No. 4.] COMMERCIAL PLANT FOOD. 83 



these things. All new industries must pass through periods 

 of educational development. When electricity first came 

 out it was recommended for all sorts of things, and we had 

 all sorts of electric nostrums, and the world is not yet free 

 of them. Nevertheless, the true science of electricity has 

 made great strides, emerging from the empirical to the sub- 

 stantial and known. Medicine has suftered in the same 

 way, and still there are quacks ; but the great science of 

 medicine has steadily progressed, and now we respect the 

 physician and his work. I hope the day will come when 

 chemical and fertilizer manufacturers will be respected in 

 the same way. I have attended these meetings for twenty- 

 five years. I was in this very hall seventeen years ago 

 when this subject was under discussion before this Board, 

 and we have made some progress since then. I am glad 

 that Professor Jordan has been so frank and straightfor- 

 ward. I expected he would be. He has told you that 

 there are different forms of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 

 more or less available, which the chemists cannot distin- 

 guish, and that you have got to rely upon the reliability of 

 the man who sells you the mixed goods, or even the raw 

 materials, for the analysis does not tell the whole story in 

 either case. When that is fully realized, the fertilizer busi- 

 ness will be worth doing and brands will mean something. 

 When I buy a barrel of Pillsbury's flour or a bag of Cleve- 

 land linseed meal, I know what I am getting. I know that 

 back of that flour or l^ack of that meal is a concern that has 

 a large capital at stake and a reputation which has cost 

 thousands of dollars to build up, and which it could not 

 afford to jeopardize by any dishonoral^le transaction. The 

 same is true of the large fertilizer manufacturers. 



Now, one word as to valuations. Mr. Ware regrets that 

 we have dr()})})ed them in JNIassachusetts. Professor Jordan 

 cannot defend them, nor can any chemist or conscientious 

 State inspector who has looked into the matter carefully. 

 They would not have been abolished in INIassachusetts, if 

 good reasons had not been given. Our chief argument was 

 this : we said, if you do a sum on a blackboard every day 

 for a boy, he will never know how to do it for himself. So 



