CHAPTER VIII. 



PROGRESS OF THE MANURE TRADE IN THE UNITED STATES LOW 



PRICE versus REAL VALUE now THE FARMER is SWINDLED 



BOGUS MANURES NECESSITY FOR ANALYSIS DEMON- 

 STRATED HOW TO STAMP OUT THE EVIL ADVICE TO 



MANUFACTURERS. 



To the questions : How are we to prevent the soils from becom- 

 ing exhausted ? What must we do to increase rather than allow to 

 diminish our yearly production ? we have already foreshadowed 

 our reply. Let us liberally return to the lands the equivalent of that 

 which we have borrowed, and remember that our endeavors to get 

 something out of nothing, will be like trying to squeeze a quart of 

 liquid into a pint pot sheer waste of time and ingenuity. 



We have only to look about us to find out that the truth of our 

 doctrine is already admitted ; that it is rapidly gaining ground ; 

 that throughout the length and breadth of this vast country, earnest 

 men are striving by experiment and example to root out existing 

 prejudices. These missionaries are succeeding in their work, surely 

 if slowly. We have the evidence of their success in the steady 

 growth of the principal industries connected with the manufacture 

 of fertilizers, of which the present annual production exceeds 

 500,000 tons ! 



What we have now chiefly to examine, therefore, is not so much 

 the necessity of using manures since that is admitted as what 

 kind of manures we are to use. 



When a sensible man purchases a pair of boots, he tells his shoe- 

 maker he wants an article that will wear well, and that he is ready 



