380 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



I don't want to detain you any longer; I have talked longer than 

 I attended. I will go with you hand in hand to make such appro- 

 priations as will be of interest to the farmers, and to the entire 

 people of Pennsylvania. Another thing that comes to my mind is 

 that we contribute more money to private charities than any other 

 State in the Union. These are three great things to be foremost in: 

 in our appropriations to the public schools, to the war waged against 

 tuberculosis, and in the amounts appropriated for charities. But 

 the question of good roads is coming up, and it will continue to 

 grow, but 1 believe that it is better to build slowly and well; I 

 belie^^ it is better to build ten miles of good road that will last, than 

 a hundred miles that will go to pieces in six months. And then 

 there is another question comes up in connection with that. We can 

 build the best roads, but they will go to pieces if they are not taken 

 care of. Whose business it is to take care of them will have to be 

 decided, as well as the question of the appropriation to build them. 

 We must build the roads, and then find some one to take care of 

 them. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FERTILIZERS. 



Bt R. F. Schwarz, Chairman. 



Your Committee on Fertilizers respectfully beg to report that 

 while every effort which was thought to tend towards the getting of 

 full information was made by your Committee, its report is not as 

 full as it should be. One hundred and twenty requests for informa- 

 tion, accompanied by paid return envelopes, were sent out to all 

 the members of this Honorable Board, and to Institute managers, 

 workers in the cause, and prominent farmers all over the State. 

 Sixty-four replies were received and, be it said to the honor of this 

 Board, fifty-three were from its members, while only eleven were 

 received from parties outside the Board. 



That the fertilizer question is regarded of great importance among 

 farmers all over the State must be clearly evident to any one perus- 

 ing the answers received by your committee, which answers are 

 herewith respectfully submitted. Five questions were asked and 

 answered by those replying and they were as follows: 



About what amount of money was spent last year in yonr county 

 f(>r fertilizers? Definite answers to this query were received from 

 but forty-three counties, these showing an expenditure of $4,824,000; 

 but your Committee is convinced that, while these figures indicate 

 an ^expenditure in the entire State of over 17,000.000, even this 

 vast sum is an underestimate of the sum actually spent annually for 

 fertilizers in Pennsylvania. 



Is the use of fertilizers increasing or decreasing? Answers to this 

 question show that in forty-three counties there was an increas- 

 ing demand for fertilizers; in seven counties a decrease is reported, 

 while in three counties the demand for and use of fertility in the 

 bag 8<?ems to be stationary. 



