8 
Bulletin 99. 
reasonable profit? The question of our being able to maintain the 
fertility of our lands is one thing, but the question of its cost is an¬ 
other. It is clear that the returns, either in the present or in the 
immediate future, must not only pay the cost of maintenance of the 
fertility, but must permit of a profit. It must, in other words, be 
accomplished in some business way which must be approved by an 
increased prosperity. 
The means at our disposal with which we may endeavor to 
meet this question are such as other communities possess, but the 
questions of costs and local conditions, and perhaps methods or 
practices dependent upon the latter, may prevent us from availing 
ourselves of some means which, in other places, have been very ef¬ 
ficient. I wish that I could emphasize the fact that the Colorado 
farmer, while he may avail himself of the observation and experi¬ 
ence of others, must solve his own agricultural questions, the 
maintaining of the fertility of his soil and the earning of profits for 
himself. 
Colorado is not a sea-board state and its agriculture cannot 
look to the products of the sea as a means of restoring the waste of 
its lands. Among its varied mineral resources there has not as yet 
been found phosphorite, apatite, or other rock phosphate, or any 
salt of potash in such quantity as to permit of its use in agriculture; 
its packing house industry is too small to supply any quantity of 
waste or by-products nearly adequate to supply the elements of fer¬ 
tility which we are annually using up. Our manufacturing inter¬ 
ests are producing no by-products, such as phosphatic slags, to 
which we can have recourse. In regard to our sources of nitrogen¬ 
ous fertilizers, we are no better off. Our coke industry might be 
made to yield us some in the form of ammonia salts, our packing 
industry a little in the form of dried blood and other forms, but 
these are all insufficient to supply an amount nearly equal to our 
actual consumption. 
CAN WE USE POTASH SALTS ? 
If we use German or Stassfurt salts as a supply of potash, we 
must realize from its use a sufficient return to pay for its produc¬ 
tion, preparation, marketing and delivery to us, together with the 
profits put on by the producer and dealer, and leave a margin of 
profit for the farmer who uses it. 
Can the Colorado farmer profitably use these? The answer de¬ 
pends upon two things: First, upon the price that he must pay for 
the potash. This, of course, depends upon the actual cost of the 
salt, including transportation, and the modesty of the profits realized 
by all of the interested parties. Second, upon the increased pro¬ 
ductivity of the soil, considering the total increase in both quantity 
