244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



acquaintance with the ruling market values of their ingre- 

 dients will enable them to ascertain for themselves the com- 

 parative pecuniary values of the various fertilizers presented 

 for their patronage. Every intelligent commercial business 

 transaction necessitates some figuring ; we cannot expect to 

 secure the best and cheapest without taking some trouble. 

 The future success of our fertilizer laivs, which are designed 

 to secure good and cheap fertilizers to the farmers and a fair 

 chance of establishing a good reputation to the skilful manufact- 

 urer and the honest dealer, depends in a controlling degree 

 hereafter on the interest which our farmers will take in seeing 

 to it that the one provision of our laws in particular is com- 

 plied with, which demands that an intelligent analytical state- 

 ment, as specified in section 1, shall accompany each package, 

 and thus render the dealer responsible for a definite character 

 and value of the purchased fertilizer. Farmers ought to 

 refuse to buy of dealers who try to evade responsible sales. 

 Nothing short of this will secure to them the full benefit of 

 our laws. 



Within the subsequent pages are recorded the results of from 

 60 to 70 analyses, which have been made during the past year. 

 The chemical analytical examinations have been extended, as 

 in previous years, as far as chance and time has permitted, 

 over a larger field than the law prescribes, for the purpose of 

 entering on file the chemical composition of all kinds of waste 

 products resulting from our various branches of home indus- 

 try, which may find a useful application for manurial purposes 

 and may thus assist in increasing our resources for home- 

 made fertilizers. The subjects are treated in a similar order 

 as in previous reports. 



I. — Potash Fertilizers. 

 The consumption of the various kinds and grades of the 

 German potash-salts is steadily increasing. The lower grades, 

 known by the names of "natural and artificial kainits" 

 represent during the past as in previous years, the main quan- 

 tity used. One firm alone, in Baltimore, claims to have sold 

 over ten thousand tons of the former. The "muriate of 

 potash" on account of its high concentration and its compar- 



