Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-11-23

Why waste your money! Few peop,e
-.,o,,I5 Al so Intentionally, but many do
l.ecauxe they have not a proper cohcep-
ton Of the relative value OF things. Ter
tIlizer dealers complain, for instance tha1
farmers are constantly calling Tor some
thing cheso in their line; they prefer a
IovV-rrade material to high-graoe goods,
whereas. il has been shown over anu
over again that the high-grade goods ar
relatively the cheapest so Tar as the COS.
az a mound OF available plant 1000 IL
~o,csrns5 The farmer. therefore. makes
= serious mistake in not utilizing a bet
ter brand OF fertilizers. On the other hano'
he makes an inexcuSable blunder Wneh
Re discards a low-grade fertilizer ana at
tennis 10 use some OF the miserable nos
tr1ms put up by Quacks devoid OF hohor
and truthfulnesS as wei as scieh1hO
knowledge II is wonderful that any per
son can be induced to pay several oolaIs
for a recent BY which fertilizer OF mar
vaIous powers can be prepared at cost
Of from 81 10 s. ton II would certainly
seem clear to all thinking people that the
u,an,rfscturer would certainly not go 10
the expense OF putting SIS TO so worth
OF materials into a ton of fertilizer, de-
pending on the grade he desires 10 man
ufacture. II he could prepare the same
for saw 6 II Is the old inherent desire
ana as there is no royal road to learning
save through industry and the exercise OF
intelIigeuce on the part OF the individual
"a there is no way by which a uostrum
may be made 20 take the place Of prop
erly prepared and compounded feruiizer-
/, The following is reproduced as an exam
ME OF the absurd formulas which are Of
fered TO the farmer for fertilizing pur-
poses. and too frequently used by MIN
LEI. - rnry results.
Take two pounds OF saltpetre. pounds
Of potash (crude OF lye) and dissolve
this compound in u gallons Of water. Next
spread go pounds OF stable manure under
q dry shed and sprinkle with gallons Ga
this solution To this add 80 pounds OF
wood ashes. Is pounds Of salt Is pounds
Of lime pounds OF phosphate Cacid) ana
& mounds OF kainit Mix thoroughly the
entire nile and let IT stand in a dry place
for % DAYS Apply from DO TO 400 pounds
uar acre before planting or at the time
81 first cultivation. Continue TO mix ana
out I'D the fertilizer as above until you
@et the desired quantity Each bath WI!
amount 10 SO pounds. NOte--As with am
fertilizer II does not do to put too much
IN moor thin or droughty land; $50 pounds
r.ar acre IS enough for such land Too
much causes the vegetation to IRE or burr
up quickly during a very dry or very wet
season"
Surely this is a very remarkable for
u,uIa- and the advice TO use IL moder-
ateIv is certainly amusing as there Is
relatively such a small amount OF plant
food in IL that a ton per acre coulu
have but little influence on the crop
grown. The statement also that con-
siderable amount used would cause
crop to burn up is equally absurd, be-
cause fertilizer. even when the best
grades are used in liberal amounts,
does not cause the crop to nre. the
fact that the soil is so deficient In
vegetable matter that it can not hoid
water and hence dries out very rap
idly in a drouth causes the crop to
IRE In other words. there is not
enough moisture in the soil to dissolve
the plaut food contained in the fertil-
fzer applied and bring il to the roots
OF the plants so they may take IL up
and be nourfshed thereby. The firing
OF the plants. therefore. is not caused
by the fertilizer. and to show that this
is true. one only needs TO apply I'D
ersI amount OF vegetable matter or
NOV under a crop of cowpeas ON
drouthy land to see how quickly an
adequate supply Of vegetable matter
will enable the soil TO hold water. and
hence not dry or burn up in
.irouth OF considerable length
While the above formula contains
some substance Of fertiIizing value.
several OF the ingredients are posi-
lively Injurious - vegetable life II
found in the so-- in larger quantities
than mere trace5 Some of the mate
rails are inert OF have practically no
value from the standpoint Of crop
growing. II the ingredients were
mixed as suggested there would certain
~ he a liberation and loss Of nitrogen.
ard some OF the compounds resulting
sror the mixture would tend TO de-
e.ro,- rather than increase its fertili-
Ito, value The farmer is requested
~ nav one dollar for this widely al
,-arffsef and worthless fertilizer form
,-1p Moreover this formula is said
~ hare the approval Of scientists or
bf-t STANDING. II is strange that the
rs~-~ar will question the advice and
value OF Tire scientist and then VIII
the more willingly buy a quack fer
siIfzar formula. because the man pre-
r,rfrx il. and he IS anything but a
zcfeutfst- claims that IL has the approx
~ or scientific men,
several formulas similar in character
IN the above have come TO the atten-
ton 81 the writer quite recently, and u
is orIv necessary to say TO the farmer
-Have nothing to do with such as
these. The real essentials OF a fertiliz-
or. as shown by tne very elaborate and
long continued work OF our colleges
and exnerfuent stations. are as fol-
lows. Potash. phosphoric acid and M
trogen. sometimes lime and often vege-
table matter. When these constitu-