FERTILIZERS. 539 



made equal to that which is good ; that which is cheap to that 

 which is expensive ; that which is fraudulent to that which is 

 honest ; and this under authority of law and by sanction of an 

 officer of the law, is not defensible. 



Ammonia sulphate, and sodium nitrate, are both costly and 

 valuable articles. For application in the fall to a crop which 

 lies dormant in winter, the sodium nitrate should not be used, 

 on account of the fact that it leaches out of the soil somewhat 

 rapidly, and a very large portion of it will be lost in the drainage 

 water, before the crop begins to grow in spring. On the other 

 hand, the ammonia salt does not leach out to any appreciable 

 extent, and should always be used in preference to a nitrate for 

 fall-sown crops. But the manipulator is compelled to work for 

 an analysis, and he desires to get the best analysis at the lowest 

 cost ; therefore, if the sodium nitrate is cheaper than the ammo- 

 nia salt, he uses the nitrate, regardless of whether it goes into 

 the drainage water or not. Upon this highly important matter 

 the station report is silent. The analyst, if interrogated, says 

 he does not know anything more than what is stated in his 

 report, which report complies fully with the law defining his 

 duties. Under such circumstances, it is not remarkable that 

 farmers by the thousand nay, by the million have been 

 ruined by the use of these commercial fertilizers. 



The supply of the natural ammoniated guanos is so nearly 

 exhausted that they need scarcely be separately discussed. The 

 phosphatic guanos, from which all the organic matter and am- 

 monia salts have been leached out, still constitute important 

 sources of phosphates for manipulated manures, and some of 

 them have been found profitable in their natural condition. 

 These phosphates are known in the markets by the names of 

 the places where they are found ; as the Navassa, Orchilla, etc. 

 However, the chief source of mineral phosphate is at present 

 the vast deposits of the State of South Carolina, which consist 

 mainly of very ancient bones and teeth of marine animals. 

 These materials are thoroughly fossilized, or mineralized ; only 

 a trace of organic matter is left. The proportion of actual tri- 

 calcic phosphates, or so-called bone phosphate, in them, is nearly 

 the same as in recent bone. It may be inferred that the organic 

 matter has been replaced by mineral matter, derived from the 



