112 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The market value of fertilizing ingredients, like other 

 merchandise, is liable to changes during the season. The 

 values stated below are based on the condition of the fer- 

 tilizer market in centres of distribution in New England 

 during the six months preceding March, 1897 : — 



Trade Values of Fertilizing Ingredients in Raw Materials and 

 Chemicals^ 1897 (^Cents per Pound). 



Nitrogen in ammonia salts, 13.5 



Nitrogen in nitrates, 14.0 



Organic nitrogen in dry and fine-ground fish, meat, blood and in 



high-grade mixed fertilizers, 14.0 



Organic nitrogen in cotton-seed meal, linseed meal and in castor 



pomace, 12.0 



13.5 

 11.0 

 8.0 

 5.5 

 5.0 

 5.0 

 4.0 

 2.5 



Organic nitrogen in fine-ground bone and tankage, 



Organic nitrogen in medium-ground bone and tankage. 



Organic nitrogen in coarse bone and tankage, 



Phosphoric acid soluble in water, .... 



Phosphoric acid soluble in ammonium citrate. 



Phosphoric acid in fine bone and tankage, . 



Phosphoric acid in medium bone and tankage. 



Phosphoric acid in coarse bone and tankage. 



Phosphoric acid in fine-ground fish, cotton-seed meal, linseed 



meal, castor pomace and wood ashes, 5.0 



Phosphoric acid insoluble (in am. cit.) in mixed fertilizers, . 2.0 



Potash as sulphate, free from chlorides, 5.0 



Potash as muriate, 4.5 



From these figures it is apparent that the best forms of 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid have suffered a material reduc- 

 tion in cost, as compared with preceding years. 



The market value of low-priced materials used for manu- 

 rial purposes, as salt, wood ashes, various kinds of lime, 

 barn-yard manure, factory refuse and waste materials of 

 various description, quite frequently does not stand in a 

 close relation to the current market value of the amount of 

 essential articles of plant food they contain. Their cost 

 varies in different localities. Local facilities for cheap trans- 

 portation, and more or less advantageous mechanical condi- 

 tions for speedy action, exert, as a rule, a decided influence 

 on their selling price. 



The mechanical condition of any fertilizing material, simple 

 or compound, deserves the most serious consideration of 

 farmers when articles of a similar chemical character are 



