378 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



V plants with soluble nitrogen ; but at the present time, the equiva- 

 lent of a given amount of ammonia costs about a third more than 

 it does in sulphate. This is due partly to the enlarged demand 

 both for agricultural uses, and for the manufacture of oil of 

 vitriol, and other uses in the arts, and partly to the serious injury 

 to the port of shipment in South America by reason of earth- 

 quakes. The unusual price which nitrate of soda now commands, 

 may not continue many years, but there is small likelihood that 

 it will recede to former rates. 



Taking all the facts bearing on the question into consideration, 

 the conclusion is reached, that if the farmer can buy ammonia or 

 its equivalent, at the present time, in a well prepared manure, 

 near home and in quantities to suit, at thirty-five cents per pound, 

 he may be well satisfied. 



Let us now apply this scale of values to the commercial manures 

 sold in New England, and endeavor thereby to ascertain how they 

 compare with the prices usually paid. For this purpose we cannot 

 otherwise do so well as to quote freely from a recent report made 

 by Prof. S. W. Johnson to the Connecticut State Agricultural 

 Society, dated April, 1869, and published in their volume lately 

 issued. 



At the instance of the Connecticut State Society, Prof. Johnson 

 analyzed the various fertilizers ofi'ered in the markets of that State. 

 The samples were obtained by the secretary of the society, who 

 visited the dealers in various towns and took them from the barrels 

 and bags as sold. To each he afiixcd a number only, and sent them 

 thus to the chemist; retaining however the number in a memoran- 

 dum with the name of the article, the name of *the dealer, and tlie 

 selling price. After the analyses were made an^ reported to the 

 secretary, the latter added to the numbers the corresponding items 

 of information, thus making the report complete. It is not easy to 

 say how a better arrangement could be made to arrive at the facts 

 in the case ; nor how we could better obtain reliable data for the 

 purpose now in hand. 



Tliese analyses embraced one sample of fish guano which proved 

 to be good and cheap ; one of "Lodi poudrette," and one of " Lodi 

 double refined poudrctte," neither of wliich proved much better 

 than common farm manure, and not worth a very long cartage; 

 one of "saltpetre waste," one of "castor pomace," one "bone 

 fertilizer," (Baugh's); one "tobacco grower," (Wilson's); and 

 nine so called " superphosphates." Sixteen manures were analy- 



