2/2 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



that the statements thereon are apparently in accord with 

 truth. Weighings are often made in order to see that the net 

 weight actnally containefl in the package does not fall below 

 the guaranteed weight; and there must be constant watch for 

 old, shop-worn and damaged goods. 



The fertilizer inspection must of necessity be carried on 

 almost entirely during the early spring months just before that 

 commodity is used by the farmers. While a large amount of 

 fertilizer comes into the State during the fall and winter and 

 is stored in large warehouses, more and more is being shipped 

 into the State by rail and directly to the points of consumption 

 so that the collection of samples of the various brands becomes 

 more and more difficult and involves a larger expenditure of 

 time and money each year. 



The feeding stuffs inspection comes naturally during the 

 fall and winter months when commercial feeding stuffs are 

 most in use. This work also increases year by year as the 

 consumption of commercial cattle feeds increases. The impor- 

 tance of this inspection becomes more and more apparent as 

 the number of compounded feeding stufifs on sale increases. 

 The tendency to use waste and inferior materials, screenings, 

 chaff, oat clippings, hulls, cob meal, and other low grade ma- 

 terials, is ever increasing and the importance of having such 

 compounds marked plainly so that the consumer may know 

 exactly what he is getting is, of course, apparent. 



The inspection of agricultural seeds also comes during the 

 spring months just before the seed is placed in the ground. A 

 comparatively few samples of seeds are actually analyzed be- 

 cause the seed analyst himself does the actual work of inspection 

 and no samples are taken unless the appearance of the goods 

 indicates that the guarantees accompanying it may be too high, 

 or for some other reason there is cause for suspicion. 



The insecticides and fungicides inspected include all classes 

 of materials which arc used to destroy, repel, or mitigate in any 

 way insect and fungus pests. The requirements of the insecti- 

 cide and fungicide law are more recent than the other inspec- 

 tion laws of the State, btit the importance of the work is already 

 evident. 



The inspection of foods and drugs goes on constantly through- 

 out the year, and the number of samples collected does not 



