244 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Of tbe above figures it may be remarked : 



1. The articles are of the higher grades. The poorer articles with 

 which the markets are infested are not taken into account. The nitrog- 

 enous superphosphates, for instance, were among the best of about 

 fifty samples from which the selections were made. 



2. The costs of the ingredients vary widely in the difi'erent articles. 

 This is illustrated by the following figures, which represent average 

 market-rates : 



Fertilizers.' 



Xitrate of soda , 



Sulphate of ammonia 



Dried blood 



Superphosphates 



Potash salts, sulphates , 



Potash salts, muriates 



Slaughterhouse refuse 



Bone manures, best 



Bone manures, medium 



Bone manures, inferior , 



Nitrogenous superphosphates, best 



^Nitrogenous superphosphates, medium 

 Nitrogenous superphosphates, inferior. 



Peruvian guanos 



Dry ground fish guano 



Dry tiah-scrap 



Half-dry fish-scrap 



Costs per pound in cents. 



Nitrogen. 



24 to 25 

 24 to 25 

 19 to 23 



15 to 20 



10 to 12 



14 to 16 



15 to 24 

 18 to 21 

 24 to 28 

 30 to 40 



17 to 21 



18 to 22 

 10 to 15 



n to 11 



Phosphoric acid. 



Soluble. Total, 



10 to 11 



10 to 12 



11 to 121 

 14 to 16 



18 to 24 

 10 to 12J 



5 to 6 

 7 to 8 

 9 to 12 



5 to 8 



6 tola 



7 to 8i 

 4^ to 6 

 3|to 4i 



Potash. 



8 

 4* to 5 



5^ to 6J 



Relative values of different fertilizers. — Fish and Peruvian guanos. 



309. From these figures, which represent a somewhat extensive and 

 thorough survey of the northern and eastern fertilizer markets, it appears 

 that, taking into account composition and price, fish manures furnish 

 the active manurial ingredients, nitrogen and phosphoric acid, at lower 

 rates than any other commercial fertilizers except bone manures. But 

 in bone, the fertilizing ingredients act more slowly. Taking the form 

 of combination, the availability, into account, the nitrogen and phospho- 

 ric acid in bone can rival those of fish, only when they are wanted for 

 slow and long-continued use, as in " seeding down" with grass. 



Next in order of cheapness come Peruvian guanos. In fairness, how- 

 ever, these ought to be compared only with the dried and finely pulverized 

 fish guanos. Indeed, a pound of nitrogen or phosphoric acid is doubtless 

 worth on the average considerably more, agriculturally, in Peruvian gu- 

 ano than in even the driest and finest fish. 



* As ■was remarked, the nitrogenous superphosphates in the table preceding this were the best of 

 some fifty samples of a large number of brands analyzed at this place. In that list, and in those in the 

 appendix, can be seen the data upon ■which the above figures are based. The analyses from ■which the 

 tables are made up ■were made under the direction of the ■writer, into ■whose hands not far from three 

 hundred samples of the commercial fertilizers in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore 

 markets have lately come for examination. Fraudulent articles are excluded from the computation. 



