Proceedings of Seventeenth Xormal Institute 127 



abuse of agricultural scientists and complete innocence of any 

 reliable knowledge of the fundamental principles of plant nutri- 

 tion. Here are a few selected gems quoted from the Stone- 

 meal patent medicine literature : " Some of our so-called scientific 

 soil doctors will tell you that Stonemeal is almost entirely in- 

 soluble in distilled water in the laboratory ; but, in the first place, 

 their sayings have always proved most unreliable." " Stonemeal, 

 being nothing but mechanically prepared virgin soil, contains all 

 the mineral elements as the all-wise Creator provided them in 

 nature and * * * it is therefore the only natural, logical and, 

 in itself, complete nourishment for plants in existence." "Any- 

 one who grows and sells for use an article of food from any- 

 thing but normal soil is more guilty of wrong-doing than the 

 adulterator of food, because he sells spurious goods under false 

 pretense." " Everyone, of course, ought to admit the spontaneous 

 generation of insects as an undeniable fact." " Stonemeal, being 

 made from primitive rocks and containing all the elements first 

 named above, is the only natural, logical and perfect remedy. 

 With it you will positively be able to restore your soil, within a 

 certain time, to its original virgin fertility. * * * You will 

 obtain better yield and healthier plants than heretofore and you 

 will entirely eliminate the danger and risk of having your plants 

 destroyed or injured by insects." " The indisputable fact is that 

 the germs are in all cases, without exception, spontaneously gen- 

 erated out of the albuminous matter of decomposition. * * * 

 Were the albumen normal, which means that, were all the mineral 

 elements therein represented, it would not be subject to decomposi- 

 tion, and, of course, the generation of insects would be impossible." 

 " With the exception of virgin soil itself there is nothing in the 

 market which will furnish these mineral elements except Stone- 

 meal." 



These are enough specimens. It would be too nauseating to 

 continue. It would be difficult to find a greater jumble of mean- 

 ingless jargon, absolute ignorance of facts and persistent attempts 

 to mislead the ordinary farmer. 



We have recently analyzed numerous samples of Stonemeal at 

 the Geneva Station. Guaranteed to contain over 10 per cent of 

 phosphoric acid and also of potash besides a dozen other things, 



