PART IV 

 VARIOUS FERTILITY FACTORS 



CHAPTER XXVII 



MANUFACTURED COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



THE three elements, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, in 

 so-called available forms, have become important articles of com- 

 merce. In Europe they are usually purchased singly and applied 

 with reference to the deficiencies of the soil and the needs of 

 the crop; but in America the commercial fertilizer business has 

 been developed largely in the line of mixed goods, or so-called 

 complete fertilizers, which are, in fact, known and purchased by 

 name much more generally than upon any clear understanding 

 of their composition with respect to the needs of the soil and crop. 

 This is very largely the fault of the American statesman, who, 

 as Hunter said of the French Minister, Colbert, "gave all possible 

 encouragement to the artisan and the merchant, but forgot that 

 the manufacturer must eat his bread at a moderate price." Thus 

 for a hundred years after most of the agricultural lands between 

 Washington and Richmond had been abandoned for agricultural 

 purposes, the American statesman gave no apparent thought to 

 the development of permanent systems of agriculture. 



No wiser use could be made of public money than for the Rep- 

 resentatives in Congress to secure for the agricultural experi- 

 ment stations of each state federal 1 appropriations of say $5000 

 for each congressional district in the state, to be used solely for 



1 In this connection it is well to remember that even relatively the state rev- 

 enues are very meager compared with those of the federal government. Thus, 

 Illinois' "share" of the federal revenues is approximately ten times the total 

 revenue of the Illinois state government. The soil is the principal source of all 

 revenue, either direct or indirect. 



