No. 7, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 407 



fertilizers, and when I buy fertilizer I want to know from what 

 sources the ingredients are secured. I think there should be a law 

 compelling- them to publish that. I have a little farm of twenty- 

 seven acres in Chester Countv, and that farm is mv chemist, and 

 it is better than any Professor. I have a friend within a few miles, 

 who has a little farm, and he has the potash right on the road. You 

 can see it there, as you walk or drive by. He does not need any 

 potash, but on my farm I need it. I want all the potash I can get, 

 but I find that what will produce a crop on one acre will not do so 

 on another. And I have no doubt that many farmers spend thou- 

 sands of dollars in applying fertilizer without knowing just what 

 is the best for that soil. Now, I went through this, and at consid- 

 erable expense, so I know there is no subject in which the farmers 

 are more deeply interested tban in fertilizers. 



The SECRETARY: There is a bill before the House now, requir- 

 ing manufacturers of fertilizers to show not only the amount of 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid, but where it was secured. Then if 

 the farmer wants something that will act quickly he can get his 

 nitrogen and soda, and if he wants something that will act a little 

 more slowly he can get his dry blood, and if something that acts 

 more slowly still, he can get his raw bone. The bill says that when 

 these things are stamped on the bag, the manufacturer shall stop 

 right there, and not go on and give any further information, because 

 it would be misleading. 



MR. SCHWARZ: I am very glad to see that the farmers are tak- 

 ing interest in this. Twelve years ago, when I was in the Legisla- 

 ture, a bill was passed, largely through my efforts on this subject, 

 and I am glad to see that the farmers are progressing along this 

 line. 



MR. BECK: I am glad to say that when the bill Mr. Critchfield 

 refers to was up before the Legislative Committee yesterday, there 

 was no opposition to it, and it is likely to pass. 



The SECRETARY: I am glad to know that it is moving along so 

 nicely. 



The CHAIRMAN: I see Dr. Frear is here now, and we will take 

 up his report — the report of the Chemist. 



The report reads as follows: 



EXPERIMENTS WITH LIME AND CRUSHED LIMESTONE 

 ON A PENNSYLVANIA CLAY LOAM SOIL. 



By Dr. Wm. Frear, cnamist. State College. Pa 



Owing to the live interest exhibited today in the relative merits 

 of lime and crushed limestone (carbonate of lime) as means 

 of increasing the productiveness of soils — an interest shown by 

 numerous inquiries received by the writer and by the frequency 

 with which the subject is discussed in the agricultural press — it 

 has been thought that a summary of the results obtained in experi- 



