White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-04-30
FROM ACROSS THE
CONTINENT

ton we received circular III WMCH
| the main article is entitled New Fer
tilizers for Old Crops" We are tax
| ing the liberty of quoting from this
article because it is stress.ng the main
| thing which We brought out in the
( talks at our winter horticultural
| schools, and which was also stressed
| in the fertilizer material mailed to a
number Of farmers in the county.
$50 much has been said during the
EAST few years about high analysis
fertilizers that the growers are begin
ming to wonder if perhaps they are
not the kind to use after all. Many
| farmers do not yet understand what
4-8-4 or 5-8-7 means. Is it any Won
der that they are slow to use the new
| high analysis fertilizers with the high
sounding names and the still higher
prices for which they are quoted?
| "Under the present cost of pro-
| duction the proper use of fertilizer is
one of the best ways to increase the
| farm income. Labor is high and in
creased acreage is not economically
advisable. But an increase in produc-
| ton per acre and improved quality are
| advisable.
"The scarcity of manure has forced
| the grower to use commercial fertil-
GERS. The old low analysis fertilizers,
such as 1874 and 4-8-4 have already
largely been displaced by 5-8-7 and
4-6-1O, and for few years double
grades such as 1O-16-14 have been
used to limited extent. But now that
triple strength grades are available,
.he average grower is rather skeptical,
'ecs not know what it is all about
and naturally hesitates to use them
until he understands more about them.
"The high analysis fertilizers arc
on us with rush. The astounding in
crease in their production both here
and abroad has brought them to us
at price we cannot afford to pass by.
They are here to stay and there is no
doubt that the low analysis grades
are being weighed in the balance and
found wanting. The growers might
Just as we'll stand by a while and find
out what these new products are and
how to use them.
eve might just as we'll dispose Of
this bugaboo Synthetic" right now
as we will meet it often in the fertili-
ger business from now on. In fact
one of the larger German concerns
calls their American Agency the Syn
thetic Nitrogen Products Company.
Synthetic means artificial or made up;
j. e. the process of making up COM
pound by putting the ingredients to-
gether, also the building up of COM
| pick compounds by special reactions
resulting in materials identical in every
/ respect with the natural articles. In
other words, we are going to depend
more and more for the most i'm
portant and highest priced ingredient
n our commercial fertilizers upon
chemical processes of utilizing the in
exhaustible supply of nitrogen in the
air. The actual process is complicated,
.equiring large amount of power and
/ large investment in buildings and
machinery. There are. several plants
located in the United States at pre-
sent. Muscle Shoals is just a mere
drop in the bucket now.
sSuch fertilizer materials as Cya-
nanid, 81 per cent nitrogen; Calcium
Nitrate is per cent; Calurea, "a per
cent nitrogen; Urea, as per cent nitro
gen; and others can be purchased for
using alone or for mixing with other
materials containing phosphoric acid
and potash for making complete fer
tilizers.
The natural or organic sources of
nitrogen have been gradually pass
| ing out of the picture. Their use in
he production of more valuable pro-
ducts and the comparatively high
cost of the small amount of nitrogen
they contain has resulted in the de-
creased use Of such materials. Cot
tonseed meal, packing house by-pro-
ducts, fish scrap, guano, garbage,
tankage, wool waste, leather scrap
and other so-called Rough ammon-
iates" have been used for years as
important sources of the important
element. Today these materials and
complete fertilizers containing them
are expensive for general use. All
of these materials are "safe" to use
because the nitrogen and phosphor-
GUS they contain are extremely slowly
available over a considerable period
Of time. There is no doubt that for
certain uses they are excellent but the
average farmer must consider care
fully whether he will buy a 5-8-7
mixture with considerable organic
nitrogen and phosphoric acid at
from $4,000 to $4,000 ton, a reg
ular 5-s-7 made up of low grade
chemicals for from $4,000 to $4,000
per ton, or a 15-3O-15 for $500 to
$4,000 which is about three times as
strong, therefore making the 5-8-7
equivalent cost about $500 to $4,000
per ton.
The source of most of the phos-
phorous in the past has been super
phosphate formerly called acid phos-
phate) which contains about 16 per
cent phosphoric acid. This material
is made by grinding rock phosphate,
which is found in beds of various
thickness, in several states, and treat
ing it with sulphuric acid. The result
ing sticky mass is allowed to stand
for some time until the chemical
changes are completed, after which
it is ground fine and stored. Now, i'm