Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-09-02
VALUE OF Fertilizers.
Simple Explanation Of q Much Misun'
derstood Subject.

derstood Subject.
One Of the most important things
connected with successful farming Is,
of course. the maintenance Of soil fer
tility. 1t is an admitted fact that there
is nothing that Is so generously good,
both for immediate results and for
feeding the soil with humus. as good
barnyard manure from stables In
which a variety Of stock Is fed. The
great problem Is to secure sufficient Of
this for the many fields Of the farm,
and because the supply is not equal to
the demand chemical fertilizers are
used instead of manure. Notwith-
standing hundreds Of thousands OF
tons of chemical fertilizers are bought
by farmers every year there Is proba-
bly, no one thing Of which the farmers
generally know so little.
DR.. Paul Schweitzer. In bulletin No.
63 of the Missouri experiment station,
gives the following sensible advice to
Farmers:"
1t Is we'll to bear in mind that In the
purchase Of a fertilizer. no matter by
what name or under what guarantee II
Is sold. the only things Of value are the
available phosphoric acid, potash and
nitrogen-not all the phosphoric acid
potash and nitrogen which the fertilizer
may contain, but only those portions
of the three substances mentioned
which are available to the plants, and
that means the portions which are
either directly soluble in water or In
such physical condition as to be easily
absorbed by the roots that come In
contact with them. II, therefore. a FER
tilizer Is bought under the claim or
containing 12a per cent OF available
phosphoric acid. then a hundred
pounds of It contains 12a pounds OF
value, the rest 873 pounds. being so
much dross or useless incumbrance;
and II sold under the claim OF con-
tanning 81 per cent Of available nitro
gen, u per cent of water soluble pot
ash and 8 per cent of available phos-
phoric acid. then 13 pounds In the loo
pound sack are Of value and the rest
incumbrance.
Now 1t is plain that to rely implicitly
on the claim made for any article or
commerce by its manufacturer would
be unwise. for. though responsive
houses can as a rule be trusted. the
lack Of supervision would beget care
lessness, and this works without ex-
ception to the detriment OF the buyer.
It Is for this reason that the state oy
it's fertilizer inspection law endeavors
to protect the farmer: this law places
the responsibility Of seeing that the
fertilizers In this state are true to the
claims made for them upon the direc-
tor Of the experiment station or his
agents. They collect twice year-in
the fall and in the spring. samples OF
all fertilizers bought by farmers so far
as they can be reached, and subject
them to a careful chemical analysis
the results Of which, along with the
claims for them. are published In
bulletin for general distribution. Ev-
ery buyer of fertilizer should receive or
call for a copy Of this bulletin and
compare the analytical statement with
the claim made for the article bought
so as to have a guide in future pur-
| chases.
No regulation Of the prices at which
fertilizers are sold can, of course, be
attempted. Healthy competition Will
as a rule result in fair charges. yet 1t
is desirable for every farmer to ascer-
tain for himself whether he actually re-
ceives his moneys worth. 1t may be
done with a tolerable degree OF accura-
cy by pricing the pound Of available
nitrogen at 16 cents, the pound or
available phosphoric acid at 4 cents
and the pound of water-soluble potash
at Al cents. These prices are subject