6 The Bulletin. 



Water-soluble Ammonia. — The main materials furnishing am- 

 monia in fertilizers are nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, cotton- 

 seed meal, dried blood, tankage, and fish scrap. The first two of 

 these (nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia) are easily soluble in 

 water and become well distributed in the soil where plant roots can 

 get at them. They are, especially the nitrate of soda, ready to be 

 taken up by plants, and are therefore quick-acting forms of ammonia. 

 It is mainly the ammonia from nitrate of soda and sulphate of am- 

 monia that will be designated under the heading of water-soluble 

 ammonia. 



Organic Ammonia. — The ammonia in cotton-seed meal, dried 

 blood, tankage, fish scrap, and so on, is included under this heading. 

 These materials are insoluble in water, and before they can feed 

 plants they must decay and have their ammonia changed, by the aid 

 of the bacteria of the soil, to nitrates, similar to nitrate of soda. 



They are valuable then as plant food in proportion to their content 

 of ammonia, and the rapidity with which they decay in the soil, or 

 rather the rate of decay, will determine the quickness of their action 

 as fertilizers. With short season, quick-growing crops, quickness of 

 action is an important consideration, but with crops occupying the 

 land during the greater portion, or all, of the growing season, it is 

 better to have a fertilizer that will become available more slowly, so 

 as to feed the plant till maturity. Cotton-seed meal and dried blood 

 decompose fairly rapidly, but will last the greater portion, if not all, 

 of the growing season in this State. While cotton seed and tankage 

 will last longer than meal and blood, none of these act so quickly, or 

 give out so soon, as nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. 



Total Ammonia is made up of the water-soluble and organic ; it is 

 the sum of these two. 



The farmer should suit, as far as possible, the kind of ammonia to 

 his different crops, and a study of the forms of ammonia as given in 

 the tables of analyses will help him to do this. 



VALUATIONS. 



To have a basis for comparing the values of different fertilizer 

 materials and fertilizers, it is necessary to assign prices to the three 

 valuable constituents of fertilizers — ammonia, phosphoric acid, and 

 potash. These figures, expressing relative value per ton, are not 

 intended to represent crop-producing power, or agricultural value, 

 but are estimates of the commercial value of "ammonia, phosphoric 

 acid and potash in the materials supplying them. These values are 

 only approximate (as the costs of fertilizing materials are liable to 

 change, as other commercial products are), but they are believed to 

 fairly represent the cost of making and putting fertilizers on the 

 market. They are based on a careful examination of trade condi- 

 tions, wholesale and retail, and upon quotations of manufacturers. 



