DR. NICHOLS' ADDRESS. 145> 



but Still it is far trom what it sliould be. After much observation aiid^ 

 thought upon the subject, I have reached the conclusion that it is diffi- 

 cult, if not impossible, for manufacturers to supply, in a large way, 

 through the ordinary channels of trade, superphosphates, or any com- 

 pounded fertilizer, so as to give the farmer a just return for his money. 

 The reasons for this conclusion are that the elements of plant nutrition, 

 or the three most important agents which should enter into fertilizing 

 compounds — phosphoric acid, potash and nitrogenous bodies — liavc a 

 fixed market value, and the difference in price between their purchase, . 

 in moderate or large quantities,- is not great enough to give to large 

 manufacturers an advantage worthy the attention of honest men. A 

 bag of nitrate of soda (300 lbs.) holding nitrogen, or of kaivrite 

 (chloride of potassium) holding potash, or a ton of bones or coprolites, 

 holding phosphoric acid, can be pmrchased at original sources of supply 

 at a cost but a trifle higher than is placed upon them when large 

 amounts are taken. The margin of cost between large and small 

 (pantities of raw material is not great enough, under usual conditions, 

 to compensate honest men for preparing honest compounds, as the cost 

 of manipulating and handling such heavy and bulky bodies is* very 

 great. This cost added to freight and the commissions to middle men, 

 wholesale and retail dealers, will consume a much larger sum than can 

 be secured by advantages of purchase of raw materials. It is true, 

 the owners of sulphuric acid works and of coprolite deposits, must 

 have considerable advantage, on the score of cost, over those who 

 undertake to manufacture fertilizers in a small way, but this advantage, 

 I contend, is insufficient to afford .satisfactory profits when good articles 

 are produced. They do not secure the advantage of half a cent a 

 pound on the acid, as that is a large manufacturer's profit, and a monop- 

 oly of any source of phosphoric acid, potash or nitrogenized products, 

 is now almost impossible. A farmer preparing liis own fertilizers has 

 an inunense pecuniary advantage over a large manufacturer. He can 

 prepare them in sea.sons of leisure when the time consumed in manipu- 

 lation does not enter in as an element of cost. He saves the commis- 

 sions paid to large and small dealers, he saves in cost of transporta- 

 tion, and he can purchase pure raw materials at nearly as good advan- 

 tage as the manufacturer. Why should not the farmer prepare his own 

 fertilizers V It requires but a small amount of skill, but if the farmer 

 • feels that he is not sufficiently well educated or experienced, he must 

 remove these disabilities at once by reading, study and experiment. 

 The farmer of the period, to succeed, must be competent to prepare 

 the food necessary for the plant children of his fields, or else he must 

 expect to be left behind in the work of profitable husbandry. 



In order to show how farmers are subjected to loss in the purcha.se 

 of manufactured fertilizers, I will present the average cost of seventeen 

 of the most popular superphosphates, the cost having been ascertained 

 from accurate anal3^sis of samples found in the hands of dealers. The 

 money value of the seventeen superphosphates averages $10.3.^ per 

 ton, and the average price at which they are f^old by dealers is Sol.2r> 

 per ton. These results give an average loss to ftirraers, upon every ton 



