36 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



the manufacturer to the forms of nitrogen in a definite brand. 



It is beHeved that quite heavy losses in crops in this state 

 have occurred in some seasons from lack of sufficient nitrate 

 nitrogen to give the crop an early start. Every farmer who 

 buys fertilizer for potato growing should know whether it con- 

 tains the required amount of nitrogen in this form and the 

 manufacturers should be required to furnish such guaranty. 



As a rule the results of the analyses show that all the fer- 

 tilizers sold in the state correspond reasonably close to their 

 guarantee in total fertilizing elements. 



FEEDING STUFF INSPECTION. 



The feeding stuff inspection is made during the months 

 when the most feeds are used and consequently covers a part 

 of two calendar years. The results of the last completed in- 

 spection were published in May as Official Inspections 50. Five 

 hundred and ninety-three samples were collected and analyzed, 

 complete analyses being made of one sample of each brand and 

 protein on all samples. At the present time less than half 

 the inspection samples have been collected. Many samples of 

 cottonseed meals, however, have been sent in by dealers and 

 early in the season many samples were found to be below 

 guaranty in protein, — so much so that several were reported 

 for prosecution. This inferiority did not seem to be confined 

 to any particular brand but even those brands which can nearly 

 always be relied upon to be up to guaranty fell below. The 

 manufacturers claimed that the inferiority was due to bad 

 weather conditions in the cotton growing states when the seed 

 was harvested, which always impairs the quality of the meal it 

 makes. The samples which have been received recently are of 

 better quality and are well up to their guarantees. 



Other classes of feeds which have been examined correspond 

 well with the guarantees, and very few adulterated feeds have 

 been received. 



FOOD AND DRUG INSPECTION. 



A smaller number (726) of food and drug samples have been 

 handled the past season than usual, owing to quite extensive 

 repairs to the laboratories going on, and a smaller chemical 



