Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-07-21
FERTILIZERS
'oMs MIXED SAVE FARMERS
FROM FIVE TO TEN DOLLARS
OR MORE PER TON.
eraln Growers Should Order Materials
now and Get Them Mixed for
the Time They Are Needed.
BY Isaac Cook, Professor of Aaronomy
West Virginia University.

IL may seem out of season to call
the attention of farmers to making
preparations for their wheat and rye
| crops by judiciously purchasing fer.
tilizers and getting them mixed for
the time when needed but IL never
pays to put off buying fertilizers until
the last few days before seeding and
then hurriedly buy any brand the deal
er has in stock regardless of the kind
OF plant food most needed The wri
ter has been managing large farm fol
several years and has always made a
practice of buying fertilizing materials
some time before they arr. needed and
mixing them in the propoftion which
has been found to be best suited to the
needs OF the crop that is to be sown
Ask your neighbors if they intend to
order fertilizers for this fall and those
who do should cooperate and buy
their fertilizers to the best advantage
and have all shipped by the fertilizer
company to one place, thus reducing
the cost of handling and freight
II you buy fertilizers already mixed,
investigation shows that you pay the
fertilizer company on an average Of
So ton for mixing and bagging. A
party of farmers in any community
can buy the separate ingredients used
in making complete fertilizers and mix
them themselves and save from SIS to
$40 per ton depending on the quantity
of "a 6ifforart inc tc
The writer has found that ton of fer.
tilizer, containing four different in
gradients, can be mixed thoroughly
and sacked by two men in two hours
time without overexerting themselves.
Counting labor at 15c per hour it thus
costs Coo per ton to mix and bag ton
of fertilizer with four different ingre-
dents, on the farm. Would it not pay
you more per hour than any other
work you may be doing at that time?
But there is a more important consid-
Grafton, which is, that you know the
source from which the plant food in
the ingredients came from; for there
is a great difference in the values OF
plant food from different sources.
To prepare a home-mixed fertilizer,
all that is needed is a square pointed
shovel and a wood frame, 5x2h feet
covered with a wire screen OF 3-16 to
Il inch mesh, and tight floor. Spread
the different ingredients on the floor
in even layers. spreading one upon the
other Begin at one end of the pile
and, cutting down through the layers
with your shovel, throw it through the
screen The particles that are too
large to pass through the screen
should be crushed with a tamper. Re
shovel the materials back through the
screen two or three times, after which
it will have been mixed sufficiently to
begin sacking.
Materials to Use.
AS to the materials to use, the fol
lowing are recommended as the most
desirable ones to the market:
Steamed bone-meal containing % to
% per cent phosphoric acid and IA
to 2 per cent ammonia; acid phos-
phate containing IA to IS per cent
phosphoric acid nitrate of soda con
tanning IS per cent ammonia; muriate
of potash containing so per cent pot
ash Steamed bone-meal is a valua-
BILE ingredient on account of the good
effects from its use on the clover crop.
Formulas For Mixing.
To get best results liberal applica-
lions of fertilizers should be made.
Many farmers, thinking they are econ
omizing, use too small amounts of fer
tilizers per acre to get the greatest
net returns.
The following mixture will give ex-
cellent results for wheat. The mate
rails are generally put up in 125-lb.
sacks, and if all the materials are in
125-lb. sacks they may be mixed as
follows
7 sacks of a IA per cent acid phos-
plate, S75 lbs,
6 sacks of steamed bone-meal, TAO lbs.
l sack of muriate of potash, 125 lbs
2 sacks of nitrate of soda, $50 lbs.
This mixture analyses about 3-l5-S,
costing S26.60 per ton mixed and sack
ed ready to use. Another good mix
ture can be made up of the following
materials:
IL sacks of 16 per cent acid phos-
phate, $500 lbs.
IL sacks of muriate of potash, 1872
lbs.
21b sacks of nitrate of soda, 31212 lbs
This mixture analyses 2.S-12-4.6 and
costs s24.20 per ton mixed and sacke"
ready to use.
Tho Ohio Agricultural Experiment