EXPOSED TO SERIOUS LOSS. 373 



ad vantages moiitioned, provided the liquid-manure is carefully 

 collected. 



An impartial consideration of the preceding statements 

 shows that the present co'ndition of our trade in fertilizers 

 exposes the farmer, in an unusual degree, to serious losses ; for 

 the peculiar nature of most of our compound commercial 

 manures renders it impossible for him to recognize by a 

 mere casual examination even their approximate commercial 

 value. Nothing short of a careful investijjation reijardins: 

 their chemical composition and the physical condition of their 

 principal constituents, can secure a correct idea regarding 

 that question. My inquiries, as previously stated, tend to 

 support the impression, — quite generally entertained by all 

 those Avho have of late taken pains to study the character of 

 many of our fertilizers offered for sale, — namely, that articles 

 of considerable less value than represented by the dealers are 

 by no means of rare occurrence. Samples of the same brand 

 even are noticed to vary at times in value from $10 to $15 

 per ton. In mentioning these facts here, I do not intend 

 to charge an entire class of business-men with intentional 

 fraudulent practice ; nothing, in fact, can be ftirther from my 

 intention, for I feel quite sure that, in the majority of cases, 

 the main cause of the. variations in the value of our fertilizers 

 can bo proved to be due to the vague notion on the part of 

 many of our manufacturers of commercial fertilizers regard- 

 ing the extent of the diticrences which, at times, do exist in 

 the chemical composition of the various crude materials and 

 refuse-matters used in the preparation of their so-called stand- 

 ard fertilizers. 



My previous discussion regarding the composition of guano, 

 fish, meat scraps, bones, mineral substances, etc., — substances 

 which, in a large degree, serve as crude stock for the manu- 

 facture of the main bulk of our ordinary commercial super- 

 phosphates, and ammoniated superphosphates in particular, — 

 was partly planned for the purpose of illustrating more directly 

 what I consider one of the most fruitful sources of the differ- 

 ences so frequently noticed in that class of fertilizers, even 

 when coming from the same establishment. The simple recog- 

 nition of the existence of such circumstances does, however, 

 Wy no means relieve the manufacturer from the responsibility 



