386 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



which deserves the serious consideration of dealers as well as 

 farmers. There are apparently two causes in particular which 

 produce these unsatisfactory results ; namely : first, the course 

 pursued by the majority of farmers to secure their supply ; 

 and, second, the want of a proper discrimination on the part 

 of the manufacturer regarding the best means by which the 

 essential articles of their fertilizers may be furnished at the 

 lowest cost. 



The prevailing practice among farmers to buy their fertil- 

 izers of sub-agents and on long credit increases invariably 

 their price per ton in a considerable degree. Middle-men 

 claim compensation, aud manufacturers cannot afford to sell 

 with a small profit and give besides a long credit. 



Leading dealers in Boston and New York offer their stand- 

 ard fertilizers, which vary usually in composition, as follows : 



Soluble phosphoric acid, . . from 7 to 10 per cent. 



Insoluble " " . " 4 to 3 

 Ammonia (2.06 to 249 per cent. 



of nitrogen), . * . . " 2.5 to 3 



at from $35 to $38 per ton net cash at the manufacturer's 

 dock. 



These same articles cost the farmers, as a general rule, 

 from $55 to $60 per ton, or, by allowing 30 cents per pound 

 for nitrogen, from 18 cents to 20 cents per pound for soluble 

 phosphoric acid, about one-half the amount more than they 

 ought to. 



There seems to be scarcely a more promising field of imme- 

 diate usefulness for farmers' clubs than to consider the various 

 ways and means by which their members may be enabled to 

 secure good and reliable fertilizers at a reasonable price. 

 Every intelligent farmer knows well that the amount of pre- 

 pared plant-food on hand represents the main capital he puts 

 on interest, and that on its fair return depends the financial 

 success of farming. 



Manufacturers of fertilizers, on the other hand, ought to 

 recognize the peculiar position which the artificial or commer- 

 cial fertilizers occupy in our present system of agriculture. 

 They ought to exclude all worthless matter, bring their crude 



