560 SOILS: PROPERTIES AND MANAGEMENT 



Cents a pound 



Phosphoric acid, water-soluble 4^ 



Phosphoric acid, citrate-soluble (reverted) ... 4 



Phosphoric acid, in fine bone, fish, and tankage . 4 

 Phosphoric acid, in cottonseed meal and castor 



pomace 4 



Phosphoric acid, in coarse fish, bone, tankage, and 



ashes 3§ 



Phosphoric acid in mixed fertilizers, insoluble in 



water or ammonium citrate 2 



Potash as high-grade sulfate, in forms free from chlo- 

 rides, in ashes, etc. o\ 



Potash as muriate 4j 



Potash as castor pomace and cottonseed meal . . 5 



It must be remembered that these prices are seaboard 

 evaluations, and represent the cost to the manufacturer 

 of the elements as they exist in the unmixed carriers. 

 This is called the commercial evaluation of a fertilizer, 

 and is the first of a number of items that enter into the 

 total cost, or the price the farmer must pay on the retail 

 market. The items that make up this ultimate price 

 may be listed as follows : (1) wholesale cash cost, or com- 

 mercial evaluation; (2) cost of mixing; (3) profit of 

 manufacturers; (4) transportation; (5) storage, com- 

 mission to agents, bad debts, and so forth ; and (6) profit 

 of retailer. These additional charges are often sufficient 

 to double the original commercial value of the fertilize 

 constituents. 



It is evident that by knowing the composition of a fer- 

 tilizer, and the carriers of the various constituents, the 

 commercial evaluation of the mixture may be easily cal- 

 culated. However, what the farmer must pay depends 



