SMALL AMOUNTS REQUIRED. 127 



pondingly benefited. But in theirhaste to get rich 

 by exorbitant profits, these manufacturers have 

 displayed the wisdom of the old woman of the 

 fable, who " killed the goose that laid the golden 

 eggs.' 7 



The reader has been shown that the elements 

 of fertility supposed to be furnished by these 

 manures, form but a small portion of the produce 

 of an acre. He has been shown that 28 Ibs. of 

 phosphoric acid, 40 Ibs. of potash, and 58 Ibs. of 

 ammonia, are the amounts of these substances 

 needed to produce 25 bushels of wheat with the 

 straw, and if none of these substances were con- 

 tained in the soil, the above amounts must be 

 applied in some shape to insure the raising of 

 such a crop. If the reader will turn to the Tables 

 of Analyses in Chapter VII., he will there see 

 that even 800 Ibs. of some of the most celebrated 

 manures of these manufactures, do not contain a 

 sufficient amount of the above substances in 

 proper condition. 



But would it pay the farmer to apply 800 

 Ibs. of a manure that costs $50 per ton, to 

 raise 25 bushels of wheat? Certainly not; 800 

 Ibs. would cost $20, and after paying for seed 

 and labor, and allowing interest on the money 

 invested in the land, his profit would be 

 reduced to a very small amount to nothing 

 or less than nothing; he would be in debt. 



