PRINCIPLES OF MANURING. 59 



analysis cannot alwa3's decide accurately what is the form of nitro- 

 gen, &c., while the mechanical condition of a fertilizer is an item 

 whose influence cannot alwa3-s be rightl}' expressed or appreciated." 



My excuse for making such copious extracts from Dr. Johnson's 

 report is, that the matter is one of importance, and I wish to show 

 that there is a legitimate and effectual method of controlling the 

 prices of commercial manures, so as to keep them witliin reasonable 

 limits. In most cases where the price asked for a fertilizer is too 

 large, it is only by a few dollars per ton. Occasionally monstrous 

 frauds are detected. In the report for the Connecticut Experiment 

 Station, for 1876, an anal^'sis of one fertilizer is given where the 

 nitrogen it contained was costing the consumers Si. 90 per pound 

 and the phosplioric acid, S-l cents. Another fertilizer, costing 8-48 

 per ton, was found to be worth not far from $13. 



How soon are Maine farmers going to protect themselves from 

 fraud ? 



I do not wish what I have written to prevent any farmer from 

 buying commercial fertihzers, because afraid of getting cheated. A 

 much more sensible act is to set about procuring a means of protec- 

 tion. As it is, buy onlj- of reliable parties those fertilizers that 

 have stood the test of examination by our experiment stations. 

 There is no doubt, but that the compounded fertilizers of some 

 pai'ticular firm are more costl^^, than when the ingi'edients are pur- 

 chased separately' and compounded by the farmer. 



The Use of Commercial Manures. . 



The question, is it profitable to purchase commercial fertilizers, is 

 a ver}^ common one. In attempting a partial answer, I shall first 

 make the statement that the profits of raising crops by the use of 

 such manures, depend ver}'- much upon the kind of fertilizers pur- 

 chased, and the methods adopted in their application. It is hard to 

 understand, why the valuable ingredients of plant food, as applied 

 in the manures called commercial, should be anj^ less valuable or 

 effective, than when carried to the soil in manures manufactured on 

 the farm. There is no reason why phosphoric acid tliat is available 

 in a superphosphate should be worth very much more or less than 

 that which is available in the fermented exci'ement of animals. The 

 ' same would hold true in comparing nitrogen and potash as contained 

 in the two kinds of manures. But is there no difference between 

 yard manure and commercial fertilizers ? Now, so long as farmers 



