers out of mate
rails we can get from the drug stores?"
Ii our friend depends on the drug |
stores for the materials to make his |
fertilizers, he had better buy them al
ready mixed. Drug stores do not han
die these things In sufficient quantity
to enable you to buy in large quantities
ut reasonable prices, and you do not
want them in the con centrated form
that some of these matters are sold in
the drug stores. There Is no doubt
but that farmers earn save great
deal of money in the purchase Of
fertilizers by buying the materials
on the market and mixing them in the
proportion that they may desire for
various crops. The fertilizer manu-
facturers will tell you that, with their
improved machinery, they can mix the
fertilizers more cheaply than you can,
but they do not give You the advan-
tage Of their cheap mixing. They will
charge you more for the mixing than
you can mix them for yourself. It has
been found that the elements OF plant
food most generally lacking in soils
that have long been cultivated In farm
crops are nitrogen, phosphorus and
potash. While there are other things
essential to plant growth, it Is found
that all Of our cultivated soils have
enough Of these things for all purposes
of plant food. Lime, for instance,
is essential To the growth of
plants, but almost any arabic soil con-
tains plenty of lime for all the purpo-
ses Of plant food direct, and yet we
find that it is useful at times to add
some fresh lime to act as reagent,
that is, to make some other things like
the nitrogen available for plant food,
and for improving the mechanical con-
dition of our soil. But while time is a
useful thing in soil that Is properly
cultivated In rotation with peas and
clover, and has store OF vegetable
matter in It for the LIME to act upon,
lime is not fertilizer in the sense that
1t can be used on dad poor soil to
encourage the growth of plants. The
true fertilizing agents needed are
combinations in which nitro
gen, phosphorus and potash are
found in a shape in which plants
can make use of them. If you have
read the former articles In this series
you will notice thnt for the general
farm crops l have not recommended
the use of nitrogen. This Is BECAUSE
we can by means Of growing cow peas
and clover get our nitrogen from the
air in sufficient amount for most farm
crops. Until we have stored in our soil
considerable amounts Of decayed vege-
table matter by the use of these crops
1t may pay to use some nitrogen. But
we should as rapidly as possible get
our soil into condition to save
this expense, for the nitrogen in
a fertilizer Is by far the most
expensive part 81 It; costing three
tiines What the potash costs. We
cotton-seed meal, in which it Is found
In the form of ammonia to the extent
If about seven per cent. We can also
get it in the dried blood from the large
slaughterhouses, from the dried SCRAP
from the fish oil works, and in the form
of nitrate of soda, which has 10 pei
cent, Of nitrogen, This last form gives
tbs the nitrogen In the most readily
available form for the use of plants
But it is we'll to have in our fertilizer
at the same time some of the organic
ammonia like that in cotton-seed meal
as it lasts longer in tho soil, Tie bes'
form IN which WE can get the phos
bhofous Is in the shape o.
! dissolved phosphate rock, known
. as acid phosphate, in which
; the phosphorus is found as phosphori,
acid. This is made in large quantities
' in South Carolina and elsewhere. Thu
I best form in which we get potash is il
, the various salts of potash that are i'm
ported from Germany. II is best to ge
these in tho concentrated form o
r murlate and sulphate of potash, rathe
T than freight lot OF heavy salt that 4
OF no use In the crude article. AL
. these fertilizer ingredients you can &c
!, by the ton from dealers In fertilizer
:, In nil the large Atlantic cities and else
. where. The prices vary according Il
the distance inland for the acid phos
phate and potash salts and nitrate o
soda, as all are either made on the sea
board or imported from abroad. B.
: purchasing these ingredientsse separated
: and mixing them ut home, you ca
. make ton of fertilizer, containing
' the three elements in due proportio
: as desired for various crops, for fror
) five dollars to ten dollars less per to-
. than the manufacturers will sell it
. you, and you will know just wha
!. you have. In almost all the manufat
tured brands of fertilizers on the maj
i ket there Is an excess of nitrogen a
j. compared with the percentage of POI
l. ash they contain, SO that for specia
n fertilizers for garden crops, which nee
8 high percentage of potash, you will b
IL obliged to mix for yourself If you wan
$ to get the proper amount of potash.
d good, complete fertilizer-that is, on
a, that contains all the three desirabl
o elements of plant food-can be made 8
T" follows:
r. $50 lbs. nitrate of soda.
& $50 lbs. cottonseed meal.
n 900 lbs. acid phosphate.
ID 300 lbs. muriate Of potash,
Making ton that will cost at III
Beaboard about $1,000 for the ingred
ents. Leave out the nitrate of sod
y and the cottonseed meal from this, an
70 you have perfect manure for the Ell
he enlargement of the pea and Glow
or crops, though it would be bette
re in that case to increase Il
IL amount of the acid phosphate to 1,O