180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



gen, phosphoric acid and potash in each fertilizer are readily 

 available to farm crops." They assume that. "Chemical 

 examination can show pretty conclusively whether this is 

 true in regard to potash. There is less certainty in regard 

 to phosphoric acid, while chemical examinations, as they are 

 usually made, give little or no clue as to the availability of 

 the organic nitroffen in mixed goods." 



Why don't these stations say, "There is so much we 

 know and so much we do not know ? " Why do they assume 

 anything ? Let the farmer assume for himself. 



Now, I will not take your time, but I want to read these 

 questions, to bring the thing to a head : — 



1. Is nitrogen of more value per pound in barn-yard ma- 

 nure than in fine or coarse ground fish scraps, cotton-seed 

 meal or castor pomace ? 



2. Is nitrogen of more value per pound in fine than in 

 coarse ground fish scrap ? 



3. Is soluble phosphoric acid of more value when made 

 from bones than that made from phosphate rock ? 



4. Why is it assumed by the experiment stations, in their 

 valuation of mixed fertilizers, that they are composed of the 

 best and highest cost ingredients ? 



5. Who does the assumption benefit, the farmer, or the 

 manufacturer? 



6. For what reason does the experiment station fix the 

 trade value of fertilizers and fertilizing material or ingre- 

 dients one hundred per cent above the wholesale market 

 price of these articles? 



7. Why do not the stations give the quotations from the 

 trade journals of the market prices of fertilizer ingredients ? 



8. Under whose directions are these fictitious valuations 

 made? 



9. On what basis are the prices fixed? 



10. By whose authority and under what law are these 

 fictions published? 



Does acid or superphosphate of lime, soluble in distilled 

 water, become insoluble within twenty-four hours on its ap- 

 plication to the soil ? 



I will give you one thing more, and then I will give an 

 opportunity for reply. 



