RURAL LEGISLATION 



knowledge. While not constituting a state- 

 ment of absolute commercial value for any 

 given locality, they do enable the purchaser 

 to determine whether the price quoted on a 

 given brand of fertilizer is within reason. 

 Persons who are unacquainted with the 

 principles controlling the use of commercial 

 fertilizers may, however, be led to believe 

 that the price of the fertilizer is an indica- 

 tion of its value for the production of a 

 given crop. As is well known to all stu- 

 dents of the subject, there is no necessary 

 relation between the commercial value of a 

 fertilizer and the fitness of its formula for 

 a given soil and crop. For these and other 

 reasons, the publication of tables of com- 

 mercial value has been strongly opposed by 

 some manufacturers, and in certain states 

 the custom has been discontinued. While 

 granting that tables of commercial value are 

 subject to misinterpretation, it is perhaps 

 fair to say that such tables have been of most 

 benefit, and, moreover, have been of great 

 value to those who were most likely to mis- 

 interpret them. 



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