CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



from rock, bone, or tankage exactly as does the 

 home-mixer. His potash he buys from the syn- 

 dicate owning the German beds, and the farmer 

 does the same. These sources must contribute 

 all the phosphoric acid and potash used on land, 

 if we except trifling supplies of ashes, marl, etc., 

 and the only difference in the transaction is that 

 in one case the manufacturer buys the materials 

 and mixes them, and in the other case the farmer 

 buys them direct and mixes them. The remain- 

 ing constituent is the nitrogen. If the manu- 

 facturer uses nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 

 bones, tankage, or manufactured nitrogen, he does 

 what the home-mixer may do. Most nitrogen 

 must come from these sources. If all came from 

 these sources, the increased demand would not 

 affect the price. The beds of nitrate of soda will 

 last for hundreds of years, the present waste in 

 ammonia from coal is immense, and the supply 

 of manufactured nitrogen can be without limit. 

 The saving in use of inert and low-grade forms of 

 nitrogen is more profitable to the manufacturer 

 than to the farmer who buys and pays freight on 

 low-grade materials. 



The rather remarkable argument is advanced 

 that fertilizer manufacturers do not make a large 



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