124 AMERICAN MANURES. 



may properly be regarded as a raw material for 

 the production of commodities that have a flue 

 tuating price, regulated by the general laws of 

 demand and supply, the price of this raw mate- 

 rial should be regulated by the price of the pro- 

 ducts of the farm. A little consideration will 

 convince any one of the justness of this course. 

 The price of labor naturally fluctuates with the 

 price of bread ; at one time it was customary in 

 this country to consider a bushel of wheat, or its 

 equivalent in money, a fair price for a day's labor. 

 As the price of the other necessaries of life fluc- 

 tuates in about the same proportion as farm pro- 

 duce, the condition of the laborer was unchanged 

 by any rise or fall in the price of wheat. Al- 

 though this rule is not strictly followed at the 

 present time, still the price of labor is regulated, 

 in a great degree, by the varying prices of bread. 

 Now, as there are unlimited quantities of the 

 raw material required for the manufacture of 

 fertilizers, their price when manufactured should 

 be regulated by the cost of the labor required to 

 procure and manufacture them. The earth con- 

 tains vast stores of the elements of fertility ; all 

 that is needed is labor and capital to develop 

 and utilize them. And as this business is iden- 

 tical with other mining and manufacturing en- 

 terprises, the parties engaged in it should be sat- 

 isfied with legitimate profits. But as those 



