The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-02-14
FERTILIZERS HIGHER.
ALL THE CRUDE MATERIALS HAVE Ma
TERIALLY ADVANCED.
President Morgan of The Virginia a-Carolina
Chemical Company Says the Selling Price
IS Lower Than Cost of Materials
Warrant.
From The Raleigh News and Observer.

From The Raleigh News and Observer.
Richmond Va. Feb. |. 1900.
To the Editor: My attention has been called
10 4 communication in the News and Observer.
published under date of Wednesday. January
3lSt 1900 in reference TO the advance in the
:>"ice OF fertilizers wherein it is stated that Tic
farmers Of Pitt county. North Carolina propose
to organize and fight the advance in the prices
Of fertilizers ard by in>inu1ton our Company
is cenSured a> the cause of this advance
desire to make a plain statement of facts
and conditions as now obtained in the fertilizer
trade and TO show TO the dealers and consumers
OF fertilizers that the advance in the prlce OF
manufactured fertilizers i not only Just and
warranted. but i absolutely necessary. and that
the manufacturers OF fertilizers could not afford
to sell them II the price ruling last year unless
they did 50 II :; very heavy loss.
Now 10 get down TO facts and figures: we will
see what has really caused the price Cf feru!-
iZerS TO be advanced this year over last:
Acid Phosphate being one Of the principal in
gradients in all complete fertilizers. l desire TO
show here how much this article costs 10 make
in excess Of the cost price for the same thing
last year. The advance in pyriteS. from which
Sulphuric acid is made. Is more than 800 per
ton over last year. The advance in Nitrate Of
Soda. which Is L necessary ingredient IN the
manufacture Of Sulphuric acid. is fully $500 per
ton more than last year. Phosphate Rock has
advanced q minimum OF Sl.Io per ton At the
mines. and in some grades OF rock the advance
is more than $500 per ton. These three articles
constitute what is necessary to make Acid PhoS-
phate. Put them together in the proper pro-
portion and ton Of Acid Phosphate will cost
Sa.01 per ton more than it did last year.
Bags are costing US 2Oc. per ton more than
they did last year. so that the crude material
going into j ton Of Acid Phosphate is costing
approximately S2.27 more than II did a year ago.
Every piece OF factory supplies and machln-
a,-,- nNn1 p,,i 1p q
factory is from y 70 100 per cent. higher than 1t
was year ago. This will add certainly an ad-
ditional l0c to the cost Of 4 ton O: fertilizer.
making in the most conservative and reasonable
estimate possible a ton OF l3 per cent. Acid
Phosphate. bagged and ready for shipment. cost
the manufacturer s2.37 more than II did twelve
months ago.
tilizerS: We will take what is commonly known
as standard grade Of complete fertilizer run
ming. say. 21G per cent. OF ammonia. per cent:
of available phoSphorlc acid. and per cen!. OF
potash. AS l have above demonstrated acld
phosphate costs S2.C7 more than last year. This
IS equivalent 10 little more than l0c per lpo
pounds. In making the 'i:. and fertilizers,
sary so at lOc additional cost per 100 pounds the
additional cost for acid phosphate would De
Sl.20.
II cotton seed meal was used for the ammonia.
il would take approximately 100 pounds. and
cotton seed meal IS now worth $500 per ton more
than last year. which is equivalent TO 3Oc. per
100 pounds. and 700 pounds would cost - ~ more
than it did last year. Now add 2oc for extra
cost for the bags and you have $3.50 per ton more
for the materials than we paid for these same
materials last year.
II fankase or blood was used for the source Of
ammonia instead Of cotton seed meal. the ad-
vanced cost over last year would be $3.50 per
ton as ammonia from taEkaSe or blood Is now
60c per unit higher than last year so for 21a per
cent. Of ammonia the extra cost over last year
would be $3.50.
of 10 iS ha n
of ammonia commonly used in the manufacture
of fertilizers. Twelve months ago this article
was selling at about $500 per ton. We PAID for
il this week So. w per ton.
Now assert that the price OF fertilizers has
not advanced nearly so much as the price OF raw
materials going into them. Let Us see who Is TO
blame. If any one, for the advance OF these crude
materials Take PyriteS: We buy from Spain
more than three-fourthS Of all We use. Nitrate
OF Soda: We buy entirely from South America.
Potash Salts: We buy entirely from Germany.
So il can not be said that our company controls
or is in any wise responsible for the advance of
these materials. as we have no interest what
ever in any Of these properties either directly
or Indirectly.
proportion OF our wants OF phosphate rock.
but we mine none for sale and we buy from
other mines more than two-thirdS OF what we
consume. SO no one will suppose that we were
anxious TO put up the price Of phosphate rock.
As for cotton seed meal we have no interest
either directly or indirectly in any cotton seed
oil mill so we are not responsible for the ad-
vance in this article. Blood and tankage are
made by the large packers in the West. and we
have no interest and no control over these pro-
duets il aCy way.
Why, then. should the Virginia-Ca
Chemical Company be blamed for the advance
in the cost OF crude materials. and would II be
buSineSS-like for US to want an advance N crude
materials OF which we have TO buy almost en-
tirely all Of our needs and Of which we produce
absolutely nothing. except small quantity OF
phosphate rock:
II is our aim and purpose 70 manufacture fer
tiliZerS as cheaply as possible and TO sell them
at as low price as we can afford. thereby Stiin,
ulating large consumption OF fertl!lZerS ana
their general use for all crops.
Let US see how the farmer is situated: He is
getting this year from -. TO Sc. pound Tor his
cotton more than last year. and we understand
that for 4 great deal Of the cotton seed the cot
ton seed oil mills are now paying 23c. per buShe!.
Are these advances wrong. and are the manu-
facturerS who are having TO use this product
condemnng the parties who produce them.
simply because the demand is such that the
price has increased so enormously over last
year: At present prices the farmer can sell the
cotton seed from one acre OF land and BUY as
much fertilizers as he usually puts over two or
three acres. even though there Is q small ad-
vance in the price OF fertilizers. caused by the
manufacturers having 70 pay high prices Tor the
materials entering into them.
We propose to be perfectly fair and canold IN
our statements and believe that when an un-
prejudiced farmer looks into the situation he
will realize that he is not charged as much for
fertilizers as the cost OF materials under present
conditions warrant.
Yours very respectfully.
5. 7. MORGAN.
Pres Virginia-Caroiina Chcnica! Co.