No. C. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 361 



fesiilts wlieii loimerly they were very satisfactory. I>oubtless this 

 it «luo to the fact that one-sided mixtures Iiave been used, and 

 <.ue of the essential elements is not present in sufficient quantity. 

 In such eases the crop grows smaller and less abundant each year; 

 failure results, and the fertilizer is charged with having ruined the 

 soil. The application of fertilizers can never be injurious, but they 

 may be so used that no return is obtained. They are simply more or 

 less number of pounds of material that the plants hunger for, mixed 

 through a much larger quantity of material that has no particular 

 \alu(\ In the higher grades of goods, no adulterant has been used, 

 bi.it the nuiterials entering into their composition were impure. 

 And to purify or concentrate would be more expensive than to grind, 

 mix, bag and freight the whole. Nitrate of soda contains only 

 about 15 per cent, of nitrogen, and prepared fossil rock 14 to 10 

 ['.er cent, of phosphoric acid. Hard wood ashes, uuleached, carry 5 

 or 6 pounds of potash, and about half as much phosphoric acid to 

 the hundred, the balance is moisture, lime and several other materi- 

 als which have no especial value; but it would cost more to ex- 

 tract the two ingredients we want than to freight and apply the 

 whole. I cannot urge too strongly-, that a plant's growth is in pro- 

 portion to the abundance of the smallest ingredient, not to the one 

 in greatest supply. 



Before I dismiss this phase of the question, allow me to insist that 

 no farmer has a right to waste the manures of his farm and depend 

 upon the commercial fertilizer, because the elements above dwelt 

 upon, important as they are, be they ever so abundant in the soil, 

 will be of no avail unless humus, decayed vegetable matter, is also 

 present. And I shall insist that barnyard manure, field manurial 

 crops and every such adjunct possible shall first be religiously hus- 

 banded and applied. 



The most successful and economic use of commercial fertilizer 

 is in conjimction with barnyard manure. Such manures are usually 

 one-sided, being richer in nitrogen than in the other elements de- 

 sired. Wisdom suggests that we should spread thinner and add a 

 reasonable quantity of the mineral elements to balance up. If such 

 manures are not available, plowing under clover, sod or some other 

 organic matter may supply the necessary nitrogen. 



[ have taken an interest in classifying the goods put upon the 

 market as commercial fertilizers and find that during the year 1901, 

 l,0fi6 brands were licensed and sold in Pennsylvania. There were 

 1,066 different names given, but they represented only 177 different 

 combinations of the three ingredients allowed credit under our law. 

 Fifty-seven different inanufacturers put exactly the same goods 

 upon the market, but under manj- different names, another, .30, 

 another, 2.3. and so on down to the special compounds of which 

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