
i 
q 
45 

New York AgricurturaL Exprrment Station. 193 
comparatively easy matter to trace to their destination suspected 
material, and to devise speedy methods by which its character 
could be detected in the manufactured products, even if such 
means are not already in the hands of the analytical chemist. 
_ At least it seems that less injustice would result from the plan 
suggested than now, when, as will be seen by looking over the 
published analyses, two fertilizers have the same guaranteed and 
found analyses, and are presumptively therefore of equal value, 
when if the character of the several compounds from which they | 
are made was known, great differences in their commercial and 
crop-producing values might clearly appear. 
Certain agricultural authorities are quite opposed to any 
system of commercial valuation of fertilizers, and in opposing 
declare themselves to do so mainly, if not wholly, in the interests 
of the farmers. They say that an unfortunate tendency of 
money valuations is to call the attention of the farmers away 
from the composition of the fertilizer, and to direct it to.a siend 
‘ard which is often of doubtful accuracy, if not positively wrong 
and that as a result not only does the farmer get wrong pra 
sions in place of right ones, but honest dealers are harassed, and 
sometimes pecuniarily injured, by incorrect valuation of their 
wares. The aboveis somewhat obscure without the statement as 
to what constitutes a correct standard, and what are considered 
_ to be the wrong impressions of which the farmeris in danger. 
Again, it is asserted by such authorities that our farmers not 
only intend to buy a certain number of pounds of plant food in 
their purchases of fertilizers, but they intend to buy that plant 
food in forms that will be available to the plant. 
This last is beyond question true, certainly of the more intelli- 
gent class of our farmers, and it should be true of all, but if true, 
it is difficult to imagine how such farmers, with so clear an idea 
of what they want, can be diverted from such dominant idea by 
the simple consideration as to what dealer will supply his demand 
at the least cost. It will appear as easy to sell a farmer salt 
instead of sugar, simply because the former was the cheaper. 
Again it is clear that so long as the manufacturers of fertilizers 
decline to assure the purchaser as to the character of the goods 
ney have for sale, and in effect this is the position of the trade 
25 
