xt798s4jnj2h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt798s4jnj2h/data/mets.xml   Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. 1944 journals 038 English Lexington. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station Regulatory series, bulletin. n.38 text Regulatory series, bulletin. n.38 1944 2014 true xt798s4jnj2h section xt798s4jnj2h Regulatory Series, Bulletin No. 38 July, 1944
- Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
THOMAS P. COOPER, Director
1 COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS IN KENTUCKY
IN 1943
By J. D. TURNER, II. R. ALLEN and LELAH GAULT
i CONTENTS
Page Page
Z Sales by grade, 1943. Points a farmer should
Table 1 .............................. 2 consider in buying ferti-
Approved grades of mixed 1iZ€1‘ ...............·.-..--------.---··-- 13
_ f€1`13111Z€1`S, 1944 -------------» 2 Points a dealer should con- t
High—grade fertilizer ........ 3 sider .................................. 14
Use of f€fti11Z€1‘ .................. 3 Points a manufacturer
Relation between soil fer- should consider ................ 14
i111'¤y and quality 01 Explanation of the tab1es.. 16
; feeds grown ·‘‘‘·‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘ 8 Standing of manufacturers,
y Farmers guide .................... 10 Table 2 ....................___.______ 17
Function of ¤1'€1`0g€¤, Analyses of inspection
_ r>_h<>sr>1}¤rus. and pqtas- sampies of mixed ferti-
= sium in plant 1‘1uiZ1`1t10¤.. 10 ljzerg, superphosphate,
Farmers samples ................ 11 and fertilizer salts,
. Information and guaranty Table 3 ------------------------·--.-. 18
tag --·----·---~---~--------------·---·-.. 11 Analyses of inspection
( Penalties for violating the samples of bone, rock
fertilizer law ............,...,,.. 13 phosphate and basic slag 54
I. Consumption of fertilizer in Kentucky in 1943 reached a
high mark. The tonnage was larger than in any previous year
and the grades, higher in plant food. The increase in total plant
food was very marked because of increased tonnage and higher
Q grades of mixed fertilizer approved by the Food Production
- Administration as a war economy measure.
. The tonnage estimated from tax receipts was more than
‘ 164,000 tons, an increase of 12 percent over the tonnage in
1942. Of this total, about 62 percent was mixed fertilizer, 28
percent was superphosphatc, and the remainder fertilizer salts
and other fertilizer material. In addition, 105,272 tons of
superphosphate were distributed to Kentucky farmers by the
t . . . . .
Agricultural Adjustment Administration of the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.

 2 KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION V
SALES BY GRADE, 1943 ·
A summary of fertilizer sales by grade, as reported by the
manufacturers, is given in Table I. The total tonnage, 154,356 ·
tons, in this summary is somewhat less than that calculated
from the tax receipts. »
TABLE 1.--SALES RY GRADE AS REPORTED BY MANUFACTURERS
Mixed fertilizer Tons Other materials Tons ’
2-12-6 ......,..................... 42,939 Superphosphate 20% .. 24,254
3-9-6 .............................. 25,631 Superphosphate 18% .. 19,705
0-14-7 ............................ 13,423 Rock phosphate .......... 3,389
4-10-6 .,.......................... 5,954 Nitrate soda ................ 1,195
3-8-7 __.,.......................... 2,544 Basic slag ...................... 560
3-12-12 .......................... 2,406 Sulfate of ammonia .... 374
4-12-8 ...............,,........... 2,370 Sulfate of potash ...... 152
4-8-8 .............................. 1,927 Bone meal .................... 107
3-12-3 ............................ 1,835 Muriate of potash .... 97 °
0-12-12 .......................... 1,623 Triple superphosphate 62 ¢
0-14-4 ............................ 1,160 Sheep manure ............ 50
4-12-4 ............................ 872 Calcium cyanamid ...... 37
2-14-4 ............................ 620 ——-
3-9-18 ............................ 382 Total .......................... 49,982
5-10-10 .......................... 125
Miscellaneous .............. 563 2
Total .......................... 104,374
The tonnage of 20 percent superpliosphate distributed by "
the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was 105,272 tons.
APPROVED GRADES OF MIXED FERTILIZERS, 1944 ,
The list of approved grades of mixed fertilizer for Ken- ·_
tucky for 1944 was limited to sixteen, by the VVar Food Ad-
ministration, as a war economy measure. An additional list of
four grades of a miscellaneous nature, applicable to all states,
was also approved. The list is as follows:
0-12-12 3- 9- 6 5
0-14- 4 3-12-12
0-14- 7 4-10- 6
0-14-14 4-12- 8 ;
0-20-10 4-12- 4
0-20-20 5-10-10
2-12- 6 6- 8- 6
2-14- 4 10- 6- 4
Nitrate of potash .............................. 14- 0-14
Ammonium phosphate .................... 11-48- 0 ,
Ammonium phosphate .................... 16-20- 0
Potassium nitrate ...............,............ 14- 0-44 (or higher)

