12 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



expense to the Department that aie likely to follow. It is always 

 to be supposed that the dealer makes provision for his own indem- 

 nity, whether he purchases the manufacturer's goods or enters into 

 contract to sell the same as an agent. 



It is gratifying to note that the manufacturers and importers 

 doing business in this State, with few exceptions, are endeavoring 

 to give consumers the values which they are justly entitled to. This 

 is borne out by the following figures: The average selling price of 

 a ton of complete fertilizer found upon the market during the year 

 was ^24.01 with an average commercial valuation of |25.()5; of rock 

 and potash goods the average selling price of a ton was $10.(34 with a 

 commercial valuation of |16.21, and of dissolved rock, the average 

 selling price was |14.51 per ton with a commercial valuation of 

 $14.89. 



BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 



The work done by the Bureau of Chemistry during the year 190S 

 was a continuation of the w^ork of the previous year, embracing 

 the analysis of a large number of samples of concentrated com- 

 mercial feeding stuffs, Paris green and linseed oil, in connection 

 with carrying out the provisions of the laws enacted by the Legis- 

 lature, and known respectively as the concentrated commercial feed- 

 ing stuff law, the Paris green law and the linseed oil law. 



In addition to this work, this Bureau was called upon to analyze 

 material for other Divisions of the Department and for other Depart- 

 ments of the State government. Tlie Chief Chemist had to be pres- 

 ent as a witness at the hearings of many cases before Justices of 

 the Peace and trials before Court, for violations of the several laws 

 to be enforced by this Department. Much assistance was also render- 

 ed to the Secretary by the Chief Chemist in conducting the corres- 

 ])ond(mce relating to laws regulating the sale of feeding stuffs, 

 Paris green and linseed oil, and in sending out reports, bulletins 

 and copies of laws which naturally were called for in connection 

 with the work. The keeping of record books and the bookkeei>ing 

 demanded by the financial end of the work also occupied a consid- 

 erable portion of his time. 



During the year 1908, 1,257 samples of feeding stuffs were col- 

 lected by agents of the Bureau who are employed especially for 

 this work. These samples were received and analyzed according 

 to the provisions of the law and the results reported to the Secre- 

 tary, to the manufacturers of the same and to the dealers from 

 whom the samples were taken. In addition to the samples collected, 

 256 samples of feeds were sent in for analysis by manufacturers 

 and dealers residing within the State, as provided for by law, making 

 a total of 1.513 sani])les of feeds analyzed during the year. Out of 

 the 1,257 official samples reported, 70 were considered violations of 

 the law and prosecutions w-ere ordered in each case. These cases 

 wore ndjnsted satisfnctoiily to the Department, either by payment 

 of fines and costs, or as was sometimes the case, where no serious 

 violation of the law was apjiarent, by the defendants paying the 

 costs and promising to sell their goods properly tagged and branded. 



A number of minor violations relating to proper marking of good"^ 

 were adjusted by correspondence, the parties at fault in every in- 

 stance engaging, in the future, to comply with the law. During the 



