314 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ful application, — a point which ought to concern the dealer, 

 although for other reasons, not less than the farmer who 

 uses them. Our laws for the regulation of the sale of fer- 

 tilizers have also equally aided in bringing about a better 

 understanding between responsible dealers and our farmers, 

 by clearly distinguishing between the responsibility of both 

 parties in a sale. The best proof of the accomplishment of 

 that object, as far as reasonably can be expected in so short 

 a time, can be found in a more general satisfaction among 

 intelligent farmers, with the quality and the price of the 

 fertilizers they bought. In view of these encouraging facts, 

 it remains a matter of regret that all fertilizers which are 

 sold at a price not exceeding fifteen dollars per ton can be 

 sold without any particular obligation on the part of the 

 dealers in these articles, either to guarantee a stated compo- 

 sition, or to give information concerning their proximate con- 

 stituents ; rendering it thus, as a general rule, impossible to 

 form an intelligent opinion about their mode of action and 

 their real merits. Their apparent cheapness as compared 

 with most standard ammoniated superphosphates — which is 

 quite frequently made more conspicuous by irresponsible 

 advertisements regarding their superiority over more costly 

 compounds, for the production of specified crops, &c. — gives 

 them, in the opinion of less discriminating parties, more prom- 

 inence than they in most instances deserve. This class of 

 fertilizers is quite numerous, and capable of unlimited ex- 

 tension, particularly in large cities, and in centres of com- 

 merce and of manufacturing industry. The commercial 

 management of these articles proves, in many instances, a 

 source of annoyance to the licensed branch of the trade, and 

 threatens to become a serious impediment in the development 

 of an intelligent system of manuring, if left unchecked by 

 suitable fair restrictions regarding their sale, similar to those 

 which apply to the higher j)riced fertilizers. In making these 

 statements I do not dispute the usefulness of many of the 

 compositions which I had in view when writing the previous 

 remarks; but I consider the exceptional position they oc- 

 cupy — being sold without any thing like a responsibility on 

 the part of the manufacturers and dealers — undesirable, on 

 account of the unusual chance they present for unfair deal- 

 ings ; leaving, to say the least, all the risks on the side of the 



