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.