286 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OfE. Doc. 



I would further recommend that iu the tabulated analysis of 

 commercial fertilizers of the Department of Agriculture, the actual 

 value of plant food contents be given instead of the computed com- 

 mercial value. By that, I mean the value of the ingredients con- 

 tained, at what they could be bought delivered at any railroad sta- 

 tion in the fetate, in carload lots for cash. There is a marked dif- 

 ference between the value of plant food contents and the computed 

 commercial value as given in the Bulletin. The cost of the plant 

 food elements contained iu commercial fertilizers increase from the 

 time they leave the wholesale commission house, and by the tijne 

 they reach the farmer, who buys in small quantities from the local 

 dealer on time, the cost has doubled and trebled, if low grade fer- 

 tilizers are bought. 



By co-operative buying of the various materials and intelligent 

 home mixing, one-half of the money expended for fertilizers by the 

 farmers of Pennsylvania, could be saved. The intelligent farmer is 

 in a position to know better what his soil and his different crops 

 need, than the fertilizer manufacturer, many of whom have never 

 seen a pound used on the farm. He can mix his fertilizers to suit 

 any crops or conditions. In case of a quick growing crop, he can 

 get his ingredients from sources that contain the plant food in the 

 most available form. If it is a slow growing crop, he can get his 

 plant food from sources that are not all at once available, but that 

 become gradually available as the plants need it. Where, if he buys 

 ready mixed fertilizers, he does not know from what sources the dif- 

 ferent elements are derived or when they become available. Farm- 

 ers, who mix their own fertilizers, use higher grades of fertilizers, 

 than those who buy ready mixed goods, and consequently grow 

 larger crops. 



During the year 1914, 340,000 tons of commercial fertilizers were 

 used by the farmers of Pennsylvania, for which they paid ap- 

 proximatfely $8,000,000; of this amount, not more than 13,650,000 

 went for materials; |680,000 for mixing and bags, |680,000 for 

 freight; and about |3,000,000 for officers' salaries, dividends, travel- 

 ing salesmen and local agents' profits. The average price to the 

 farmer was about |23.00 per ton for an average analysis of about 

 1 — 8 — 4. This fertilizer contained plant food worth last year less 

 than $13.00. There were instances where it was sold by local deal- 

 ers for $30.00, a 5—6—6 for $60.00, a 14% acid phosphate for $20.00, 

 and a 0—6—3 for $17.00. 



No farmer can afford to pay such prices for fertilizers and the 

 farmer who pays such exorbitant prices knows veiy little about them. 

 If the laws could be changed, as recommended in this report, and 

 the actual value of fertilizers given in the bulletin, farmers would 

 soon learn what to buy and what to pay for them. The fertilizer 

 manufacturer would have to adjust himself to new conditions and 

 the dishonest manufacturer would soon be out of business. There 

 would still be a good honorable business for the honest manufac- 

 turer. He would no longer be bound down to a licensed brand or 

 brands, but would be at libert^^ to sell any analysis that the farmers 

 wanted, and under the new law, they would know what they were 

 getting. By cutting down some expenses, such as high salaries, 

 traveling salesmen, local agents, and long term credits, and sell 

 direct to farmers in carload lots for cash, the farmers could get 



