190 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ESTIMATION OF VALUES. 



SSevere criticism has been made of the effort to fix an estimate of money 

 value of the leading materials that make up a mixed fertilizer, the value 

 per pound of available nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. A word of 

 explanation may not be out of place. It is manifestly impossible to fix 

 prices upon these materials that would everywhere be just and proper, 

 because they are not equally distributed and of uniform cost in all places. 



The attempt has been made to fix a scale of prices in the eastern 

 states by finding the price of leading materials — bones, mineral phos- 

 phates, ammonia and potash — in such markets as New York and Phila- 

 delphia, and from such data to determine the average cost of nitro- 

 gen, phosphoric acid and absolute potash they contain. In this way 

 some approximate idea is formed of the commercial value of these mate- 

 rials. This, however, is not to be taken as expressing the agricultural 

 value, or what cash profit the farmer will secure from their use. 



As previously stated the three most valuable materials in commercial 

 fertilizers are potash, phosphoric acid and available nitrogen. Each of 

 these has a commercial value which may be stated in dollars and cents. 

 Only these three substances are considered in the inspection of commer- 

 cial fertilizers because the other materials are of too little value to be 

 purchased at high prices. By placing before the farmer the composition 

 as claimed by the manufacturer and the composition of the material as 

 found in the' market, we can find whether the goods are up to standard 

 and can also form an estimate of the market value of the goods. If the 

 analysis shows more of a given substance than is claimed, the goods are 

 better than claimed; but if much less is found on anlysis than is claimed,, 

 then the goods are proportionately of less value to the farmer. 



The market value of these materials varies somewhat from year to 

 year. 



The following values have been agreed upon as the wholesale value of 

 these materials for the year 1897: 



Cents 

 per pound. 



Nitrogen in ammonia salts $0 13.5 



" " nitrates - 14 



Organic nitrogen in fine ground fish, meat, blood and in high grade mixed 



fertilizers 14 



Organic nitrogen in cottonseed meal, linseed meal and in castor pomace.. 12 



" i( " fine ground bone and tankage 13.5 



" " " medium ground bone and tankage 11 



" " li coarse ground bone and tankage 08 



Phosphosic acid soluble in water -- 05.5 



" " " (i ammonium citrate 05 



" " in fine bone and tankage 05 



" " •' medium bone and tankage 04 _ 



" " " coarse bone and tankage — <*-.5 



" " " fine ground fish, cottonseed meal, linseed meal, castor 



pomace and wood ashes 05 



" " insoluble (in ammonium citrate) in mixed fertilizers <»2 



Potash as sulphate, free from chlorides --- 05 



" muriate 04.5 



Since there are 20 times 100 pounds in a ton, if we multiply the value 

 of one pound by 20 we find the value of one per cent of any material in 

 a ton. We may thus construct a table for estimating the value of any 



