The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-20
TO MAKE PROFITS GROW.
FERTILIZER MEN DENY THAT A
TRUST IS BEING FORMED.

TRUST IS BEING FORMED.
They Say That Such a Thing is Next
to an Impossibnity Their Reasons for
Saying So-Some Figures about the
Fertilizer Trade-What the Commits
sioner of Agricultures Report
Shows.
There is a revival Of the rumor that pre-
vailed through the country early in the fall
that trust is being formed among
the manufacturers Of commercial fer
tllizers 1t was stated few days
ago that the organization IS nearly
| contaminated and that only few details re-
main TO he arranged. \ low estimate
places the annual sales of artificial fertilizers
at 100000 tons or $50, 100000 worth
annually, and the trade is constantly in
creasing.
There are about fifty large firms in the
business and 400 small concerns. The latter
would not be taken into the trust, and there
would probably be an effort to buy them
out or drive them out of business-a la
Standard Oil.
WHAT LOCAL DEALERS SAY.
no AJdN 1iiAtdu OCtuDlcH II llIpilllllblb i'ieiCp
among the fertilizer distributing points Of
the country, a MORNING NEWS reporter
called on q few of the most prominent deal
ers yesterday to ascertain from them If the
companies operating here would have any
hand in the trust
The dealers here, without exception, state
! that there Is nothing IN the runOr so far as
they have heard, and each one is in a posi-
ton to know if such project is on foot.
| They say that several months ago the
formation Of such a trust was undertaken
| by number of the manufacturing cOupa-
MES, and that the matter was thoroughly
considered, but that the insurmount-
able obstacles in the way caused
| them to drop the matter, and since then
nothing has been done about it, The large
number of manufactures, diversity Of fer
! tlllzers manufactured, and the diversity of
materials used in the manufacture, render
the trust next to impossible.
A TRUST NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE.
! "Why," said one dealer, you might as
well talk Of the grocery stores forming a
trust" and taking up circular from the
| State Commissioner of Agriculture he
pointed out the number of fertilizers which
| had been inspected by the State authorities,
and the number covered four pages of the
| circular.
There is a rumor, but no one could give
authority for it, that trust in an ingre-
dent used in the manufacture has been
formed in Charleston. Large quantities of
this ingredient were formerly brought from
EurOpe-frequently as ballast-but the home
supply was cheaper and the foreign article
has been withdrawn. This made possible
the rlmored trust.
1T WOULDN'T WORK.
One dealer said that a combination was
made in Charleston some years ago and the
members went in under $40 900 bond not to
sell except in specified quantities and at
given price, but i'll short while it leaked out
that some Of the members combined a num-
Der of small orders, making, when put to-
gether, the requisite quantity and sold as
one lot. Such sharp practice soon put an
end to the combination SO if there is any
thing in the rumored trust the dealers
here know nothing about it.
The Standard Oil plan is not considered
feasible by most manufacturers. They say
that the business is not one which will adj
NIT of the sources of supplies being con-
troled by any trust, however powerful. To
make the trust succeed, it would be neCes-
sary to control the mining of all the nitrate
of soda on the west coast of South America,
the sulphate of ammonia supply, the bone
trade, the slaughter house refuse and the
pOtashes, that are the monopoly of Ger
| man syndicate.
THE SOUTH CAROLINA SCHEME.
An attempt of this kind on a small scale
lately made has failed, or is doomed to
failure. The Charleston and South Caro-
lima phOsphates are essential in the business,
100000 tons of them being used annually
The land rock is owned by private com
panieS, and the river rock by the State, the
companies paying a royalty of 81
ton for mining the latter. Five of
the most powerful companies recently
formed a combination and got a bill
into the South Carolina Legislature to get a
grant from the State giving them control
of the river rock The bill was defeated by
a decided majority. The supporters of the
trust say they will get around the difficulty
about controlling the sources of supply by
keeping out Of the market the fertilizers in
which the ingredients they cannot control
are essential elements, or by substituting
Others in their place Other objections
urged by the doubters are that men who
know mon who know the business can get
supplies outside the trust, and that the
farmers will be against the trust when they
find the neghboring small manufacturers
frozen out by It,
THE TRADE LIVELY.
The trade just now is quite lively, and the
consumption season will show continued
increase According to the report of the
State Commissioner Of Agriculture the net
balance in the Treasury derived from the
inspection Of fertilizers for the season of
1SS6-lSS7 was Sis, 107 81 The net balance
in the Treasury for the season of lS77-1S1S
was $35. 905 II. The increase in ten wears has
been s., - ~.
Delegates to Augusta.
President Hull of the Board of Trada