348 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1878. 
bone, and not to be mixed with steamed or glue-maker's refuse 
bones. 
The majority of the 188 samples of artificial manures analysed 
by me were superphosphates, which I am glad to find are now 
much more generally sold on the strength of an analytical 
guarantee than in former years. 
Special compound manures, on the other hand, are seldom 
sold by analysis, but in many cases are chaiged for at a much 
higher price than it costs a farmer to produce them, with little 
trouble, by mixing together in certain proportions well-known 
artificial manures which can be bought in every market-town. 
The following case is an illustration of the preceding remarks. 
A Member of the Society sent me for analysis a sample of 
wheat-manure, the price of which was 8/. 10*. This wheat- 
manure had the following composition : — 
Moisture 16-01 
Water of combination 4 '52 
Monobasic phosphate of lime 10 "97 
(Equal to tribasic phosphate of limeJ (\--y\ 
rendered soluble by acid) .. ..j^ ' ^ 
Insoluble jihosphates 5 "59 
Sulphate of lime 37"51 
Alkaline salts and magnesia 20'71 
Including nitrate of soda .. .. (18'24) 
Insoluble siliceous matter 4 '09 
100-00 
This manure, it will be seen, is a good and suitable top-dressing 
for wheat ; but 8/. lOs. is a stiffish price for a manure which is 
nothing more nor less than a mixture of superphosphate with 
nitrate of soda. 
Superphosphate guaranteed to contain 25 per cent, of soluble 
phosphate can be bought readily at 5/. a ton, and nitrate of soda 
at 17/. a ton. A mixture of 4 tons of superphosphate, costing 
20/., and 1 ton of nitrate of soda, at 17/., in all costs 37/., or 1 
ton of the mixed superphosphate and nitrate of soda will cost 
11. 8s., or 1/, 25. less per ton than the wheat-manure, and will be 
rather the better manure of the two. 
As usual, a number of samples of water, which were sent to 
me for examination, I found contaminated more or less with 
house-drainage or injurious products of the decomposition of 
animal matters, and in some cases they were totally unfit for 
drinking purposes. 
Most of the 35 soils which were sent to me for examination 
were sent for full analysis and report. Judging from the in- 
creasing applications for this laborious and time-consuming 
analysis, occupving the analyst s time for fully a fortnight, my 
