14 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THJ3 Off. Doc. 



lu response to the expressed wishes of many of the farmers of 

 the State, an attempt was made during the last session of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly, to secure an amendment to the fertilizer law, so 

 that it shall provide that the statement to be attached to every 

 package sold, shall not only show the percentage of phosporic acid, 

 potash and nitrogen the goods contain, but the sources also from 

 which these ingredients are derived. Some of the elements used in 

 compounding fertilizers dissolve much more promptly than others, 

 and a quick growing crop will be benefitted much more by a fertili- 

 zer made up of materials that dissolve readily than one that re- 

 quires a longer period for becoming available. For this reason, it 

 is very important that the farmer should know what he is apply- 

 ing to his soil. 



The bill to amend passed the House of Kepresentatives without 

 opposition or delay, but it did not fare so well when it reached the 

 Senate. It remained in committee for an unusually long period 

 and after two hearings were given by the committee to parties 

 wishing to be heard, it was referred to a second and dilfereut com- 

 mittee, from which its friends were unable to secure a report. 



An important service will be performed for the farmers of the 

 State, if such a measure is passed at the next meeting of the Legis- 

 lature. 



FEEDING STUFFS. 



The act of Assembly regulating the manufacture and sale of 

 feeding stuffs has produced results that should be very gratifying 

 to those responsible for its passage. Many feeds of little value 

 that were being sold at comparatively high prices have been driven 

 from the markets of the State. We are glad to note that only a 

 very small per cent, of the low grade and adulterated feeds sam- 

 pled by the agents of the Department were the products of Penn- 

 sylvania manufacturers. 



During the year, five hundred and sixty samples were drawn and 

 four hundred and ninety-eight were analyzed at the laboratory of 

 the Department. A careful examination of the Annual Feeding 

 Stuffs Bulletin, will show that there is a greater equality between 

 the actual value of the feeds upon which report is made, than in 

 former years. 



The act of May 28, 1907, commonly known as the ''New Feeding 

 Stuffs Law," has completely cleared our markets of what is known 

 as Condimental Feeds. A very large amount of correspondence 

 between manufacturers of such feeds and the Department was nec- 

 essary before the former could be induced to give up the practice 

 of selling "stock powders" as ''stock foods" with high sounding 

 adjuncts, and descriptive phrases, claiming for such foods great 

 feeding value. The Department was insistent upon strict com- 

 pliance with the law, and manufacturers of such commodities were 

 given a reasonable time to get their products off the market or 

 change their labelling, so that no feeding value should be claimed 

 and the goods be sold under a name that could not mislead the 

 purchaser, and we are glad to be able to record the fact that so far 

 as we can learn, the change has been made without the necessity 

 of bringing any prosecutions. 



