OF SEVERAL JAPANESE FERTILIZERS. 
3 
100 p. of tea seed cakes contain : 
Nitrogen. . 2.13; multiplied by the factor 5 = 10.65 
Phosphoric acid. 0.54 ; ,, ,, ,, „ 2— 1.08 
Potash .1.99; „ „ ,, „ 1= 1.99, 
Sum of the manurial units . 13,72 
According to this calculation 7.41 manurial units in the 
form of wax berry cakes cost 1.50 yen ; one unit costs con¬ 
sequently . 20.24 sen. 
On the other side, 13.72 manurial units in the form 
of tea seed cakes cost 3.50 yen ; one unit costs conse¬ 
quently . 25.51 sen. 
Thus we find that the actual price of the vegetable 
nutrients in the wax berry cakes is far lower, than in the 
tea seed cakes and that it would be more economical to buy 
the former, provided that their rapidity of decomposition 
in the soil is not much inferior to that of the tea seed cakes. 
It'must, however, be distinctly understood that by 
such calculations we can determine only the approximate 
money value of fertilizers, and by no means their effect on 
the crop, for the simple reason that different soils and plants 
have different needs. A farmer who intends to purchase 
fertilizers for cultivating wheat and has calculated in the 
above way that he can get wood ash at a much cheaper 
price than fish manure or other fertilizers, would, of course, 
be entirely wrong, if he were to manure the field only with 
wood ash, because in that case the wheat would not find 
sufficient nitrogen for its growth. It is the office of the 
farmer to apply the three nutrients in proper proportions, 
for which purpose one single kind of commercial manure 
will seldom be suited, but mixtures of several will mostly be 
necessary. The above method of calculating the money 
value will only help him to pick out from among the nitro¬ 
genous or phosphatic manures the cheapest kinds. Hence 
it should only be resorted to in comparing the value of 
fertilizers of a similar character. 
