The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1890-01-03
The Egfs& Intelligencer
Rel Air.i Md, January 8. 1880.
How Standard Fertilizers are Made.
A VISIT TO III S. MILLER cos FAC
TORY, NEWARK, n. j.

"A II.
TORY, NEWARK, n. j.
T., o.,.r 70 .ffolrd o,r readers some idea of how
fertilizers are made we give the results OF the Cd
servations made by some Hartford county ial,n m
at the large fertilizer VI n h o. Stand
ard Eertilizers This firm engaged in business IN
December 1881 The first year their Sales AMOUNT 9Si
o,itnnt Vas more than doubled being 81 600 TONS
Their factory situated on the Passale river Is one OF
the largest sfGTss IN b f9e MN Alfred Lister the senior
member of the firm, has Deen engaged III tne ia az
ufactue of fertilizers for many years ana cS
knowledge of the business Is not only theoreticaI
In entering the building the first feature observed
to the fact that all OF the materials used are Ill
dry state. and being kept dry the farmer is not
to IF al he made by
Fl s. Miller & Co, 1t is used in the form OF pure
ground BONE dissolved bone bone ash and 9one
world but chiefly from South America and Africa,
where the supply as yet keeps pace Win Ime He
from the Liebig Beef Extract Company, where
beef extracts and preserved meats are put up
aaa se e9 a 6pg 6s In the
cess Of burning the ammonia IS loSt, put pnoSphdte
of lime. in concentrated and available form. is
bone obtained from the sugar retneries OF Cali
fornia whose purposes it has served IN the refnng
Qualities Being seS only lofs mechanically
Ammonia used in the Standard PhoSphateS is de-
rived from meat meal This IS dark-colored, odOr-
less substance, obtained chiefly ID South America
from the large beef extract establishments already
mentioned from whence comes also the bone ASH:
This bone meal contains from 10 TO IA per cent. OF
ammonia. =, ,..,
In manufacturing pure ground bone dust the
crude bones, gathered from the ends OF the earth,
are crushed and ground in mills until nne enough
for drilling. The bone-grnding machinery used
was invented by Mr.. Alfred Lister and is subStan-
italy the the T e
never received any benefit from his valuable lnven-
tion except from the use OF 1t IN his own factory.
In making dissolved raw bone the bone dust IS
placed in large circular revolving vat. into which
streams of sulphuric acid are poured, the bone
dust being stirred by machinery as the vat reVoyes
Phosphates for various crops are manufactured
according to approved and tested formulas. Inc
ford county contains bone ash and bone meal, in
equal proportions These are treated win SUI
phurc acid. After being allowed to remain IN mass
Tor from four to six months until every particle OF
the bone is dissolved sulphate of potash and meat
meal are added, and the Harvest Queen IS ready
to make corn and wheat smile at harvest.
In making phosphate the dissolved bone meat
meal and Sulphate of potash obtained from Ger
many are dumped upon the MOOT ta PrUP Srh Pro fbe
compound passes through phosphate mixer,
where the ingredients are more thoroughly moor
porated Elevators similar to those used in large
flour mills convey it to large cylindrical screens,
where it is Sifted in order to secure uniform state
of neness and free it of hair or foreign substances
Formerly to prevent the phosphate from adhering
to the screens men were constantly employed IN
rapping the screens with wooden paddles. Inc
work was very hard and the men had to be reley
ed every two hours To obviate this difficulty Mr..
Lister set his inventive wit to work and devised an
arrangement of semi-circuar steel paddles, three
inches wide, attached to springs and worked by
cams, which strike the screens III succession tree-
ing them from the adhering particles OF phosphate
The firm invites farmers to visit their works and
see for themselves how the Standard Fertilizers
In the establishment are immense bins contain.
ing thousands of tons of material in every stage OF
preparation and fertilizers OF various kinds Every
bag is weighed before lt Is SeWeQ up.
sThe Standard Fertilizers made by III. 5; Miller 4
Co. are Harvest Queen, Standard Phosphate, Am
moniated Dissolved Bone, Chanticeer Ca new
brand, intended for oats and Raw Bone Phosphate.
Also Pure Ground Bone, Bone Meal, PasSac Bone
Meal and Bone Flour. The latter is as fine as
wheat flour and as white snow. 1t is much used
by florists and is said to improve the size and
Besides these they make special fertilizers for
vegetables generally, potatoes, onions peach trees
fhe Capacity of the works is $4,000 tons of phos-
phate year. H. s. Miller & Cos goods took the
$500 awarded at the Atlanta Exposition last Octo-
Rf5 @aas by Mr. R Dennis
Talbotton, Ga.
THE FIRM.
Mr.. Alfred Lister. whose name is a familiar one
in the fertilizer business, is the head of the rn
although his name does not appear therein He
been engaged in the fertilizer business since he
was q years old. Mr. Listers anative OF England.
as tnS ihe the en
bone buttons for the Southern market. In 1S43 he
turned his attention TO the manlpuat6n OF Ierlll-
zers, than new branch of industry. Becoming |
convinced that bone was the only source OF perman
ent improvement to land in 1850 he adopted that as
the basis for his goods. The Alfred Lister Ground
Bone became popular with the farmers OF WeStcheS-
ter county, N Y, and the demand increasing he re-
moved to Newark. where he manufactured largely
under the firm name of Lister Brothers. In 1866 a
company was incorporated under the name OF LIS
ter'S Agricultural Chemical Works, Alfred Lister
being elected President In 1887 he withdrew from
this firm and is now the head of the firm of I'll 5.
Miller Co. He owns many valuable building lots
Mountains, which affords him abundant opportunl-
ty for experiments in farming. just now he is IN
terested in drainage and has had several miles OF
drains made. He is man OF great natura! ability.
of strong, common sense, and has practical way
of putting things which denotes his character.
Mr.. III. s. Miller became connected with Mr.. LIS
ter in 1873 and from 1879 to 1887 had chief charge OF
the business in Baltimore. In 1887 he became as
sociated with Mr.. Lister in the present firm. He
is Mr.. Listers son-n-law. Mr.. Miller is an enter
prising business man, of indefagable energy, pos
sesSing thorough knowledge of the fertilizer
business, and is a popular and pleasant gentleman.
Grnnected with the works is Prof. Frederick
Langman of England, chemist who has had half
centuryS experience in the fertilizer business
His duty is to examine all the materials used and
see that goods are made according to the formulas
prescribed.
The Hartford visitors, who were Messrs John
Moores Edward HI. Hall, VIM. +. Reasin, Joseph b.
Hanway and f. w. Baker, were cOurteOusly re-
ceived and Hospitality entertained, first in Balti
more by Mr.. Frank Miller, who has charge OF the
Baltimore Office. and in Newark by MessrS. Alfred
man. Mr. p H. O'Neill and Mr.. George Irlam, all
connected with the establishment chaperoned the
party around New York and made their visit very
agreeable, Messrs d. G. Stamford and Thomas
H. Roberts. both well known to Hartford farmers,
are also in the employ OF the firm