i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
12 J 
Business. 
a man era w. 
“Would it, in your judgment, be ex¬ 
pedient and Just to pass a law 
compelling fertilizer manufac¬ 
turers to state the sources from 
which their potash, nitrogen and 
phosphoric acid are derived ? 
They are at present obliged to 
guarantee a certain analysis ; 
should they go further and state 
plainly what substances they use 
in manufacturing their goods?” 
FROM DIRECTOR H. P. ARMSBY. 
It would be desirable to require manu¬ 
facturers of fertilizers to state the sources 
of the ingredients of their goods if it were 
possible to ascertain whether they had 
done so correctly or not. In the present 
state of chemical knowledge, however, it is 
not, in the majority of cases, possible to do 
this with a sufficient degree of accuracy, so 
that, practically, the law would be a dead 
letter, and it is therefore not desirable at 
present. 
Pennsylvania Station. 
FROM DR. PETER COLLIER. 
I should think it very desirable that the 
one using a so-called commercial fertilizer 
should have all the information concerning 
it possible, as helping him to a more in¬ 
telligent application of it; and I regard it, 
therefore, as important that the source of 
the phosphoric acid and nitrogen should in 
every case be made known. 
Geneva, N. Y. Station. 
FROM DR. C. A. GOESSMAN. 
Our laws for the regulation of the trade 
in fertilizers confine the statement of their 
ingredients to the cheaper and more bulky 
articles. One of the reasons for this limit¬ 
ation of statement may be found in the 
fact that in many instances it would be a 
difficult task to decide for certain what the 
■ sources of the ingredients were, so as to be 
able to take an oath with regard to the 
matter in court. Chemical treatment and 
the customary manipulations, such as 
grinding, etc., change many substances be¬ 
yond recognition. A regulation which 
cannot be strictly and justly enforced, 
offers but little protection. 
Amherst, Massachusetts Station. 
FROM PROF. E. B. VOORHEES. 
The fertilizer law of New Jersey requires 
the manufacturers of fertilizers to furnish 
a guaranteed analysis of each brand, and 
also to state the sources from which the 
phosphoric acid is derived. The utility of 
a law requiring the manufacturers to state 
the materials from which the nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid and potash are secured, 
is not apparent, especially in those 
States where an official control is exercised, 
since the published analyses secured from 
the chemical methods now in use indicate 
those brands which are prepared from 
high-grade materials. 
New Jersey Station. 
FROM DIRECTOR C. E. THORNE. 
In my opinion such a law as that indicat¬ 
ed ought to be on the statute books of every 
State. In discussing the matter a few 
days ago with Prof. N. W. Lord, State 
analyst of commercial fertilizers for Ohio, 
he suggested another method which 
might be made to serve the same pur¬ 
pose, namely, that where evidence is 
discovered that inferior materials have 
been used—leather scraps as a source of 
nitrogen and S. C. rock for phosphoric 
acid, for instance—the entire percentage of 
nitrogen or phosphoric acid should be val¬ 
ued as though it had been all derived from 
the inferior material. By this method 
State analysts might accomplish much 
toward checking the adulteration of fertili¬ 
zers ; but a special law behind them would 
very materially strengthen their hands. 
Ohio Station. 
FROM PROF. W. W. COOKE. 
We had such a law in Vermont for near¬ 
ly 10 years, until it was abolished by the 
last legislature. I could not see that it did 
any good while it was in force, and I think 
we are just as well off without it. The 
question whether it would be advisable to 
make the manufacturers who use rock 
.state the fact on their bags is implying that 
the phosphoric acid from rock is not so 
good as that from bone or meat. I should 
not agree with this view, for I consider all 
soluble phosphoric acid as of equal value, no 
matter what its source, and the amount of 
insoluble that is in fertilizers at the present 
time is so small that its commercial value 
is hardly worth taking into account. So 
far as I can learn, this distinction between 
phosphoric acid from animal sources and 
from rock is a distinction made and kept 
alive, not by experimenters, but by those 
who have for sale fertilizers in which the 
phosphoric acid does come from bone and 
meat. 
Vermont Station. 
