130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



vatiou of special commercial crops, and also those of a faulty 

 rotation of crops on the condition of the soil resources ; 



To strengthen sickly young crops by surface treatment ; 



To produce good crops without the aid of stable manure. 



All these objects may be advanced by the rational use of 

 the concentrated commercial fertilizers ; provided they are 

 what they ought to be, of a reliable character, as far as their 

 mechanical condition and their chemical composition are con- 

 cerned. 



As this is the first opportunity which presents itself to me 

 to appear before you, since my election as your agricultural 

 chemist, I take the liberty to express my most sincere thanks 

 for the great honor conferred upon me. May the future 

 prove to you that your choice was not a mistake. 



Among the duties assigned to me since my appointment, is 

 that of acting as an inspector of fertilizers, according to the 

 new state law for the regulation of that trade. I need not 

 assure you, that I believe in the propriety and the usefulness 

 of such laws. I know from actual observation elsewhere, 

 that they are aiding in a sound development of the fertilizer 

 trade, and benefiting the farmer and the honest dealer ; pro- 

 vided the rights of both are duly recognized. 



No dealer in any other article of merchandise would act 

 prudently 'to refuse an intelligent statement of what he wishes 

 us to buy of him ; or to consider it an encroachment upon his 

 privileges, when we propose to find out whether we get the 

 value of our money. The fact that the farmer, for various 

 obvious reasons, chooses to transfer that decision to a third 

 part}^ whom he considers better qualified to attend to his 

 interest, does not alter the position of the dealer. All the 

 farmer aims at by these laws, is to learn whether the prices 

 ch;ii-ged for the various ingredients he buys in the form of fer- 

 tilizers are corresponding with their commercial value. 



He trusts in competition as the proper regulation of prices. 

 The dealer who sells his fertihzers at an honest price is not 

 responsible for the failure of crops, which may happen 

 during their application. 



The commercial value of a fertilizer, and the agricultural 



