Commercial Value. 9 



These examples, we trust, will be amply sufficient to prove 

 that the practical effects which a manure is capable of producing 

 do not necessarily determine its money-value. 



The question, however, How much money is an artificial 

 manure worth ? is one of paramount importance to the farmer ; 

 and happily it is one the solution of which chemistry greatly 

 facilitates. Any good analytical chemist can ascertain the exact 

 amount of the different constituents of the manure, and, knowing 

 the market-price at which they can be obtained separately, he 

 is enabled to calculate with tolerable accuracy its commercial 

 value. In chemical analysis the farmer therefore possesses a 

 sure means of ascertaining, before effecting a purchase, whether 

 the price demanded is reasonable or exorbitant. 



It would lead us too far to enumerate all the reasons which 

 could be assigned for fixing the price of some of the more fre- 

 quently-occurring manuring substances which follow. However 

 useful the subjoined table may be to the practical man, considerable 

 latitude must be allowed in estimating the real commercial value 

 of an artificial manure ; and as all articles of commerce are sub- 

 ject to considerable fluctuations, it follows necessarily that the 

 price-list subjoined can have no permanent value: 



Table for determining the Money value of Artificial Manures. 



1. Nitrogen in the form of ammonia .. .. 8d. per Ib. 



2. Nitrogen in animal or vegetable substances Qd. 



3. Nitrate of soda 2d. 



4. Phosphate of lime (bone-earth) Id. 



or phosphoric acid alone 2d. 



5. Soluble phosphate of lime, or bi-phosphate 



of lime 4$d. 



6. Salts of potash ld. 



or potash alone 2d. 



7. Gypsum id. per 10 Ib. 



8. Lime .. Id. per 12 Ib. 



9. Carbonate of lime Id. per 25 Ib. 



10. Magnesia Id. per 10 Ib. 



11. Organic matters (humus) Id. per 20 Ib. 



12. Common salt Id. per 10 Ib. 



For all practical purposes the determination of the value of the 

 remainder of the substances which are usually indicated in the 

 analyses of artificial manures, such as oxide of iron, alumina, 

 silica, may be entirely neglected. 



It is surprising that farmers, whilst they possess in chemical 

 analysis a sure means of having the money value of an artificial 

 manure correctly ascertained, should more generally be guided in 

 their purchases by printed testimonials. These testimonials are 

 often fictitious, and, even when genuine, cannot be relied upon in 

 estimating the real money-value of a manure. Under favourable 

 circumstances, the application of the most worthless manure 