FROM DIRECTOR M. A. SCOYELL. 
If legal, I would be in favor of compell¬ 
ing the manufacturers to state the origin 
of the ingredients of the various brands of 
fertilizers. 
Kentucky Station. 
FROM DIRECTOR G. H. WHITCHER. 
I do not think we ought to go too far in 
our efforts to control the manufacture cf 
fertilizers : a guarantee of analysis goes 
about as far as we can well venture, except 
that, possibly, it might do to prohibit a few 
things. But we do not know the relative 
values of plant food from different sources, 
and until we can say that varieties of phos¬ 
phoric acid from bone and South Carolina 
rock are relatively worth definite sums as 
applications to the growing plant, how 
much wiser shall we be by compelling a 
manufacturer to inform us which source 
he uses. Again, location must have an in¬ 
fluence. If I farmed in South Carolina it 
would be very natural for me to use South 
Carolina rock as a source of phosphoric 
acid. If I did so near the great sugar re¬ 
fineries, it might be better to use bone- 
black ; or, again, dried blood may prove a 
cheaper source of nitrogen than ammonia 
salts or nitrate of soda for some parts of 
our country, while the reverse might be 
true in other parts. 
I would much rather see the passage of 
a law compelling our millers to inform the 
public whether they used damaged com or 
steamer yellow or “no grade,” in manu¬ 
facturing corn-meal. I would also like to 
know whether wool or shoddy is used in 
the clothes I buy. On the whole, I think we 
cannot wholly substitute government in¬ 
spection in place of intelligence on the part 
of the public, nor would it be desirable if 
we could. Let the farmer know that the 
fertilizers he buys contain a given per cent- 
age of each constituent of plant food, and 
then by accurate comparisons, and especi¬ 
ally by a record of cost and income, let him 
determine whether in his own case it pays 
or not; also let him find out by the use of 
sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, and 
dried blood, compounded with phosphates 
and potash, which source of nitrogen is 
best. In like manner, let him test bone- 
phosphate, rock-phosphate, and slag-phos¬ 
phate ; this will give definite data which 
now are wanting. I believe a fertilizer 
manufacturer needs watching just as 
closely as other manufacturers need it, but 
I do not believe they should be singled out 
as the objects of unusual legislative re¬ 
strictions. 
New Hampshire Station. 
FROM THE WILLIAMS & CLARK CO. 
A law similar to such a one as the R. N.- 
Y. suggests has been enacted in several 
States, but we cannot see that it is of any 
especial value either to manufacturers or 
farmers. The guarantees required by the 
laws of most of the States, that manufac¬ 
turers shall state on the packages the per¬ 
centages guaranteed of ammonia, available 
phosphoric acid and potash, and the an¬ 
alyses of the State chemists, it seems to us, 
are sufficient protection. There is danger 
of too much legislation, and an enforced 
compliance with too many rules and regu¬ 
lations entails needless burdens and ex¬ 
penses upon the business. For instance, the 
bags printed for Connecticut will not an¬ 
swer for shipment into Vermont, and New 
Hampshire requires still another kind, and 
no on ; hence we trust there will be no leg¬ 
islation in this State that will require any¬ 
thing further than a guaranteed analysis, as 
previously suggested; not that we are un¬ 
willing that farmers or others interested 
should visit our works at any time and per¬ 
sonally inspect the materials that go to 
make up our goods, however. The compe¬ 
tition in our line of business is so intense 
that without any laws upon the subject, 
self-interest would compel, at least the lead¬ 
ing manufacturers, to produce only goods 
that would be satisfactory to purchasers. 
New York. 
FROM W. H. BOWKER. 
We have no objection to stating the 
source of the materials from which we get 
the ingredients guaranteed in the analysis, 
for it has been our maxim, ever since we 
started in the fertilizer business, to “state 
what we sell, and sell what we state.” 