 COMMERCIAL Fnnrrrrzsss, 1943 3 *
. i Tn addition to the grades of mixed fertilizer, superphos-
phate, potash salts, and chemical nitrogen materials are avail-
° able. _
HIGH-GRADE FERTILIZER
Mamifacturers 1·eport that 104,374 tons of mixed fertilizer
were sold in Kentucky during 1943, an increase of 25 percent
over the amount purchased in 1942. All of the mixed fertilizer
sold in 1943 contained a minimum of 18 percent of plant food
V " and about 70 percent of it contained 20 percent or more. A
This improved situation is due chiefly to the reduction in
the number of grades by the Food Production Administration,
r with elimination of low-analysis grades. The reduction in the
number of grades has helped the manufacturers to offset very
adverse labor conditions and has enabled farmers to buy their
i fertilizer at a lower cost than would have been possible other-
wise. The fertilizer industry has cooperated fully in the pro-
gram.
This emergency program was made as a war economy
. measure. lt would be a good peace-time policy also and we
should use the experience gained in this time of forced economy.
l\Ianufacturers, agronomists, and fertilizer-control officials
should cooperate and agree upon a group of mixed fertilizer
grades to bc manufactured and sold after the war. This De-
partment believes that the minimum plant nutrients of any
mixture should not be less than 20 percent (sum of nitrogen,
phosphoric acid, and potash guaranteed), the minimum nitrogen
not less than 3 percent, the minimum phosphoric acid not less
than 8 percent, and the minimum potash 11ot less than 4 percent.
The following list of grades of mixed fertilizer is submitted
for consideration by manufacturers and agrononiists, from
. A which a suitable group may be selected to furnish the plant
I _ food requirements of any soil in Kentucky deficient in nitrogen,
phosphorus. or potassium; 0-12-12, 0-14-7, I5-12-12. 4-12-3, 5-10-
10, li-8-6, 3-3-S. 10-lj-4.
USE OF FERTILIZER°l’
;`C()llllll<*l'<‘1Hl ferlilizers" are lll2llllli'2!(i1lll'0;te1·ed and tagged with
a state official tag. If it is 1lOf tagged witl1 a state guaranty tag,
it is being sold i11 violation of the law a11d it should be refused.
4. Buy high-grade fertilizer because plant food comes
cheaper i11 those even though the price per bag is higher than
for low-grade fertilizer.

 14 KENTUCKY AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
POINTS A DEALER SHOULD CONSIDER ·
1. Handle no fertilizer that is not registered and tagged
with a state guaranty tag at the time of purchase.
2. Handle only high-grade fertilizer-fertilizer that will _
most economically serve your customers.
3. Buy only from reputable manufacturers who have good
records and are complying with the fertilizer law and will assist
you in complying with the law.
4. Have definitely in mind the kinds of fertilizer your
trade needs, and buy only fertilizers that will meet these needs.
5. lnsist that the tags he attached to the bags by the manu-
facturer when shipment is made. Some manufacturers place
tags in the truck or car with the shipment of fertilizer without
attaching them to the bags. This often results in confusion and -
failure to tag at all, as the tags may he misplaced or lost.
POINTS A MANUFACTURER SHOULD CONSIDER
Before a manufacturer sells or offers fertilizer for sale to
farmers or dealers in Kentucky, he should carefully consider
and comply with the following:
l. Sell or offer no fertilizer for sale in Kentucky until it
is registered and labeled according to the requirements of the _
law so that all concerned will bc within the law and properly
protected.
2. Every brand must be registered and bear a state offi-
cial tag showing the manufacturer’s guaranty.
3. The state official tag contains the only legal guaranty,
and any statements on private tags or containers to the contrary
are not within the requirements of the law.
4. No alteration, either by additions or erasnres, of the
official tag, is permissible under the law, and any alterations A
made are in violation of the law.
5. All fertilizers must equal or exceed the guaranties made

 COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS, 1943 15
by the manufacturers. An excess of one plant nutrient does not
compensate for a deficiency of another.
6. A state official tag must be attached to each and every `
package of fertilizer. Do not make shipments to dealers or
farmers in Kentucky without properly attaching tags, for you
would thereby subject your customers to embarrassment in
handling fertilizer not labeled according to law.
7. Check weights of ing1·edients in mixed fertilizers care-
fully, and mix thoroughly. Prepare as nearly as possible mix— V
p tures that will 11ot segregate. Many analyses made by this De- ,
partment show one nutrient to be considerably above guaranty
while another is far below guaranty. This may he caused by
·- insuiiicient mixing or by segregation.
8. Consider the needs of the farmers; coope1·ate with and
- help them to get high-grade fertilizers suitable to the needs of
their soils; unite with one another in reducing the multiplicity
of brands and in eliminating low-grade fertilizers because of
their high and uneconomical cost in productiveness; cooperate
with the Experiment Station in teaching that the important
constituents cost less in high-grade fertilizers than in the low
grades, and that their intelligent use means better agriculture,
larger use of fertilizers, and better and more successful living
for the farmer.
Could 11ot and should not every progressive niauuliacturer
who has at heart the interest of the fertilizer buisness as a whole,
as well as his own, and of the l!2ll.'lllCl'S who support this business,
illld of the state, get behind a progressive program of this sort?

 16 Kawrucxy AcR1cULTURA1. Ex1=ER11vmNr SrAT10N
EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES
Table 2 gives the standing of manufacturers as determined i
by the results of analysis of official samples. Figures in the
last column give the number of deficiencies of more than one- X
fourth of 1 percent in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, or potash. This
is the tolerance allowed in the Kentucky Fertilizer Law. Defi-
ciencies less than this tolerance are not considered evidence of
fraudulent intent by the manufacturer.
Table 3 gives the results of analysis of all