The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1909-03-04
Commercial Fertilizers.

Inc following dltiGlG 10 given Ou1
by Mr.. B. L. Moss, District Agent
of the Farmers Cooperative De-
monstration Work, United States
Department of Agriculture, with
reference to commercial fertilizers.
III it are contained some valuable
suggestions to the farmers of this
section just at this season:
The season has again rolled
round when we find the hill farm
ers throughout Mississippi pur-
chasing large quantities of COM
mercial fertilizers. 1t is a signih-
cant fact that the annual consump-
tion of commercial fertilizers in
Mississippi has increased from
practically nothing twenty years
ago to approximately I4o, 900 tons
in 1908, and there seems at pres
ent no reason to doubt that there
will be an annual increase i'll these
figures until the farmers of this
state use as much commercial fer
tilizers as do the farmers of Geor-
gia; that is, between 500, 900 and
600, 600 tons annually.
In Mississippi our present annual
fertilizer bill amounts to about $3,-
600, 900 -inconsiderable tax on
our farming population That this
huge sum is spent wisely and ece-
nomically is doubtful SO doubtful
that we may safely assef that
large percentagEof i all in
tents and purposes Ilsis
is true because the iority
of farmers are Cor "a fsf-
tilizers on The fhout
regard tosffs SOC
tents, stlle ops tlss t5sstsEvsss OF ne
soil to be feftilizedVe e do not Say
that commercial fertilizers Afe not
profitable when rightly used: they
are. But the enormous losses oc-
casioned by their careless misap-
plication are what we are trying to
prevent.
Nitrogen, PhOsphoric Acid and
Potash.
It has long been known that of
all the chemical elements appro
priated by plants, only three, nitro
gen, posphorus, and potassium,
are so deficient in most soils as to
render their application necessary.
With this fact as a basis, most of
our factory-mixed commercial fer
tilizers, the ordinary s 2-2 goods,
have been prepared. The nitrogen
In these fertilizers is sometimes de-
scribed as ammonia; but it must
be remembered that this ammonia
is only about fve-sixths nitrogen.
For instance, If sack of cotton
seef meal is described as Ceutain-
ing six per cent of ammonia, it on
ly contains about fve-sixth as much
nitrogen, or about S per cent. At
prevailing prices of cottonseed
mealiour nitrogen costs us practi-
cally 30 cents a pound. it being by
far Our most expensive fertilizing
ingredient. Since, too, in this sec
ton, cottonseed meal is our almost
sole source of commercial nitrogen,
we will give 1t most of our atten-
ton in this article.
Different Grades in Cottonseed
Meal.
A recent law requires that every
manufacturer guarantee his meal
to be either high-grade, standard,
or off-grade. The same law au-
thorizes our State Chemist to fix
the standard of these grades, aud
this he has done. At present every
bag of meal marked high-grade
must show minimum of not less
than 6.I8 per cent nitrogen, equiv
alent to about 7.2o per cent am
nonia; every standard grade meal
must show ininimum of not less
than 4.e5 per cent nitrogen, equiv
alent to about 600 ammonia; and
those falling below this latter min
imum must be marked off-grade.
This Is very excellent law, since
throughits provisions any man, by
giving little study to the PROPOSE
ton, can readily see whether he Is
getting 100 cents worth when he
pays out a dollar for cottonseed
meal. It is reflection upon our
business acumen, almost upon our
Intelligence, when we consider that