Manures in General 



incorporated with the soil, and generally very little 

 subject to loss. The units of fertilising matter as 

 a rule come out at a reasonable price, and — since 

 they cost, relatively speaking, very little for trans- 

 port — can be employed everywhere. They are, 

 besides, obtainable in very large quantities. 



But great as has been the concentration of these 

 manures, and great as is their value, greater still 

 have been the incentives for their adulteration, by 

 the introduction of neutral matter of no utility in 

 agriculture in the place of fertilising matter. This 

 substitution has been pushed to its furthest perhaps 

 in slags, where sometimes it has been complete, 

 simple products of colliery waste, finely pulverised, 

 having been sold as slags when they did not contam 

 a particle of genuine fertilising material. This is 

 the 



Adulteration of Manures. 



Commercial manures, unfortunately, are often the 

 object of adulteration. There may be a Fertilisers 

 and Feeding Stuffs Act, but in the actual state of 

 things it would be puerile to pretend that this is 

 sufftcient to protect the agriculturalist against the 

 enterprises of unscrupulous manufacturers. Besides, 

 the farmers themselves, by their neglect of making 

 ctualyses, encourage, or at least do nothing to hinder, 

 these dishonest practices. They themselves are, 

 however, the only victims. 



This state of things shows how great would be 

 the utility of a Union of Agriculturists, one branch 

 of whose activity would be the control of the quality 

 of the manures bought by its members. Working 



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