34 ANNUAI-. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc 



For mixing, an allowance of |1.00 per ton on complete fertilizers 

 and rock-and-potash goods. 



For agents' commission, an allowance of 20 per cent, is added to the 

 cash values of the goods ready for shipment. 



The mean quotation on freight from New York, Philadelphia and 

 Baltimore to Harrisburg, in January, 1897, was fl.68 per ton, in lots 

 of ^welve tons or over; in May, 1899, quotations by the Pennsylvania 

 Tlailroad were: From New York, .f2.40; from Philadelphia, |1.70; 

 and from Baltimore, $1.55; mean rate from the three points, $1.88. 



PUBLICATION OF RESULTS OF ANALYSES. 



The results of the analyses of samples collected, are published 

 each year, in two bulletins, one containing the samples taken and 

 analyzed in the spring, and the other those taken and analyzed in 

 the fall. 



These bulletins have been in great demand by farmers and dealers, 

 and are being carefully studied b}' them with a view of securing fer- 

 tilizers from manufacturers whose goods are up to their guarantees, 

 and who offer the most advantageous rates. The growing practice 

 among our farmers of studying the needs of the soils they cultivate, 

 and the character of the fertilizers suited to these requirements, is 

 one of the most hopeful indications of progress. They are rapidly 

 coming to learn, that agriculture requires for its proper pursuit 

 intelligent and careful management, that the soil will no longer 

 bring abundant harvests without added nourishment, and that the 

 securing of this in the cheapest and most available form is a problem 

 that each one must, in a great measure, solve for himself. Science 

 is disclosing the constitution of fertilizers, plants and soils. The 

 question of the best adaptation of these to each other, must always 

 be left to the individual who grows the crop. He must himself 

 experiment and determine what his particular soil needs to grow 

 a particular crop. To do this successfully requires that a man shall 

 be a close observer and have trained powers of investigation and 

 thought. These qualities are acquired through the reading of scien- 

 tific discussions of the subjects, by becoming familiar with the re- 

 sults of the work of other experimenters in agriculture, and by study- 

 ing the principles that underlie plant life and growth in their 

 various forms. The winter months afford ample leisure to the 

 average farmer to thoroughly post himself on what is known on the 

 subject of fertility, and to take up, sj^stematically, the subject of 

 fertilizers, their action and proper and economical use. 



