The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-04
CAFE OF FERTILIZER TAGS.
..r nTE TO INCREASED DEMAND
FOR FERTILIZERS.

..,,scturers Were Caught Nap
ing Last Year and So They Laid
IN Large Supplies of Tags in Jan
as a Matter of Precaution.
co,rpnnies Which Shipped Untag-
,J Goods Last Year Got Into
rro,,,Ie-No Heavy Demand for
rertiIizers Yet-Fancy Prices for
cot,,n and Seed May Cause Farm
or. fn Change Their Minds and In
oreose Acreage, However.
,,p. very large sales of fertilizer tags
..,o,t.l by the Commissioner of Agri-
i,r. for the month of January has
,.., .-mmented upon as indicating a
,.,sos. i've heavy consumption of fertili-
rs bv the farmers and probable in
,.sss- In the cotton acreage. The pur-
,ss.es of tags by the fertilizer companies
a.sr. sg 49, as against 5000 for January
syear go.
We'll known fertilizer man, who was
sesn about the matter yesterday, said that
49, t1e. purchases of fertilizer tags were
made hr the companies and, not by the
f.r1I
n show a corresponding increase in the
ogtput of fertilizers.
vim abe hrst place." he said, there is a
considerable shortage in the fertilizer
..,3i,t for the year which will necessarily
moan a deceased consumption lin this sec
tan. The real reason for the increased
s,l.s ol fertilizer tags is that the COM
nlnies have profted by past experience
ard h9ye determined not to be caught
naming this year as they were last A
yaar 7so many of the companies ran out
Of tags. and the commissioner was unable
IN supply them. This put the companies
IN , projicament, as the law requires that
arery sack of fertilizer must be tagged
before ieiying the factory. In this pre-
disament the commiss ioner authorized
some of the companies to go ahead and
shin without tags. One of the Savannah
companies did so, and as a result it is now
involved i'm a lawsuit for a considerable
amount with an interior firm because the
goods received by the firm did not have
The INSPECTION tag attached as required by
law The fact that the Commissioner of
Agriculture authorized this step does not
help the case of the tertllzer company
any. Id is said
81 am satisfied that this is the correct
exclamation of the large sales of tags"
saId the fertilizer man. I'VE bought $1,000
worth of tags ourselves during January
or sufficient to tag 5000 tons, although
we had 1900 tags on hand. 1t was done
simply as a precaution TO insure against
being caught in the same box that we were
last year ] am satisfied that the same
precaution was taken by the Virginia
Carolina Chemical Company and other fer
ulIzer companies. The tags are l cent
each and ten tags are used to a ton"
The fertilizer business SO far has been
fairly satisfactory, the shipments for jan
uarv beng somewhat in excess of those
Of last year. The heavy movement has not
begun as yet, however, and, owing to the
reported shortage, will hardly equal that
Of last year.
There is a well founded apprehension
that the higher prices of cotton will cause
many of the farmers who had decided to
" luce thsIr cotton acreage this year 10
change their minds and. plant more cot
ton than ever. 1t is said that many of
them are holding back their cotton seed,
Notwithstanding the present high prices.
with the expectation of turning the seed
loose at fancy prices and replacing this
natural fertilizer with the commercial ar
hcle. Should the farmers pursue this pol
ley a heavy demand for fertilizers may
De expected i'm the next few weeks