No. 6. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



535 



The following summary is taken from the 0/7, Paint and Drug Reporter: 



Phosphates.— The demand for phosphates throughout the year was unusually 

 active. Prices of phosphate rock showed sharp advances. 



Closing prices for the year were as follows: 



South Carolina rock, air dried, f. o. b. Ashley River, $6.00@$6.50; Florida land 

 pebble, f. o. b. Port Tampa, $5.75@$6.00; Florida high grade, f. o. b. Florida or 

 Georgia ports, $10.25@$10.50; Tennessee, Mt. Pleasant, domestic, per ton, 78 and 

 80 per cent., $6.00@$6.25; 75 per cent, guaranteed, $4.50(g)$4.75; 68 to 72 per cent., 

 ?3.50@$3.75. 



Raw Materials of Acid Manufacture: Brimstone. — Conditions during the past 

 year have changed. Domestic production having increased, local consumers 

 are relying more on the domestic output. Prices continued steady at $22.12%@ 

 $22.50 until late in the fall, when there was an advance to $22.25@$22.50. The 

 higher prices were brought about by a decrease in supplies at consuming points. 



Pyrites. — The increase in the demand assumed such proportions that it ex- 

 ceeded the output. The prices quoted at the beginning of the year were 10 

 cents per unit for Spanish lump ore washed (48 to 52 per cent sulphur) and IQVz 

 cents for domestic furnace size ore averaging 45 per cent, sulphur, all f. o. b. 

 shipping ports. 



During the year prices advanced 1 cent per unit, with indications for further 

 rise very promising. 



Sulphuric Acid. — The demand for domestic consumption has been great. Sales 

 at the close of the year were made on the basis of 1 cent and up for 66 degree, 

 and $12.00 per ton and up for bulk 50 degree, depending upon the quality, terms 

 of sale, etc. 



According to the same authority, prices of acid phosphate remained firmer, 

 quotations ranging from 60@67i/4 per unit, according to quantity and point of 

 shipment. These prices show no change from the previous year, notwithstand- 

 ing the advance in the price of the raw materials of acid phosphate manufac- 

 ture. 



Potash Salts.— The reports of the U. S. Bureau of Statistics show the following 

 entries for consumption during the fiscal year 1905 and 1906: 



Muriate (pounds), .. 

 K.'eserit, kainit, etc. 



1906. 



211,875,S97 

 379.220 



This trade is so managed that by March nearly all wholesale deliveries of 

 the year are contracted for. The prices for potashes as announced by the Ger- 

 man Potash Syndicate on the basis of large lots sold through brokers and de- 

 livered at Boston, New York or Philadelphia, are shown in the following table. 

 These prices show no change from last year: 



Salt. 





Muriate, 80 per cent., per 100 pounds 



Sulphate, 48 per cent., per ICO pounds, 



Double manure salt, 48-53 per cent., per 100 pounds, 



Kainit, 12.4 per cent., actual potash, per ton 



Manure salt, 20 per cent, potash, per ton 



1.915 



2.20 



1.165 



8.50 



15.20 



Composition of Raw Materials. — In order to form a correct idea of the cost 

 per pound of the fertilizer constituents of these materials, it is needful to de- 

 termine their composition or, in other words, the quantities of valuable con- 

 stituents each contain. The following table shows the composition of the raw 

 materials used in the manufacture of fertilizers. No analyses of these mater- 

 ials, with the exception of ground bone and dissolved rock, have been made in 



