Purchase of Fertilizers 157 



it is in these constituents, the less will be the actual cost 

 of handling per unit of the constituents desired, and the 

 higher the grade of the materials used, the greater the 

 proportionate activity of the constituents. 



The "unit" basis of purchase. 



In commercial transactions in fertilizing materials, 

 two systems of purchase are used. The first is known 

 as the "unit" system, in which case the quotations, or 

 prices are based on the unit. A unit means one per 

 cent on the basis of a ton, or 20 pounds. For example, 

 a unit of available phosphoric acid means 20 pounds, and 

 a quotation of $1 a unit would be equivalent to a quota- 

 tion of 5 cents a pound. In the trade, sales are always 

 made on this basis. The system is also applied to such 

 nitrogenous products as blood, meat, hoof meal, concen- 

 trated tankage and the like. The price is fixed at so 

 much a unit of ammonia. This system is probably the 

 most perfect, and certainly cannot but be satisfactory to 

 both the dealer and the consumer. It results in the 

 consumer receiving exactly as much as he pays for, and 

 the producer is paid for exactly what he delivers. The 

 number of units in each material sold is fixed in each 

 case by the chemist to whom the samples are referred. 



The "ton" basis of purchase. 



The other method of purchase is known as the " ton " 

 basis, and is used almost exclusively in the sale of other 

 materials than the standard products mentioned, and 

 manufactured fertilizers. This system works well with 

 standard high-grade products, since the ton price is, in 

 this case, a fair guide as to the cost of the constituents, 

 though it cannot be as satisfactory as the other, since 



