ment Corporation, which in 1916 was a holding company, has been disbanded and its interests taken over by the International Agricultural Corporation. Similarly, the Home Mixture Guano Co., which operated a large fertilizer plant at Columbus, Ga., and held various interests in 13 dry-mixing plants, has been transferred to the International Agricultural Corporation. All of the stock of the Prairie Pebble Phosphate Co., which owns 39,000 acres of phosphate lands in Florida, and the Florida Mining Co. are now owned by the International Co. This concern also owns 50 per cent of the Kaliwarke Sollstedt Gewerkschaft, a German corporation, which owns potash mines at Sollstedt, Germany.

The Armour Fertilizer Works was incorporated August 14, 1909, under the laws of the State of New Jersey, with a capital stock of $1,000,000, all of which is owned by the stockholders of Armour & Co., of Chicago, Ill. Branch offices are maintained in Cincinnati and Sandusky, Ohio; Savannah, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; Baltimore, Md.; New York City; Greensboro, N. C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; and Porto Rico. Sales offices are also maintained at Albany, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala. The Tennessee Chemical Co., whose stock was recently increased from $200,000 to $1,000,000, and the Hope Fertilizer Co. are the only two subsidairy companies owned direct by the Armour Fertilizer Works which were owned at the time of the former report. Other companies owned by the Armour concern are the Farmers' Cooperative Fertilizer Co. of Richmond, Va., with capital stock of $10,000; the Jarecki Chemical Co., with offices in Cincinnati and Sandusky, Ohio, capitalized at $800,000; the Midway Products Co., of Jeffersonville, Ind., capitalized at $10,000; the Merrill Products Corporation, with headquarters in Utah, capitalized at $1,000,000, which was organized for the purpose of exploiting certain potash deposits; the Santini Fertilizer Co., with headquarters at Porto Rico, capitalized at $25,000; and the Blue Grass Phosphate Co., of Centerville, Tenn., with a capital stock of $200,000, of which Armour & Co. own 465 shares.

The F. S. Royster Guano Co. is a corporation organized under the laws of Virginia in July, 1900, with main offices at Norfolk, Va. The capital stock authorized and outstanding is $1,000,000 preferred and $1,473,800 common. It also has a bonded indebtedness of $2,437,500. Branch offices are also maintained at Toledo, Ohio; Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S. C.; and Montgomery, Ala. The following are subsidiary companies whose policies are dictated by the Royster concern: Pamlico Chemical Co. (Inc.), Washington, N. C.; the Old Buck Guano Co., Richmond, Va.; the Muskogee Guano Co., Columbia, S. C.; and the Pocahontas Guano Co., of Lynchburg, Va. All of the common stock of the Jefferson Agricultural Chemical Corporation, of Birmingham, Ala., amounting to $2,000,000, has been acquired and bonds given to take over the $3,000,000 of preferred stock.

The Swift Fertilizer Works is a division of Swift & Co., of Chicago, Ill., but no estimate has been made as to the amount invested in the fertilizer branch of their business. Since the publication of the former report by the commission in 1916 there have been several changes in the different companies and plants of the Swift Fertilizer Works. Complete plants with acid chambers are now operated at Norfolk, Va., Lagrange, Ga., and Greensboro, N. C.,

in addition to the plants which were already in operation at Wilmington, N. C., Atlanta Ga., and Harvey, La. Plants without acid chambers are in operation at Hammond Ind., East St. Louis, Ill., Baltimore, Md., Savannah, Ga., and Cleveland, Ohio. Dry mixers are located at Tocoa, Ga., Savannah, Ga., Chester, S. C., Cloumbia, S. C., Shreveport, La., South St. Paul, Minn., South St. Joseph, Mo. South Omaha, Nebr., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Other important concerns are the Baugh companies, which include Baugh & Sons Co., Philadephia, Pa., capitalized at $1,000,000; the Baugh & Sons Co., Baltimore, Md., capitalized at $50,000; and the Baugh Chemical Co., Baltimore, Md., capitalized at $500,000; the Read Phosphate Co., of Savannah, Ga., which owns three plants and controls through stock ownership several smaller concerns; the Mutual Fertilizer Co., of Savannah, Ga., capitalized at $300,000; and the Wilson & Toomer Fertilizer Co., of Jacksonville, Fla., capitalized at $250,000.

