REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



I. EEPORT OF ANALYSES OF COMMEECIAL 

 FERTILIZERS FOR SPRlJ^a OF 1899.* 



L. L. Van Slyke. 



SUM]^IARY. 



(1) Samples Collected. Dm'ing the spring of 1899, the Sta- 

 tion collected 866 samples of commercial fertilizerSj representing 

 646 different brands. Of these different brands, 482 were com- 

 plete fertilizers; of the others, 70 contained phosphoric acid and 

 potash without nitrogen; 36 contained nitrogen and phosphoric 

 acid without potash; 7 contained nitrogen only; 37 contained 

 phosphoric acid alone; and 14 contained potash salts only. 



(2) Nitrogen. The 482 brands of complete fertilizers con- 

 tained nitrogen, varying in amount from 0.37 to 8.50 per ct., and 

 averaging 2.04 per ct. The average amount of nitrogen found 

 by the Station analysis exceeded the average guaranteed amount 

 by 0.15 per ct., the guaranteed average being 1.89 per ct. and the 

 average found being 2.04 per ct. 



In 371 brands of complete fertilizers, the amount of nitrogen 

 found was equal to or above the guaranteed amount, the excess 

 varying from 0.01 to 2.27 per ct., and averaging 0.28 per ct- 



In 111 brands the nitrogen was below the guaranteed amount, 

 the deficiency varying from 0.01 to 1.78 per ct., and averaging 

 0.19 per ct. In 103 cases, the deficiency was less than 0.5 per ct. 



The amount of water-soluble nitrogen varied from to 4.43 

 per ct. and averaged 0.80 per ct. 



* Partial reprint of Bulletin No. 160. 



