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Valuation Of Fertilizers

Categories: PURCHASING PLANT-FOOD

The manufacturer of a mixed fertilizer must

make use of the unmixed materials he finds upon the market. The prices

of the various plant constituents in the different unmixed materials

can be determined by averaging quotations in leading markets for a

given length of time. The fair retail price is obtained by adding about

20 per cent to the wholesale cash price. The retail cash price per

pound of the plant constituents
n leading markets is thus determined

for their various forms and carriers. A pound of nitrogen in dried

blood may have its valuation fixed at a figure 50 per cent higher than

that of a pound of nitrogen in nitrate of soda simply because the dried

blood sells at a price per ton that makes that difference. It is true

commercial value that is sought, and that may be very different from

agricultural value.



The mixed fertilizer of the manufacturer has its content of plant-food

known by analysis. Its number of pounds of the various constituents in

a ton is known, and the retail price per pound of these substances has

been fixed. The commercial value per ton can then be determined,

provided proper allowance is made for cost of mixing and bagging. The

individual must pay in addition the freight, and usually a considerable

sum for unnecessarily costly methods of distribution and collection.



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