FERTILIZERS. 



''The average trade-values, or cost in the mar- 

 kets, per pound, of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 

 and potash," for 1881, are given by the Con- 

 necticut Agricultural-Experiment Station as 

 follows. The figures are based upon prices in 

 Connecticut and New York, but do not differ 

 materially from those in other large markets: 



TRADE-VALUES FOR 1831. Cent, per 



pound. 



Nitrogen In nitrates 26 



in ammonia salts 22J 



" In Peruvian guano, fine steamed bone, dried 

 and fine ground blood, meat, and fish, super- 

 phosphates, and special manures 20 



" in coarse or moist blood, meat, or tankage, in 



cotton-seed, linseed, and castor pomace 18 



in tine ground bone, horn, and wool-dust 15 



in fine medium bone 14 



in medium bone 18 



in coarse medium bone 12 



in coarse bone, horn-shavings, hair, and fish- 

 scrap 11 



Phosphoric acid, soluble in water 12J 



" " reverted " and in Peruvian guano 9 



1 insoluble, in fine bone and fish guano. . . 6 



" in fine medium bone 5J 



" " in medium bone 5 



" in coarse medium bone 4t 



" " in coarse bone, bone-ash, and 



bone-black 4 



" in fine ground rock phosphate $1 



Potash, in high-grade sulphate 7 



" in low-grade sulphate and kainite 5$ 



" in muriate or potassium chloride 8J 



EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 



Perhaps the most interesting phase of the 

 late history of commercial fertilizers is the ex- 

 perimental study of their action upon the soil 

 and influence upon the growth of plants. A 

 large number of agricultural colleges, experi- 

 ment stations, bureaus, societies, and private in- 

 dividuals have been lately engaged in this work, 

 and results of great value are being attained. 



Experiments in Georgia: Composts. The 

 Department of Agriculture of Georgia, under 

 direction of J. T. Henderson, commissioner, 

 has continued, during the season of 1881, the 

 soil-tests of commercial fertilizers, which it 

 has been conducting for some years past. In 

 these experiments various brands of super- 

 phosphates, guanos, etc., alone and composted 

 with cotton-seed or stable- manure, have been 

 applied by planters throughout the State to 

 parallel strips of land, on which various crops, 

 especially cotton, were grown. The results are, 

 on the whole, very encouraging for the use of 

 high-grade fertilizers, though failures are not 

 infrequent, even with favorable weather. 



The very rational plan of composting con- 

 centrated fertilizers, such as acid phosphates 

 with cotton- seed and farm manures, has 

 brought most gratifying results. Thus one of 

 the experimenters, Professor "W. M. Browne, 



of the State University at Athens, says: "My 

 experience and observation, during the past 

 five seasons, convince me that we can not 

 afford to raise crops on upland without the 

 aid of commercial fertilizers of established 

 reputation, and of composts carefully made-." 

 Another experimenter, Mr. E. S. Wellons, of 

 Perry, Houston County, says : " My experi- 

 ence, particularly on my own farm this season, 

 more clearly than ever demonstrates the wis- 

 dom of composting acid phosphate with cot- 

 ton-seed and stable-manure." 



Experiments in Alabama : Fertilizers for Cot- 

 ton. Professor W. C. Stubbs, of the Agricult- 

 ural and Mechanical College of Alabama, who 

 has been conducting extensive series of experi- 

 ments with fertilizers for cotton, arrives at a 

 number of very interesting conclusions, of 

 which several may be briefly stated, as fol- 

 lows: 



1. The soils upon which the experiments 

 were made, and which result from the decom- 

 position of metamorphic rocks, principally 

 hornblendic and feldspathic, appear to need no 

 potash, little nitrogen, and a great deal of solu- 

 ble phosphoric acid. Indeed, one great want 

 which seems to prevail throughout the older 

 cotton States (except, perhaps, in individual 

 regions, snch as the black cretaceous prairie 

 cotton-belt of Alabama, which has not been 

 tested) is soluble phosphoric acid. On worn- 

 out soils a small quantity of nitrogen is also 

 required three parts of nitrogen to ten of 

 phosphoric acid being a good mixture, as shown 

 by experiments. 



2. Phosphoric acid hastens, and nitrogen re- 

 tards, the maturing of the plant. 



3. Cotton-seed or cotton-seed meal is as effi- 

 cacious as, and a far more economical source of 

 nitrogen than, the much costlier guano, animal 

 refuse, nitrate of soda, and other commercial 

 materials. These conclusions are borne out 

 by carefully conducted experiments as well as 

 by large experience. 



The doctrine that the Southern States will 

 do better to utilize nitrogen in a home product 

 than import it at an expense of millions of dol- 

 lars every year is certainly an important one. 

 Fortunately, it is getting to be understood and 

 followed. 



During the past five years several hundred 

 field experiments with fertilizers have been 

 conducted in concert in all the States east, and 

 some west, of the Mississippi, and the prov- 

 inces of Canada, by farmers, schools, and ex- 

 periment stations. The results of a large nurn- 