Several of the more recent laws require 
manufacturers to state the source of the 
nitrogen,—as to whether it is obtained from 
leather or not,—and this is an excellent 
provision ; but it is practically a dead letter, 
for no chemist is yet able to detect the 
source of organic nitrogen, and hence 
touching this element, the consumer is 
obliged to rely upon the integrity of the 
manufacturer. The same is true of phos¬ 
phoric acid. Chemists can determine the 
amount of phosphoric acid, but cannot de¬ 
termine its source, and in truth this is not 
necessary, for if the phosphoric acid be 
soluble, it makes little difference whether 
it comes from bone or from mineral 
sources. It is the insoluble phosphoric 
acid that is the disturbing factor in the 
problem. The insoluble, of course, is worth 
more in the form of bone than in mineral 
phosphates ; but all intelligent, reputable 
manufacturers aim to have as little in¬ 
soluble phosphoric acid as possible in their 
fertilizers, the insoluble, if any, being 
present in the form of bone or bone tank¬ 
age. 
There are several manufacturers who 
claim to use no “ rock,” as they call it, as a 
source of phosphoric acid, leaving it to be 
inferred that all the phosphoric acid con¬ 
tained in their goods is obtained wholly 
from bone. Snch a course is misleading, 
for the manufacturers who make this 
claim omit to state that they buy large quan¬ 
tities of what are termed “soft guanoes,” 
which are probably nothing but “ rock” 
phosphate that has been exposed to the 
weather in a warmer and moister climate, 
like that which prevails in the islands of 
the Caribbean Sea, where most of these so- 
called “ guanoes” come from. Now the 
phosphate of lime obtained from this 
source is just as insoluble as that obtained 
from South Carolina phosphate. Each 
must be chemically treated, and when so 
treated, one is as valuable as the other. 
It is as idle to decry soluble phosphoric 
acid in the form of mineral phosphates as it 
is to deprecate the use of cotton-seed meal 
as a food for cattle ; both have been great 
boons to Northern agriculture. What 
would farmers have done without the dis¬ 
covery of South Carolina and other mineral 
phosphates ? There is not enough bone 
produced in the country to furnish the 
phosphoric acid required for New England 
alone, and if it had not been for this dis¬ 
covery, bone would have been in such de¬ 
mand that only the most favored farmers 
and market gardeners could afford to use 
it. Market gardeners used to have the 
habit of decrying fertilizers, but now near¬ 
ly all admit their value, and use them, and 
even the few who do not use them, con¬ 
cede that their introduction was the great 
lever in reducing the price of stable manure. 
So some fertilizer makers decry the use of 
mineral phosphates, thinking to increase 
their trade, but forgetting that if it had 
not been for the discovery of them their 
occupation, like Othello’s, would be gone. 
I would suggest that the R. N.-Y. should 
consult the agricultural chemists of the 
country on this subject, for I think it will 
find the ablest of them consider soluble 
phosphoric acid as valuable from one 
source as another. I am in favor of the 
passage of a law requiring a full statement 
of the sources of plant food just as soon as 
chemists are able accurately to determine 
the sources, but until that time comes, I 
think the passage of such a law would only 
be a bid for some strong misrepresentation 
on the part of unscrupulous manufacturers. 
Let us hail everything that contains plant 
food that can be made available, but let us 
also condemn the use of everything in a fer¬ 
tilizer that cannot be made available ; but 
mineral phosphates are not among the 
number. The world wants cheap available 
plant food, and the more of it the better. 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
The Cutaway harrow is selling very 
well thus far this season. This tool has 
revolutionized work on many farms. Fall- 
plowed land is worked with the Cutaway 
and planted without replowing. The seed¬ 
ing attachment to the Cutaway causes a 
great saving of labor. It is very useful in 
sowing oats. Disk harrows, too, are in 
good demand this year. 
The potato-sorter is an implement 
that is frequently called for. Those who 
work home-made affairs are loud in their 
praise. Read what Mr. Warn says in this 
issue about his sorter. Several of our man¬ 
ufacturers are thinking of putting such 
implements on the market. The R. N.-Y. 
will guarantee a good sale for a useful 
sorter. One great advantage in the use of 
such a sorter would be in the complete 
grading that potatoes would receive. A 
potato that will run through a certain 
sized hole will be graded No. 1; that which 
goes through another hole, No. 2, and so 
on. There can be no dispute then about 
the proper size for “ marketable potatoes.’ 
