Manurial Value of Feeding Stuffs. 



267 



in order to intelligently utilize manures. The source of the 

 fertility in manures is well illustrated by the following table from 

 Hebert, * which shows the location of the nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash in the excrement of the horse and cow: 



Location of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash in excrement 



Hebert. 



We learn that the urine of the horse contains 1.52 per cent, of 

 nitrogen and the solid excrement .55 per cent, or one- third as 

 much. The reverse holds true for the phosphoric acid, for only 

 a trace of this appears in the urine and nearly all in the solid 

 excrement. Of the potash, .9 per cent, is found in the urine and 

 only .1 per cent, in the solid excrement. 



The fertilizing constituents which pass off with the solid excre- 

 ment are largely insoluble and to this extent not directly avail- 

 able to plants when applied in manures. On the other hand, the 

 constituents which appear in the urine are in soluble form and 

 directly available to the plant. 



420. Commercial fertilizers. The soil in parts of our country is 

 now so depleted that farmers and planters are forced to make 

 large use of commercial fertilizers in order to secure remunerative 

 crops. The commercial fertilizers sold in the United States during 

 the year 1896 amounted to 1,355,000 tons. 2 Placing a value on 

 these of $20 per ton, a reasonable estimate, we have a total of 

 over $27,000,000 paid out by farmers and gardeners living mainly 

 in the Atlantic and Gulf states for commercial fertilizers in a 

 single year. For the year 1895 the farmers of Connecticut 8 ex- 

 pended over $700,000, and those in New Jersey 4 $1,575,000, for 

 commercial fertilizers. 



1 Expt. Sta. Record, Vol. 5; also Fertility of the Land, Roberts, p. 180. 



2 American Fertilizer. Dec., 1896. 



3 Rept. Conn. Expt. Sta., 1895. * Rept. N. J. Expt. Sta., 1896. 



