Few farmers want to buy the potash separately, and they complain that the manufacturer charges high for it in fertilizer where it is present in large quantities. But a little investigation will prove that this is not so. Take for example, the “2-8-10” grade which sells generally for $30 per ton. Here you have 20 per cent., or 400 pounds, of plant food to the ton. That brings the cost of plant food per pound to 7½ cents instead of 10½ cents as in the cheap grade. The manufacturer has added $8.00 worth of potash to the mixture and has taken out some of the worthless filler, so that the extra cost in money to you is only $5.00. The increase in yield more than offsets that extra cost. There are still other potash fertilizers that contain no nitrogen, the lower grades selling for about $16 per ton, and the higher grades for $20 per ton. The plant food in the lower grade costs 6⅔ cents per pound and in the high grade only a tiny fraction over 5½ cents per pound. If you are spending your money for commercial fertilizers, you will find that the best is the cheapest. No matter what the mixture, if you figure it out, you will find that the high grade costs less per pound for plant food than the low grade. And it is plant food you are after, not worthless filler. The New York Experiment Station in one of its bulletins offers the following comment on this point: “The high-grade goods sell on an average nearer to their actual plant-food value than do the low-grade goods. In general, the higher the grade of the goods, the lower the cost of each pound of plant food.” Before you raise any crop you must know your soil, not by chemical analysis which is interesting and often helpful, but by finding out what it will grow by nature and what is the easiest way that nature can be helped; and the quicker you can find out these things the better for your prospects. The simplest and quickest method of finding out what fertilizers your soil needs to grow your crops, is by using the paraffin basket. This is a very pretty experiment and one in which you can readily interest the children so that they may get their knowledge early. The requirements are galvanized wire netting of one-eighth inch mesh; paraffin, which can be bought cheaply at any druggist’s; and a pair of scales which will weigh accurately to one-fourth of an ounce.