The sorter is needed. 
Mr. Warn’s tools make a good show¬ 
ing on page 113. He has not yet told us 
what his money crops are; but it is evident 
that potatoes, wheat and clover play prom¬ 
inent parts in his farming. He says he 
finds all these tools useful; that he could 
hardly get along without any of them un¬ 
less it be the light harrow which has been 
driven out by Breed’s weeder. A “ bug 
wagon ” for applying Paris-green to potato 
vines is a very useful thing—so Mr. Warn 
says. Next week we will show a larger 
picture of his home-made affair. 
THE LAMB MARKETS. 
Among the possibly profitable products 
of the farm for which many farmers are 
looking in these days of close competition 
and of small or minus profits, the business 
of growing early lambs has engaged the 
attention of many because of the apparent¬ 
ly high prices for which they are often sold. 
As is the case with so many other agricultur¬ 
al and horticultural products, the develop¬ 
ment of the South and the improve¬ 
ment of transportation facilities have 
completely demoralized previously ex¬ 
isting market conditions and changed 
many formerly profitable enterprises into 
unprofitable ones. Formerly, what are 
known to the trade as “ hot-house lambs,” 
i. e., those grown in winter and put on 
the market in early spring, brought 
very high prices—from $12 to $15, and 
often $20 for extra fine ones, those 
weighing from 30 to 40 pounds. But 
the demand for these is necessarily very 
limited, and as the supply has increased 
from year to year, the price has decreased, 
until many growers declare that raising 
them will not pay for the extra cost and 
labor involved. The first lambs arrived 
from New Jersey this year before Christ¬ 
mas and sold for $10. They are now a little 
scarce and selling for from $5 to $10, but 
any material increase in the supply would 
reduce these prices considerably. Nearly 
all sent at this season are slaughtered, 
drawn, and sent with the skins on, like 
hog-dressed calves. They are sent to such 
commission merchants as handle poultry, 
hog dressed veals, etc. Hallenbeck & 
Hollis of the Union Stock-Yards, say that 
they do not receive any of any account un¬ 
til about May, though some few scattering 
ones are received as early as March. The 
first come from Kentucky, Tennessee and 
Virginia: the next from Maryland, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania, and later from 
New York, Ohio, Michigan and other West¬ 
ern States and Canada, as well as from 
New England. The above firm say that 
the best lambs come from New York and 
the poorest from the far West, although 
the latter are constantly improving in 
quality. The breed considered the best is 
the South Down and its crosses. The 
fine-wool breeds are the poorest. Occa¬ 
sionally a few Angora goats are received, 
but not enough to make any quotations. 
The prices for spring lambs on April 1st 
last, were $4 to $6.50; May 1st, $6.50; 
June 1st, $3.50; July 1st, 68 pounds, 
$7: August 1st, $5 to $7; September 
1st, $5.75 to $6.50; October 1st, $5 to 
$7.50; November 1st, $5 to $7.50; and 
December 1st, $5.50 to $6. The extreme 
variations at some periods were caused by 
scarcity or over-supply. The apparently 
small difference in price between the 
winter-raised lambs and those dropped 
in the usual season it seems would not 
pay for the extra expense and risk in¬ 
volved in raising the former. Then, 
again, the demand for these early lambs 
is very limited and any material in¬ 
crease in the supply would result disas¬ 
trously as to prices. It seems to us from all 
the facts we are able to gather that there is 
small encouragement for any one to engage 
extensively in this business, especially if 
any material expense is necessary to begin 
operations. In support of this view the 
firm noted above mentioned a farmer near 
Hackensack, N. J., who had for a number 
of years raised and brought to them to sell 
about 60 early lambs, but he says that 
prices have fallen so low that it is unprofit¬ 
able and he will discontinue the business. 
We were in hopes, and would be glad, to 
present a more encouraging report of this 
matter, but the facts forbid. 
There is a demand now for good sheep 
and yearlings, that is, lambs grown last 
summer, choice ones^selling.for about $7. 
