The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-08-15
CoMPOSITIoN nF FrRr1rnzrRs


COMPOSITION OF FERTILIZERS.
The commercial value of a fertilizer Is
based upon the quantities Of potash pnos,
phonc acid and nitrogen which 1t con.
tains. And to some extent upon the solu.
bility or availability of these ingredients.
Inc form Of the nitrogen may have some
lnhuence; that Is, whether IT Is present as
the nitrate Nitrogen, us In chile satpeter-
ammonia nitrogen. as In the murnte or sui
ph0te of ammonia, or organic nitrogen as
N cotton seed meal
The fertilizer In addition to the above.
may carry lime. magnesium or organic mat
Ter. all of them havinl; perhaps some real
value but they are not considered in max.
ing up the commercial value OF the FER
tilizer The cost of the above ingredients
varies slightly from year to year. Potash
is ! to cents a pound phosphoric acid
Il TO cents pound; nitrogen " Ia IA
cents a pound. In this state | place
valuation on the available phosphoric acid
only, The available is the sum OF that
which IL soluble in water, with that which
when applied to the soil will become solu-
BILE In the acid juices eXuded by the pant.
The phosphorlc acid In bone meal, tankage
and few other fertilizers does not have
the same value as when readily soluble.
1t Is usually valued at from to- 3Is cents
"a Mound. In studying the value OF a Ter
tii2er, especially bone meal and tankage,
s degree of hnesness must he taken into
consideration. II the hone meal is not very
finely ground 1t is not likely TO he entirely
available during the first season. In buy
Ing a fertilizer the purchaser should care
fully Inspect the label showing its compost
ton and valuation lie should remember
tuat nitrogen In the nitrate form Is
little more valuable than in any other con
dition. Potash as the sulphate has ut
tie advantage over that in the muriate
or In the organic combination. phosphoric
acid as an acid phosphate, or superphos-
phato, as II is sometimes called. is most
readily available and usually most desra-
BILE
The fertilizer manufacturers selling IN
this state at the present time are: The
New Orleans Acid and Fertilizer company,
the standard Guano and Chemical Manu-
featuring company of New orleans, La,
the jackson Fertilizer company Of JACK
son, Miss, the Meridian Fertilizer company
Of Meridian. Miss, the Car Chemical com
pauy Of Memphis Tenn. the Shreveport
Fertilizer company of Shreveport, La, the
Crescent city Stack Yard and slaughter
company of New Orleans La, the Armour
Packing company and the Swift Packing
company of Kansas cry, tPn., the hous-
the Union Meat company Of san Antonio,
Texas, John Marhach nf New Braunreis
Texas, These compaics handle from one
To several brands each, with q total sale
In the state during the last season aggre
eating AJOO tons. Placing an average val
nation on this OF Sl7 % the ton 1t repre-
SCENTS an investment Of Sfb,1b. By Tar the
larger part Of this has been spent in East
Texas in the production Of truck crops. or
course the use of fertilizers has Just begun
IN this State our virgin soil and it's com
paratiye high fertility gives the truck farm
crs Of the state great advantage over
their competitors in the older States. where
not only truck crops but all kinds Of neid
crops must be heavily fortified to bring
profitable returns. Georgia uses as much
as 85OOOO tons annually, representing an
expt ndIture Of about s6ODo,OOO An enor-
nous hut absolutely necessary tax upon the
agriculture Of the State. Yet. even In this
state. fertilizers upon profitable crops are
not only advisable from a money considtra.
lion but absolutely necessary for the most
profitable net returns