Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1912-04-13
HIGHEST GRADE
OF FERTILIZERS
Should Be Used BY Farmers
of West Virginia
The Highest Priced Material Nav Not
Be the Best For All Purposes
Education Necessary.

The annual report On the ms pecuon
OF commercial fertilizers In West Vir-
gtn1a will be ready for distribution In
u few days. It will have to mention
no really serious violation Of the fer
t1nZer law. When farmers buy fer.
Hlizers In West Virginia they get what
the tags tell them they arc getting;
Indeed there are very few other p,1r-
chases that may be made with as lit
tie uncertainty
The report Will show that somebody
Is buying too much low grade fertil-
iZer, but this is not tho fault OF the
law or those 1ntrusted with its enforce
ment. II somebody Will buy tho low
grade stuff when q sworn statement
as to it's inferiority picuously and
eecurely affixed to every package, 1t
Is q sad case to DO sure. but 1t Ia be-
yond the reach OF fertilizer legisla-
ton. Just here it Is to be observed
that while low priced" often means
low grade there arc exceptions to
this rule. Acid phosphates arc vmong
the cheapest fertilizers obtainable and
there Is no better source OF phosphcric
Acld. On the other hand, some Of the
highest priced materials may not be
the best for all purposes. For exam
pie, bone products, such as bone meal,
Done tangAks, etc. which furnish 80
large part Of tho nitrogen purchased
In this state. are, IN this climate, nee
! esBaTily slow acting manures. When
bone has time to decompose as when
hot do
tain their full growth in q single Sea
son. or when used in rotation close
! enough to prevent serious less by
teaching, bone is an ideal manure. It
even tends to feed the crop more reg.
ularly than the more quickly available
materials. Unfortunately, however, il
. 1s not on such crops or IN such rota.
tons that bono products arc alwnvs
| used, and while the lasting effect" ig
always highly priced and often regard.
ed as evidence Of double service, 1t
may, IN tho case Of quick growing
crops and loose rotation be the evi-
dence of a double loss-loss by leach,
Ing while nothing was growing; loss
IN the half starved crop for which ths
bone was applied, but for which it
could not become available In time.
Such losses must be very great and
even II We could afford them It ig a
shame to waste materials so well
hdapted to better agricultural prac-
tices. A very considerable part of
these losses is traceable to the teach
ing that it Is the acid phosphates that
make soils sour. Parties believing
this naturally buy the more expensive
bone as source Of phosphoric acid. .
An eTer present opportunity for
wasting money In the purchase Of fer
tilizers is to be found in the garbage,
muck tankage and other low grade
sources OF nitrogen. Small quantities
OF such materials are sometimes used
for the reason that they keep certain
mixtures in good mechanical cOndi-
uon. Larger quantities are often used
because some people insist upon hav-
Ing something low priced at any cost.
But by far the greater part OF such
materials are doubtless used to meet
the provisions of fertilizer laws which.
IN many states, refuse to recognize
any difference between the best and
the worst sources Of nitrogen and
which require that nitrogen Of all sorts
be officially valued" on the same
basis.
The tags show the materials from
which the fertilizer is made and the
proportions in which the materials are
used. The purchaser knows just what
he is getting; indeed he has very much
less reason for uncertainty than If he
had bought the materials snd mixed
them himself, for in such case he must
OF course take chances on tho ma!eri.
ais which may not be as ordered. In
West Virginia there is only one way
for purchaser OF commercial fertil.
izer to be in any doubt as to what hs
Is gettiD3; and that way Is to refuse to
read the tags.
PROF. 3. II. HITE,
West Virginia Agricultural Expert.
ment Station,