SECTION 4.-WHERE FERTILIZER USED.

It is probably generally known that the bulk of the fertilizer produced is used in the agricultural States east of the Mississippi River and that the consumption is heaviest in the Southeastern States. However, in discussing the conditions under which fertilizer has been sold during the past few years it is important that this fact be borne in mind. The statistics as to consumption for the years 1917-1921, inclusive, have been compiled. These figures are fairly accurate for the Southern States having tonnage taxes and for the other States represent estimates from the most reliable sources. The quantities used in the United States for the five-year period is shown in the table below, which was compiled from the American Fertilizer Hand Book for 1922:

TABLE 1.-Consumption of commercial fertilizers in the United States, by States,

For the five-year period the consumption was highest in 1920 and lowest in 1921. In 1920 it was estimated that 7,639,239 tons were used, which exceeded the consumption for any previous year by about

1,000,000 tons. In 1921 the estimated consumption was only 5,214,523 tons, which, according to the Fertilizer Handbook, was the least consumed in any year since 1909.

Particular attention is called to the large quantities used in the Southeastern States. Three States in this section, namely, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, rank above all others during each of the five years. In 1921 the consumption in six States in this section, namely, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia Florida, and Alabama, constituted about 52 per cent of the total for the United States, while in 1920 it was nearly 60 per cent of the total. The decline in the amount consumed in 1921 in this section was due to the large decrease in the quantities used in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, the total consumption in these States in 1920 being 1,794,040 tons greater than in 1921.

CHAPTER II.-CONTROL OF PRINCIPAL MATERIALS.

SECTION 1.-INTRODUCTION.

The three essential elements entering into the composition of commercial fertilizer, are: (a) Nitrogen, the chief sources of which are nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, as well as certain organic materials. In the fertilizer industry, nitrate of soda is classed as a nitrate while the other nitrogenous materials whether inorganic, i. e., mineral-or organic, i. e., derived from animal or vegetable matter are classed as ammoniates, since they are supposed to give up their nitrogen in the form of ammonia when mixed with the soil. (6) Phosphates, the principal source of which is known commercially as acid phosphate, the chief carrier of phosphoric acid, and (c) Potassium, known to the chemist as K,O, and to the general trade as potassium salts, or potash.

Mixed fertilizer is prepared according to different formulæ made up of these three elements in varying proportions, and different well-known brands on the market are known by the formulæ in which these exact proportions are expressed. For example, in making up the popular grade of fertilizer known to the trade as 2-8-2, the mixture would contain 2 per cent of nitrogen (nitrates or ammoniates), 8 per cent of phosphates (acid phosphate), and 2 per cent of potash. In case one of the organic ammoniates is used, for example, cottonseed meal, which contains 7 per cent of ammonia; the ordinary 16 per cent acid phosphate of commerce; and manure salts, containing 20 per cent of actual potash, the mixture, when completed, would be made up as follows:

Two per cent of a 2,000-pound ton amounts to 40 pounds; to get 40 pounds of ammonia from 7 per cent cottonseed meal, it will be necessary to use 571 pounds of cottonseed meal to get the right proportion. The amount of phosphoric acid required is 8 per cent of a ton, or 160 pounds. In order to obtain 160 pounds from a 16 per cent acid phosphate, it will be necessary to use 1,000 pounds of acid phosphate. In order to get the 2 per cent, the required amount of potash, 40 pounds is needed. If manure salts are used, containing 20 per cent of K2O, or actual potash, the exact amount of manuer salts necessary would be 200 pounds. The sum total of the three

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materials used would thus amount to 1,771 pounds, which, with the addition of 229 pounds filler, would make up the ton of mixed fertilizer.

SECTION 2.-NITROGEN.

The chief sources of nitrogen used in the manufacture of fertilizer are nitrate of soda, cyanamide, nitrate of lime, and sulphate of ammonia, these being the principal inorganic nitrogenous materials. Among the organic materials, which are largely domestic, are cottonseed meal; dry blood and abattoir tankage, by-products from packing and rendering establishments; and fish scrap, which comes from fish scrap factories and fish canneries along the Atlantic coast.

Nitrate of soda is produced in Chile by refining a mineral known as caliche. The only known natural deposits in the world that have any commercial value, are situated in the arid regions of northern Chile. Such low grade deposits of nitrate as have been found elsewhere in both North and South America are negligible so far as being utilized for commercial purposes.

