No. 4.] COMMERCIAL PLANT FOOD. 69 



small amounts of the other ingredients are present, then 

 the necessary cost will be relativelj' low. The farmer inay 

 need the more costly material, — he may need the less 

 costly. A decision of this question is the farmer's business 

 alone, and he should emancipate himself from a dependence 

 upon mere commercial standards as the only guide in his 

 selection of a fertilizer mixture. 



This brings us to a discussion of station money valua- 

 tions. Some stations are publishing these, as, for instance, 

 Connecticut and New Jersey, and some are not, among 

 which are Maine, Massachusetts and New York. Which is 

 the wise policy ? It is evident that this is not a one-sided 

 question, otherwise we would not see men of experience in 

 this matter divided in their practice. In my own case, as 

 executive of the fertilizer law in Maine, I pul)lished valua- 

 tions for nearly ten years, and then stopped doing so. 

 Why ? Because I everywhere heard farmers discussing the 

 merits of different brands of fertilizers upon the basis of the 

 station valuations, and because, whenever a fertilizer com- 

 pany happened to secure higher valuations than some rival, 

 this fact was spread far and wide, as a convincing reason 

 for claiming superior merit. I said to myself, "This has 

 gone far enough. Station valuations have had their uses, 

 but the time has come for the farmer to take a step forward, 

 and consider the kind and quality of plant food he is to 

 buy ; and it is time for manufacturers to show to the 

 farmer some reason other than a higher money valuation 

 why he should purchase a certain mixture." The important 

 questions to ask are, "Who made this fertilizer? Has ex- 

 perience shown him to be reliable ? What is he trying to 

 sell me, — mostly phosphoric acid, or mostly potash, or 

 largely nitrogen? Does he ask me to buy that which I 

 need ? " 



I make these explanations as defining my own position, 

 and with due deference to the opposite practice of such 

 able men as Dr. Johnson and Professor Voorhees, who con- 

 trol the policy of experiment stations in other States. 



(2) Perhaps enough has been said about trade names. 

 It is well to clear away the atmosphere of quack nostrums 

 such as clings to the names prevalent in the fertilizer trade. 



