No. 5. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



435 



By adding the 20 per cent, allowed for jobbers' gross profit to the 

 wholesale price of the several raw materials, the retail price in 

 original packages at the jobbers' warehouse is obtained. 



Since the amount of the several valuable fertilizing constituents 

 in the various raw materials is known, it is a simple matter to de- 

 termine the corresponding retail value per pound of the valuable 

 fertilizing constituents yielded by each raw material. A schedule of 

 these pound values affords a convenient basis of computation of the 

 value per ton of various fertilizers, whose composition is ascertained 

 by analysis. 



The values assigned, for the present, to the other elements in the 

 cost of the fertilizer at the point of delivery are: 



3. For mixing, $1.00 per ton. 



4. For bagging, -fLOO per ton, in all cases except those in which 

 the article was sold in original packages ; the cost of the package be- 

 ing, in such case, included in the wholesale price. 



5. For agents' commission, 20 per cent, of the cost of the goods 

 f. 0. b. at the jobbers' or mixers' warehouse. 



6. For freight, $2.00 per ton; the cost of the freight in lots of 

 twelve tons or over, from the seaboard to Harrisburg, averaging |1.88 

 per ton. 



The following valuation of dissolved South Carolina rock illustrates 

 the method: 



Phospborlc Acid. 



Available, 



Insoluble, 



Eetail cash value of ingredients, 



Bagging 



Cash value of goods ready for shipment, 



Agents' commission, 20 per cent., 



Freight, 



Commercial value per ton, 



% 



14.00 

 l.OO 



Weight per ton. 



2S0 lbs. at 3c, 

 20 lbs. at lie. 



fl3.&4 



It is not to be expected, of course, that the valuations thus com- 

 puted will precisely represent the fair price to be charged for a 

 brand in each locality and in every transaction. Market conditions, 

 competition, distance from factory, all introduce minor variations. 

 Nevertheless, to make the approximation reasonably close the aver- 

 age valuation of a given class of goods ought to agree closely with 

 its ascertained average selling price. Whenever such an agree- 

 ment is no longer obtained by the use of a schedule, it is evident 

 that the schedule of retail values of the constituents, or the added 

 allowances for mixing, etc., requires revision. 



It is needful to note here another factor greatly affecting the prac- 

 tical accuracy of these approximations. Their computation would 

 offer little difficulty and their usefulness be far greater, if, by the 

 ordinary methods of ^analysis, the exact nature of the ingredients 

 used to supply the several fertilizer constituents, were capable of 

 certain determination. This is, however, possible to-day to only a 

 limited extent. The valuations are therefore based in general on the 

 assumption that the fertilizers are uniformly compounded from high 

 quality ingredients, such as are commonly employed in the manufac- 



