362 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE. Off. Doc. 



tlieie were fouud 81 samples, without duplicates iu quality. We 

 found a most popular braud of lU or 12 selliug for |8.50 f. o. b. in 

 Chester county, but §17.50 was paid for the same goods in another 

 part of the State, not including freight. One very peculiar in- 

 stance came under my notice this spring; a dealer had among others 

 two brands by the same manufacturer, guaranteeing precisely the 

 same grade of goods. One was offered for sale in the ordinary 100 

 ib. bag, and was quoted to me at $21.50, the other was in white 

 muslin bags under another name, but $35.00 per ton was asked for 

 it. These illustrations prove the necessity of the farmers studying 

 the question and familiarizing themselves with the quality of goods 

 they buy. If it is only fairly profitable to pay |8.00 for a certain 

 brand, and that is its commercial value, the party who paid $20.00 

 for it, parted with his cash, and very likely pronounced commercial 

 fertilizers a humbug. Almost invariably the most progressive and 

 prosperous agricultural communities use the most fertilizers. 



Those who make a business of selling them, avoid the less pro- 

 gressive sections. For special crops, w^here the quantity applied is 

 generous, possibly the farmer can buy the ingredients separately 

 and mix them himself; but for general use, when only two or three 

 hundred pounds per acre are used, and possibly 16 lbs. of nitrogen 

 is expected to fertilize six or seven acres, only the most thorough 

 and complete mixing can be of much use; and this can scarcely be 

 done with a shovel on the barn tioor. Last year there were 43 brands 

 of complete goods ofLered for sale that carried that many pounds 

 or less, and these possibly represented over one-half of the total 

 sales. I am not favorable to the so-called unit system of figuring 

 the value of any given brand, but prefer to reduce all to pounds 

 and cents. To illustrate: 2-10-4 means 40 lbs. of ammonia; 200 lbs. 

 of phosphoric acid and SO lbs. of potash per ton, and can be bought 

 for $19.00 cash f. o. b. car lots, which represents 18 cents for am- 

 monia, 4 cents for phosphoric acid and 5 cents for potash; and 

 these same prices will fit any brand that came under my notice the 

 past year. These j^riccs cover the cost of raw material, grinding, 

 mixing, bagging and manufacturers' profit. And yet, three-fourths 

 of all the goods sold in this State cost the consumer from 50 to 100 

 per cent, more, freight not included. And we hear the wail ''fertili- 

 zers are not good, and farming don't pay." A little more knowledge 

 would save great expendittu'e and vexation. 



The CHAIRMAN: The next paper will be "The Value of Farm 

 Manure and How to Retain it," by Prof. Wells W. Cooke, of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Prof. Cooke presented his paper as follows: 



