REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



I. REPORT OF ANALYSES OF COMMERCIAL 

 FERTILIZERS FOR THE SPRING OF 1898.* 



L. L. Van Slyke. 



SUMMARY. 



(1) Samples Collected. During the spring of 1898, the Sta- 

 tion collected 1183 samples of commercial fertilizers, representing 

 739 different brands. Of these different brands, 578 were com- 

 plete fertilizers; of the others, 55 contained phosphoric acid and 

 potash without nitrogen; 47 contained nitrogen and phosphoric 

 acid without potash; 8 contained nitrogen only; 44 contained phos- 

 phoric acid alone, and 7 contained potash salts only. 



(2) Nitrogen. The 578 brands of complete fertilizers con- 

 tained nitrogen varying in amount from 0.12 to 8.21 per cent, and 

 averaging 2.20 per cent. The average amount of nitrogen found 

 by the Station analysis exceeded the average guaranteed amount 

 by 0.14 per cent, the guaranteed average being 2.06 per cent and 

 the average found being 2.20 per cent 



In 395 brands of complete fertilizers, the amount of nitrogen 

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

 varying from 0.01 to 3.27 per cent, and averaging 0.28 per cent. 



* Reprint of Bulletin No. 145. 



