44 BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



that by a crop of cabbages or spinach later, and get twa 

 crops in one year from the application. 



Mr. Ware (of Marblehead). It seems to me the line of 

 this discussion is a little misleading in one particular. For 

 instance, our friend, Mr. Parker, says he applies 700 pounds. 

 Another friend says he applies 1,200 pounds of commercial 

 fertilizer, Bradley's or Stockbridge's or some other. Do 

 both these gentlemen apply plant food, nitrogen, potash and 

 phosphoric acid in the same proportions or is there a marked 

 difference between chemicals mixed by the farmer and the 

 mixed or complete fertilizer sold in the market? 



Dr. LiNDSEY. Of course, there are commercial fertil- 

 izers and commercial fertilizers. If you will take the ordi- 

 nary so-called phosphate which is sold, it matters not by 

 whom it is made, and which retails possibly for about $35 a 

 ton, that phosphate or superphosphate, whatever you may 

 call it, has somewhere about 2\ per cent of nitrogen, about 

 9 per cent of available phosphoric acid and about 2| per 

 cent of potash. I think that any fertilizer agent in the hall 

 will bear me out in that statement. Now, 2,000 pounds of 

 the fertilizer mentioned by Mr. Parker would have, perhaps, 

 in round numbers, twice as much plant food as would the 

 ordinary phosphate above referred to. On the other hand, 

 some of the so-called complete manures sold by various com- 

 panies would contain approximately as much plant food per 

 ton as is contained in 2,000 pounds of the fertilizer men- 

 tioned by the essayist. When, however, I speak of com-' 

 plete manures I mean those that will analyze 4| to 5 per cent 

 of nitrogen, and possibly 6 per cent or 7 per cent of avail- 

 able phosphoric acid, and about 6 to 8 per cent of potash. 

 Whether or not the plant food contained in the complete 

 manure would be found to be in as available forms as that 

 contained in Mr. Parker's fertilizer would be another 

 question. 



I have a few words more to say, if I have the time. In 

 the first place, this discussion in regard to commercial fer- 

 tilizers seems to place stable manure entirely in the back- 

 ground. I think we are going to the other extreme. Shall 

 we not for a moment inquire wliat sta])le manure really is? 

 It is, first, the undigested part of the food consumed by the 



