at the profit in manufacturing does not pay a
heavy dividend on all the stock issued, if a great hotel does not find
its dining-room a source of profit, as many hotels do not, no private
home should hope to prepare meals for its own members in competition
with hotels.

As has been stated, every user of commercial fertilizer should learn
what a pound of plant-food in unmixed material would cost him,
selecting the common materials that are the only chief sources. If he
can buy a pound of nitrogen in nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia,
a pound of phosphoric acid in acid phosphate or steamed bone, and a
pound of potash in muriate or sulphate of potash for less than they
would cost in the factory-mixed goods offered him, allowing to himself
a dollar or so a ton for the labor of mixing, it is only good business
to buy the unmixed materials. The saving usually is from five to ten
dollars a ton, excepting only interest on money, as he would pay cash
for the unmixed material.

The cost of bags always is mentioned. That is not to be considered by
the farmer, as he uses the bags in which the unmixed materials come to
him.

The Filler.--There has been much misleading use of the word "filler,"
as applied to fertilizers. We have seen that a pure grade of dried
blood contains about 13 per cent of nitrogen. The buyer of a ton of
dried blood thus gets about 260 pounds of plant-food. The remaining
1740 pounds constitute what may be called nature's "filler." The blood
is a good fertilizer. We do not buy nitrogen in a pure state. We buy a
ton of material to get the needed 260 pounds of nitrogen. Thus it is
with nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, acid phosphate, muriate and
sulphate of potash, and all other fertilizer materials. As freight must
be paid upon the entire ton, it usually pays best to select materials
that run high in percentage of plant-food. It is possible to get very
low-grade fertilizers that have not had any foreign material added by
the manufacturer. An acid phosphate may be poor in phosphoric acid
because low-grade rock was used in its manufacture. Kainit is a
low-grade potash because the impurities have not been taken out. Filler
may be used, however, for two reasons, and one is legitimate. When
limestone or similar material is used merely to add weight, reducing
the value per ton, the practice is reprehensible. The extent of this
practice is less than many suppose, preference being given to the use
of low-gra