1882.] COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 141 



slaughter-house and bought it at twenty-five dollars a ton. 

 The next year I went and the man said, "we have raised 

 the price ; we are asking thirty dollars ; and are offered 

 that for all we can make, but we want to reserve a certain 

 portion for the neighboring farmers, and we can supply 

 them in small quantities." I found the same rise in price of 

 nitrogenous materials at the fish factories, and at the oil fac- 

 tories, and was told that the fertilizer manufacturers wanted 

 them all. The last time, it was thirty-five dollars a ton, and 

 they did not care a snap whether we took it at that price or 

 not, for they had a demand for all they could make. Now, 

 then, if we do not require nitrogen, I want to know who un- 

 der heaven does. We need it, we want the privilege of buy- 

 ing it, and we do not want them to tell us, " you don't want it, 

 and you don't need it, because we can supply it to you in a 

 better form than you can make it yourselves." I don't be- 

 lieve a word of it. 



Mr. Sedgwick. I do not think that Mr. Webb has got at 

 just what I intended to say. I do not say that nitrogen is 

 not necessary to the plant, I know that it is necessary; but 

 he goes on to say further than that, or to imply, rather, that 

 the enhanced price of nitrogenous material is owing to the 

 fact that the fertilizer manufacturers want it for their fertil- 

 izers. 



Mr. Webb. Is not that so ? 



Mr. Sedgwick. To a certain extent it is ; but I would say 

 here, that the fertilizer man is willing to make anything that 

 the farmer wants ; that is his business. If the farmer wants 

 a fertilizer containing twelve per cent, of nitrogen, it can be 

 made for him, provided he will pay for it. Any compound 

 which he wants the fertilizer manufacturer will be very glad 

 to furnish him at a given price. So that does away with 

 that argument. Here is another point. The experiments 

 of Lawes and Gilbert show that in the first foot of one acre 

 of ground there are eight thousand pounds of nitrogen ; and 

 this was on land which had been cropped for some years. 

 Now, then, we have in most of our soils, particularly on 



