REPORT OF BUREAU OF IXSPECTIOX. 1/5 



unregistered merely through an oversight on the part of the 

 manufacturers, evidently entirely unintentional. 



When, upon analysis, goods were found untrue to guar- 

 anty — which happened in only a very few cases — a report of the 

 analysis was sent to the parties responsible, a hearing arranged, 

 and the parties not excused until a satisfactor)- explanation 

 regarding the deficiency was given. 



During the past season it was brought to the attention of 

 the department that the New Mineral Fertilizer Company, 

 who have a plant at Rumford, ]\Iaine, had been selling goods 

 evidently contrary to the law, no registration having been 

 issued to them from this office. In order to ascertain the 

 volume of business and the amount of the product shipped 

 from Rumford station from January first, 1914, to May ninth, 

 1914, the matter was carefully taken up by one of the inspec- 

 tors and the result of his investigation showed that two hun- 

 dred and twent>'-four tons had been shipped out of the state 

 and fifty^two tons shipped to different points within the state. 

 It was also ascertained from the different people to whom 

 these goods had been shipped that actual sales had taken 

 place; possessed of this evidence, a hearing was arranged with 

 the New Mineral Fertilizer Company and a request made for 

 an explanation as to why registration had not been arranged. 

 Samples of the goods were obtained through several sources 

 and analyses made and the parties to whom the goods had 

 been shipped, the director of the Experiment Station and the 

 writer, appeared before the Grand Jury in Portland at the 

 September term of court. A true bill was found by the Grand 

 Jury but, owing to the congestion of business at that time, the 

 case was continued. After all that has been written warning 

 people concerning the worthlessness of this product for fertil- 

 izing purposes, it seems almost incredible that this company 

 were able to dispense two hundred and seventy-five tons. 



In the late summer and during the remainder of the year, 

 numerous inquiries were received from the fertilizer compa- 

 nies as to what the attitude of the department would be 

 towards those companies selling goods containing less potash 

 than in former seasons; also, numerous letters containing in^- 

 formation that the potash content in most of the fertilizers to 

 be registered would necessarily be less, were addressed to thi^ 



