Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-11-22
MORE "EDUCATION" FOR
THE FARMER

A new fertilizer paper has been started
in the South, which announces that one
of its purposes will be to Educate" the
farmer in regard to the great advantages
Of mixed fertilizers, and the folly Of
home mixing. One Of the means to this
end consists of a series of cartoons rep
resenting the farmer in a most uncom-
plimentary way. The text accompanying
these is an insult to the intelligence of
the farmer. The plan is to have the
local papers reproduce these, and in this
the aid of the local fertilizer agent is ex-
pected. The editorial announcement con-
cludes by stating that: "Once the good
work is started. and the editors Of the
agricultural papers are convinced of the
big savings to the farmers from using
commercial fertilizers manufactured in
an up-to-date factory, the battle will be
won"
The battle is not likely to be won at
all on this basis. Many local dealers are
heartily in favor Of meeting the wishes
of their customers for raw material. OPP
posed to this is the attempt of the manu-
facturer to bind the local dealer not to
sell raw materials, and If this fails, the
manufacturer will not give the same
credit accommodations on raw material
as on mixed goods. The custom of man
ufacturers in giving a local dealer exclu-
sive territory on the firms brands, and
then giving his next door competitor ex-
elusive territory on brands of ex-
act1y the same composition but sold I'M
der the name of some Bay window"
company belonging to the same manufac-
turer, and continuing the process as long
as the supply of dealers in a given town
holds out, is not one that is likely to
make the local dealer favor the manufac-
turers and their anti-home mixing plans,
nc the hest Of the l.
ers' customers.
The editors of the agricultural papers
are too we'll informed to take up any
such scheme and they, as well as their
readers, know that wherever home mix
ing has been intelligently tried, the big
savings are all on the side of home
mixing. 1t has been repeatedly shown
that in factories equipped with the most
elaborate machinery for mixing, it is by
no means an unusual thing for goods to
be mixed by exactly the same process as
the farmer would use at home. This is
especially true for small lots Of high
grade goods made from the best class of
raw materials.
Many large factories are returning to
the old process of wet mixing, and for
this work there is a great advantage in
using mixing machinery, since the pro-
cess involves the use of sdlfuric acid and
has the manufacturing advantage of per-
hitting the utilization of low grades of
raw materials that a farmer would never
think of buying, If offered to him in
their unmixed condition; 1t also serves
to disguise the filler.
The manufacturers continue to press
the sale of 1922 in the South, and 2-S-2
in the North, both of which permit the
use Of low-grade raw material and filler.
The farmer demands formulas better
suited to his crops and soils, and contain
ing less filler. Brands II higher grade
are meeting with increased sale. and
farmers are learning that they can make
their own brands to suit themselves.
The ridcule of the trade papers will not
deter them in this.
Home mixing is now rendered much
more practical and profitable by the fact
that dealers or farmers can now buy
both nitrate of soda and potash salts
direct from the producers, where here
tofore they were obliged to get them
through fertilizer manufacturers, many
of whom placed all sorts of obstacles IN
the way of such purchases. This DEAF
ing direct with the producers of the two
substances needed to supplement basic
Stag, acid phosphate or bone, in produc-
ing complete and filler-free fertilizers
suited to the various needs of the far
mer results in a marked saving in cost
of the raw materials and so adds to the
profit resulting from home mixing.