No. 4.] COMMERCIAL PLANT FOOD. 67 



an overcharge or bj'' improper methods. We are having a 

 hard time in attempting to accommodate ourselves to twenty 

 or more different hxws, affecting our business in as many 

 States ; dull times are upon us, and we cannot collect our 

 bills ; and it does seem as if we might ])e let alone." 



On the other hand, the farmer is saying to himself, " Here 

 is a fault-finder, an iconoclast who tells us that the fertilizer 

 trade is all wrong, and l^rings us nothing to take the place 

 of that which he condemns." I do not wonder at either com- 

 ment. But I assure you, friends, that I am not wanting 

 either in my sympathy for the trials which the seller of 

 plant food has to endure, or in my appreciation of the 

 complex and almost insoluble problems which confront the 

 user in his attempt to purchase plant food economically. 



I am confronted, however, with a fact of great moment, 

 which is, that the fertilizer trade is not now conducted in 

 this country in a manner that commends itself to the good 

 sense and business judgment of those who are intelligently 

 familiar with it in all its relations. It is an immense busi- 

 ness, involving a yearly cash expenditure by the farmers 

 nearly equal to a dollar for every man, woman and child in 

 this great country. On many of our eastern farms the bill- 

 for fertilizers is one of the large items of expense, — an item 

 which formerly did not exist, and which, in these times of 

 small profits, should be closely scrutinized. From contact 

 with farmers and from my experience as a fertilizer in- 

 spector during twelve or more years, I am convinced that 

 the fertilizer trade can be vastly improved. 



And now, after having frankly discussed some of the 

 weaknesses and short-comings on both sides of the fertilizer 

 trade, I ask you to turn with me from an attitude of criti- 

 cism to a consideration of ways in which, in my judgment, 

 greater economy may be secured in the buying and selling 

 of plant food. 



I shall present what I have to say under the following 

 heads : — 



(1) The relation of a State fertilizer control to the 

 trade. 



(2) Trade names. 



(o) Special fertilizers. 



