608 Report on Inspection Work of the 



could be bought at retail for cash in our large markets. These 

 prices also correspond (except in case of available phosphoric acid) 

 to the average wholesale prices for the six months preceding March, 

 plus about 20 per ct., in case of goods for which there are wholesale 

 quotations. 



TRADE-VALUES OF PLANT-FOOD ELEMENTS IN RAW MATERIALS AND CHEMICALS. 



1912. 



Cts. per 

 pound. 



Nitrogen in ammonia salts 18| 



" in nitrates I85 



Organic nitrogen in dry and fine-ground fish, meat and blood 20 



in fine-ground bone, tankage and mixed fertilizers 19 



" in coarse bone and tankage 15 



" in castor pomace and cottonseed meal 20 



Phosphoric acid, water-soluble 4| 



" citrate-soluble (reverted) 4 



" in fine-ground fish, bone and tankage 4 



" in cottonseed meal and castor-pomace 4 



" in coarse fish, bone, tankage and ashes 3| 



" in mixed fertilizers, insoluble in ammonium citrate or water. 2 



Potash as high-grade sulphate, in forms free from muriates (chlorides), in 



ashes, etc 5J 



" in muriate 4 \ 



" in castor pomace and cottonseed meal 5 



VALUATION AND COST OF FERTILIZERS. 



The total cost (to the farmer) of a ton of commercial fertilizer 

 may be regarded as consisting of the following elements: (1) Re- 

 tail cash cost, in the market, of unmixed trade materials; (2) cost 

 of mixing; (3) cost of transportation; (4) storage, commissions 

 to agents and dealers, selling on long credit, bad debts, etc. While 

 the total cost of a feitilizer is made up of several different elements, 

 a commercial valuation includes only the first of the elements enter- 

 ing into the total cost, that is, the retail cash cost in the market of 

 unmixed raw materials. 



VALUATION AND AGRICULTURAL VALUE. 



The agricultural value of a fertilizer depends upon its crop- 

 producing power. A commercial valuation does not necessarily 

 have any relation to crop-prod acing value on a given farm. For 

 a particular soil and crop, a fertilizer of comparatively low com- 



