190 CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS 



sulphate of ammonia, and the cost which the farmer would 

 have to incur in applying sulphate of ammonia to the 

 land, apart altogether from any value it may possess 

 to the farmer, whilst any seasonal variations in price are 

 matters which concern the farmer alone, who should pay for 

 them. 



If the prices of sulphate of ammonia are plotted on squared 

 paper, it is clear that the curve in this case is a straight 

 line, and therefore follows the formula V = a + bp, where 

 V represents the value, a the zero price, b the unit price and 

 p the actual percentage, that is to say, in such a formula 

 a is minus 13! to plus 17^, according to season, and 

 b 135. If we attempt to represent the matter from the 

 maker's point of view, a should be a much higher figure, 

 perhaps even 5, whilst b would have no particular value 

 at all, since the cost of making sulphate of ammonia 

 of high grade is not much greater than that of making it 

 of low grade. From the farmer's point of view a ought 

 to be a minus figure ; probably minus i 55. would be 

 a fair allowance to cover cost of application, cartage from the 

 railway station and some share of the railway freight, but b 

 might be a very high figure indeed. It might be argued 

 that the zero price, from the farmer's point of view, should 

 be even lower, since the'sulphuric acid in sulphate of ammonia 

 is of little use, and may even be harmful. About IDS. 

 worth of lime is removed from the soil by a ton of sulphate 

 of ammonia. The zero price might, therefore, be put at 

 minus i 155. Something like i I2s. would be the profit 

 of the crop obtained by the farmer for the value of 

 the factor b in the formula. There is, consequently, a 

 very wide range of opinion as to what would constitute the 

 value of any article when the seller and the buyer have such 

 totally different points of view. The values adopted by 

 the framers of the Prices Orders clearly come easily between 

 these extreme points of view, but it certainly seems as if the 

 framers' assumptions were based too low for the factor a, 

 i.e. the zero price, and it would clearly be much fairer if 

 the zero price were raised, say to allow a to equal 2os. 



