ADVANTAGES OF THE ELEMENTAL SYSTEM 623 



2. The common system of notation mentioned above is in- 

 corporated in the fertilizer laws of 27 of the States. Any change 

 would require legislative action to ratify it in all of these 

 States. 



3. A change in the terms which are commonly used will 

 cause confusion in the minds of a multitude of farmers, manu- 

 facturers and dealers who are acquainted with the terms now 

 in use. 



4. The apparent decrease of 20 per cent, in the amount of 

 potash and 50 per cent, in the amount of phosphoric acid which 

 would result from the adoption of the new system would re- 

 quire a great deal of explanation to make it clear to the farm- 

 ers. 



5. The use of the double system of notation for fertilizers in 

 order to introduce the new system is undesirable and would 

 result in confusion. 



525. Advantages of the Elemental System. Hopkins recom- 

 mends reporting all analyses, as far as possible, on the uniform 

 basis of chemical elements as follows : 92 



For fertilizers : For soils : 



Nitrogen (N). Sulfur (S). 



Phosphorus (P). Inorganic carbon (C). 



Potassium (K). Organic carbon (C). 



For soils : Aluminum (Al). 



Nitrogen (N). Manganese (Mn). 



Phosphorus (P). Sodium (Na). 



Potassium (K). Chlorin (Cl). 



Calcium (Ca). Silicon (Si). 



Magnesium (Mg). Insoluble matter. 



Iron (Fe). Hydrogen and oxygen. 



The hydrogen and oxygen may be reported "by difference," 

 or, if desired, they can be computed in the usual manner by cal- 

 culating the oxygen necessary to form oxids with certain of the 

 determined elements and adding to this the loss in ignition (af- 

 ter deducting the amount of volatile elements determined). Sili- 

 con (Si) can be reported if determined separately from the in- 

 soluble matter. Of course, in ultimate analyses, by the fusion 



" 2 Bureau of Chemistry, Preliminary Report on the Unification of Terms, 

 Unnumbered Circular, 1905 : 2. 



