FRAUDS IN FERTILIZERS 303 



phosphoric acid in the mixture. The salt is of no value whatever as a fertil- 

 izer, and the ashes would have the effect of releasing the ammonia in the sta- 

 ble manure, with only the "new dirt" to catch it. .One ton of this mixture 

 would contain about 7 pounds of phosphoric acid, 6 pounds of nitrogen (if 

 it did not get away) and 22 pounds of potash. As an average commercial 

 fertilizer contains about 170 pounds of available phosphoric acid, 50 pounds 

 of nitrogen and 45 pounds of potash, the bulletin of the North Carolina Sta- 

 tion, from which we get these facts, well remarks that it would take over two 

 tons of the home fertilizer to furnish the potash in one ton of the average 

 commercial fertilzer, over eight tons to furnish the nitrogen and over twenty- 

 four tons to furnish the phosphoric acid. Those who read this, or the bulle- 

 tin of the North Carolina Station, will hardly be swindled out of their $5 

 bills. 



The same bulletin, No. 173, of the North Carolina Experiment Station, 

 of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, gives the following won- 

 derful circular, the original of which is embellished with a portrait of "Col. 

 I. J. Britain, Inventor, Winston, N. C.," and is as follows : 



"THE PROCESS 



OF COMPOUNDING THE FARMERS* 



COMPOUND FERTILIZER. 



"First dig a stable pit size of stall or stable three feet deep. After dig- 

 ging the pit take a rich loamy soil, or swamp muck. After being good and 

 dry place in the pit to the depth of six inches, then place a thin layer of 

 tobacco stalks, rotten straw or cotton seed. Then apply liberally by hand 

 over the entire surface of the pit, the following compound or mixture: 



"Twenty-five pounds saltpetre, one bushel of common salt and one quart 

 of carbolic acid, one gallon on each layer of the rich soil. Then dilute the 

 carbolic acid in ten times the amount of water, and sprinkle each layer. 

 Then fill in another layer of rich soil and straw, and apply another sprinkle of 

 tho compound, and continue as above stated six inches of loam and another 

 sprinkle of compound until the pit is filled to the surface of the ground. 

 Then floor the stall or stable by laying small poles on the compound and 

 floor the stable. The stock should be kept in the stall six months. The 

 drainage of the stock and stall adds a great deal to the compound. This is 

 the single process of compounding the Farmers Compound Fertilizer. 



"Then construct alongside of stables a pen or pens with water tight floor, 

 slanting downward. Place a V trough by the side of pens to catch the con- 





