No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULiTURE. 459 



loss due to the less availability of the constituents remaining in the 

 manures, do have a bearing upon the cost of a quart of milk or a 

 pound of meat, particularly if on those farms the fertility so lost 

 is made good by the purchase of commercial fertilizers, or of other 

 manures. On the basis of these experiments, the increase in the 

 cost of a hundred pounds of milk would be not less than 25 cents. 

 That is, if the farmer made the outlay for commercial fertilizers 

 to the extent of the losses in his manures, it would affect the cost of 

 his milk by just this amount. This certainly is a practical matter, 

 and one which affects not only the farmer of to-day, but must have 

 its bearing upon the farming of the future, as a continuance of the 

 wasteful methods of practice, which are in use upon many farms, 

 must result in a rapid decrease in their productive values. Farmers 

 should remember that farming, in its best sense, is merely the trans- 

 formation of constituents contained in soils, and in manures, into 

 products of a salable character, and while it is not possible by any 

 system of farming to prevent losses of nitrogen, it is possible by 

 careful observation of the laws that are involved to reduce these 

 losses to a minimum, and make the farming constructive rather 

 than destructive in character. 



ME. RODGERS (in the Chair): You have heard the paper. What 

 action will yoii take on it? 



On motion, the paper was received and placed on file. 



MR. STOUT: I think if we always add just a little bit more in the 

 way of vegetable matter to the soil of our farms than we take off 

 in the crops, that there will be very little deterioration in their pro- 

 ductive qualities. 



MR. BLYHOLDER: I want to state in behalf of the committee 

 who were appointed to wait upon the Governor — we told you that we 

 thought we would have him here to-day — we have learned that he 

 will not arrive in the city until about the noon-hour to-day. That is 

 the reason we have not had any further report to make. 



The CHAIR: We will now listen to the report of the Geologist, 

 Col. H. C. Demming: 



Col. Demming read his report as follows: 



REPORT OF THE GEOLOGIST. 



BY Col. Hexry C. Demming, Geologist, Harriahurg, Pa. 



It is difficult to keep pace with the advances and the technicality 

 of Geology. In our State a very careful topographical survey is be- 

 ing made, to be followed with a much more detailed geological sur- 

 vey than the first or second, and all with the co-operation and finan- 



