BRIGHTON ANIMAL DUST. 381 



consequence of a change in composition, a depreciation in its 

 value of from $8 to $9 per ton, when compared with that of the 

 preceding year. Judging from personal observation, I am 

 inclined to believe that the unusual extremes noticed in its 

 composition are mainly due to the want of a proper appre- 

 ciation of the effects which an addition of more or less of the 

 various ingredients — meat-scraps, blood and bones — exert on 

 the peculiar character of the final results. 



The circular issued by the manufacturers at the abattoir 

 claims a composition of 7.14 per cent, of nitrogen, and 8.75 

 per cent, of phosphoric acid; my last analysis (1874) shows 

 that the sample tested contained 4.86 per cent, of nitrogen, 

 and 13.05 per cent, of phosphoric acid. To sell the latter in 

 place of the former, without due notice, is a violation of sec- 

 tion 3 of the new law for the regulation of the trade in 

 commercial fertilizers, which obliges all manufacturers to 

 state what they sell and sell what they state. Whatever view 

 we may take in regard to the commercial aspect of the case, 

 we feel obliged to object to proceedings of this kind from an 

 agricultural standpoint. Animal fertilizers, like the repre- 

 sented animal dust, fish, etc., form a distinct class on account 

 of their high percentage of nitrogen ; they are considered fit 

 substitutes for Peruvian guano, and are used for similar reasons. 

 The sample which I tested lately comes, in its composition, 

 nearer to that of ground bones. Blood, meat-scraps and 

 bones are no doubt each one valuable for manuring purposes ; 

 yet the two former can no more perform the fuuction of the 

 latter than salt that of sugar. 



Manufacturers of fertilizers ought to take into considera- 

 tion that the articles they offer for sale have not only a 

 commercial, but also a peculiar agricultural value ; and that 

 the latter is independent of the former, for both are deter- 

 mined by a quite different standard. The commercial value 

 depends, here as elsewhere, on the relation of demand and 

 supply in the general market, and is controlled by competi- 

 tion. The agricultural value depends on its peculiar crop- 

 producing quality, and is determined by the judicious 

 application of the farmer. A shovelful of lime may do 

 more good, under certain circumstances, than several times 

 its weight of the more costly dried blood. The commercial 



