New York AGRICULTURAL ExPpERIMENT STATION. 165 
the market, which chemicals are used but very sparingly, if at all, 
by the general manufacturer, and that by using the cheaper 
forms and lower grades for the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
potash required,.a very great decrease in the cost of home manu- 
factured fertilizers would result. 
The addition of a certain amount of plaster in the four fer- 
tilizers compounded above, may seem to give some ground toa 
very common belief that in the ordinary commercial fertilizers 
of the market there is generally added some similar material as 
a “filler,” but such view is wholly erroneous and does great 
injustice to the manufacturers. 
It is not unusual to receive letters from those who, having a 
convenient deposit of peat or muck, are of the impression that 
such deposit may be made the basis of a fertilizer, and that it is 
only necessary to add certain compounds containing nitrogen, 
potash and phosphoric acid, to secure a mixture fully equal to the 
leading brands of fertilizers found for sale. 
By reference to the table giving the amounts of nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid and potash in the four fertilizers compounded, it 
will be seen that there was in a ton of each the following: 

= ny 
£ 









; Phospho- 
Nitrogen, | 7 ,,0SP2>| Potash, | Total 
pounds, seer pounds, pounds, 
Average of 235 fertilizers....... 60.4 | 166.7 | 106.3 | 333.4 
Average of 41 potato fertilizers..| 64.4 | 107.4 | 129.0 | 300.8 
Average of 8 tobacco fertilizers..; 57.8 | 165.0 | 92.8 | 315.6 
Average of 12 cabbage fertilizers.| 92.2 | 133.8 | 140.6 | 366.6 
m © bo 

It will be seen that besides these three fertilizing constituents, 
there would be present in each ton of other matter, of which no 
account is given in analysis or guarantee, the following number 
of pounds, viz.: In No. 1, 1,666.6 pounds; in No. 2, 1,699.2 
pounds; in No. 3, 1,684.4 pounds; and in No. 4, 1,633.4 pounds, 
an average of 83.54 per cent. of the total weight of the fer- 
tilizers. Or if we consider the composition of these four we shall 
~ 
