The Analysis of Fertilizers. 287 



the necessity of (controlling as far as possible the chai-acter 

 of the fertilizers put upon sale, being quite unwilling that 

 the valueless, falsified, or deteriorated materials rejected bj 

 other States where oversight is had, should find a market 

 here. Though the individual members of the board have 

 been wholly changed, still a uniform course has been pur- 

 sued and the good work has gone steadily on. Under 

 the direction of Professor Collier, the former secretary, 

 they have from time to time gathered from various sources the 

 different fertilizers offered for sale within the State, and 

 liave submitted these to chemical analysis. No better evi- 

 dence of the wisdom of this course is needed than that 

 afforded by the fact that the average value of the fertilizers 

 now offered in market is over thirty-three per cent, greater 

 than when the first analyses were undertaken. These care- 

 ful analyses by Professor Collier have been of more value 

 than can well be estimated. The improvement in the char- 

 acter of these fertilizers is largely due to the scrutiny to 

 which they have been subjected. The inducement to put 

 upon the market an article of no value is largely removed, 

 as the attempt to do so is liable to be detected at the outset. 

 It is thought it will be a timely service to the farmer to put 

 before him in a condensed form the excellent w^ork of Pro- 

 fessor Collier, that at a glance he may know the value of 

 the different fertilizers as revealed by chemical analysis. 

 These results have been published at different times in a little 

 different form, a part, the first series in the report for 1872, 

 the second series in the State agricultural papers. 



Other ingredients than those mentioned below have 



