No. 7. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



665 



Composition of Acidulated Fertilizer Ingredients. (Per cent.) 



*Also contains 1.90 per cent, nitrogen. 



Cost per pound of Fertilizer Constituents. — With the composition 

 of these raw materials and their price per ton, hundred weight, or 

 other unit of measure as a basis, the wholesale cost per pound of 

 the valuable constituents can be readily calculated. In many cases 

 the ammoniates are quoted "per unit of ammonia," the term unit 

 being equivalent to per cent.; in goods sold by the ton of 2,00{)lbs., 

 the unit is equal to 201bs., and 201bs. of- ammonia contain 16.471bs. 

 of nitrogen. 



In the case of refuse bone-black, unacidulated, the mean, 28.25 

 per cent, of phosphoric acid, is assumed to represent the average 

 material on the .market. 



Phosphate rock is sold by the ton of 2,240rbs., and on the basis 

 of the bone phosphate of lime it contains, with drawbacks for in- 

 jurious constituents. Bone-phosphate of lime contains 455.8 per 

 cent, of phosphoric acid; therefore, each per cent, of bone phosphate 

 in a long ton is equivalent ot 22.4 lbs. and contains 10.26 lbs. of 

 phosphoric acid. 



In the wholesale trade, dried blood, azotine, concentrated tankage 

 and hoof meals are usually sold on the basis of ammonia, disregard- 

 ing the phosphoric acid present. 



Insoluble phosphoric acid in dissolved rock is likewise omitted 

 from consideration, contracts being based solely upon the "avail- 

 able" phosphoric acid; nor in rock phosphates is any claim made for 

 the small quantities of nitrogen and potash they contain, nor in dis- 

 solved bone for the potash present. 



Under these conditions, the wholesale cost per pound in New 

 York of the valuable constituents of such .materials as furnish but 

 a single fertilizing element, these materials being assumed ^:o be in 

 the state of preparation and in the packing in which the manufac- 

 turer purchased them, are given in the following table; also a 

 figure representing a fair retail price at the factory, the materials 

 having undergone no change in treatment or packing and the allow- 

 ance for expenses and profit in retailing being 20 per cent. 



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