The first shipment of nitrate from the South American deposits was in 1830, but exports did not become important until 1880. At the present time the principal source of revenue for the Chilean Government is the output of the nitrate fields. Since 1880 a tax amounting to $11.19 per net ton has been levied on all exports of nitrate of soda. At the close of the war of Peru and Bolivia against Chile (1879-1881), the nitrate fields of the former came into the possession of Chile. Since that time, in addition to the taxes on exports, the Chilean Government has derived a large income from the sale of its nitrate lands. At certain periods auctions were held under a special legislative act, the quantity and quality of the nitrate in the lands to be sold being appraised by the Government, which also fixed the minimum price per quintal. The Government likewise established a fiscal commission of nitrate lands to prospect and survey the nitrate fields, and in 1894 the producers of nitrate formed an association for the promotion of propaganda, and two years later this association was incorporated under the laws of the Chilean Government as the Nitrate Propaganda Association.

In 1920 there were 103 nitrate oficinas or plants in operation. At the present time some of these are no longer working, but others have been established and more are under construction. There is considerable American capital invested in the securities of various nitrate companies. Ever since the war with Peru (1879-1881), the production of nitrate in Chile has shown for the most part a tendency to outstrip consumption. To control this situation, various agreements have been made to restrict output, and from 1886 to 1914 there were six different combinations, and since that time down to the present there have been several combinations formed with the same object in view. The general features of these combination agreements were as follows:

(1) The total exportation of nitrate of soda during each year was agreed upon.

(2) Initial quotas for each producer were fixed at the beginning of each combination, and the actual quotas each year determined by taking a certain percentage of the initial quotas. This percentage figure was the proportion of the aggregate initial quotas represented

by the total quantity agreed upon for export, making due allowance for the quantity to be produced by new mines, etc.

(3) If a member produced a quantity 15 per cent in excess of his allotment for exportation, he incurred a heavy penalty. Furthermore, the 15 per cent excess production could not be exported during the year but must be computed as part of the quota for the following

year.

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(4) If a member exported a quantity in excess of his allotment he paid a heavy penalty for the excess.

(5) An oficina must produce its full quota during the nitrate year or lose its right to produce its full quota during the following year. (6) If an oficina did not export its whole quota during the year, it could ship the balance in the following year provided that it was produced during the preceding year.

(7) Provision was made for the admission of new oficinas; their allotments reduced the quotas of those already in the combination. (8) An owner of several oficinas was allowed to apportion his total allotment among them as he chose.

These combinations were never able to exert a controlling influence upon the price of nitrate except for short periods of time. They never succeeded in controlling all the oficinas at any one time, and never attempted to go beyond regulating the output. It was often suggested that if the distribution were also placed in the hands of the Government, a much more stable market would be assured and dealers could carry stock without incurring the risk now caused by constantly fluctuating prices.

Most of the nitrate produced in Chile was sold through commission houses to exporters who bought their nitrate in the Valparaiso markets and exported from the different Chilean ports to the markets of the world. The price of nitrate of soda was fixed in the European markets, where its consumption for agricultural purposes was heaviest and where it entered into competition with sulphate of ammonia, cyanamide, and other air nitrates, prices in the United States and alongside vessel in Chile being determined by prices in the European markets and the prevailing ocean freight rates. The lack of adjustment between supply and demand and the uncertainty of adequate vessel tonnage made the sale of nitrate a peculiarly speculative occupation.

In 1914 total shipments from Chile amounted to 1,806,900 tons, of which 518,850 tons were shipped to the United States, although during that year the total production amounted to 2,407,500 tons. In 1920 the total shipments from Chile amounted to 2,730,850 tons, of which 1,237,250 tons were shipped to the United States, the total production in that year amounting to 2,463,200 tons. These figures hardly offset the differences between production and shipment of the preceding year, when, according to the best figures available, the total shipments amounted to 899,800 tons as against a total production of 1,613,900 tons. The largest American importing houses are W. R. Grace & Co., of New York, and Wessel, Duvall & Co., of New York. Although these houses import the bulk of the nitrate of soda used in the United States, they have never been able to control the price. Nearly every year other Chilean exporters attempted to establish themselves in the American field, and the practice of diverting cargoes in midocean to whatever market may