FERTILIZERS. 77 



MAKING OUR OWN FERTILIZERS. 



There is one way by which a fertilizer can be afforded 

 at a price lower than the standard price of the three ele- 

 ments that enter into its composition ; and that is, by using 

 such local waste materials as are not accessible to dealers 

 in general. Dead animals and surplus fish supply these 

 material in some localities. If farmers in the vicinity of 

 large towns would start some one in the business of work- 

 ing up the carcasses of horses, cows, and other animals 

 that die from disease, accidents, or are killed because they 

 can no longer serve their masters, they might have a cheap 

 source for superphosphate ; for in the hides, manes and 

 tails, oil, grease, gelatine, hoofs, and horns, the manufac- 

 turer would find sources of income which would enable 

 him to offer the waste, in the shape of a superphosphate, 

 at a figure below the average market rate. 



Where it is necessary to have heavy machinery to grind 

 bone or other materials, it is a question whether either the 

 individual farmer or an association of farmers can make 

 it a profitable investment. I know one instance where 

 farmers associated, and, buying machinery, ground bones, 

 treated them with acid, and so made their own superphos- 

 phate. The leader in the enterprise stated that it did not 

 pay when they could get an honestly made phosphate at 

 the average market price. The Cumberland Superphos- 

 phate Company, in Maine, an association of individuals 

 who have in their employ experienced chemists, was organ- 

 ized, I understand, for the special purpose of supplying the 

 members of the association with an honest superphosphate 

 as cheaply as it could be afforded. I am told that pecuni- 

 arily this is not a successful enterprise ; and any one who 

 looks at the analysis in the Maine " Report of the Inspector 

 of Fertilizers " will see the reason why, they are selling 



