454 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



covering license fees should be made payable to the Secretary, State 

 Board of Agriculture. (Sec. 3.) 



Penalties. Any jjersou or persons who shall be found guilty of sell- 

 ing or offering for sale any commercial fertilizer in violation of the pro- 

 visions of the law shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars for 

 the first offense and not less than three hundred dollars for each sub- 

 sequent offense. (Sec. 6.) 



DEALERS. 



Companies to represent. Kepresent only such companies as properly 

 register all the brands they send into the State. Before accepting a ship- 

 ment of fertilizers for resale find out by -writing to the Chemist of the 

 Experiment Station if the registration has been made and the license 

 fee paid. 



Storing. Fertilizers should be stored in a dry, waterproof building 

 and should never be piled directly on the ground. Failure to observe this 

 precaution may cause the fertilizers to absorb an unusual amount of 

 moisture and, consequently, to run below guarantee. Furthermore, im- 

 properly stored fertilizer is liable to become hard, in which condition 

 it cannot be handled in a drill without regrinding and even distribution 

 by hand is much more difficult. When two or more brands of fertilizer 

 are stored in the same building they should be separated by a narrow 

 aisle to insure against the brands. getting mixed. 



Sampling. Any duly authorized agent of the State Board of Agri- 

 culture is empowered to select samples, for the purpose of analysis, 

 from any commercial fertilizer exposed for sale in the State. All in- 

 spectors sent out for this purpose will be provided with an authorization 

 signed by the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture and only such 

 persons have authority to collect samples. 



CONSUMERS. 



The fertilizer law is for your protection, therefore do not purchase un- 

 licensed fertilizers from dealers outside of the State, even when offered 

 at a great bargain, for, in such cases, the law can offer you no protec- 

 tion. 



Do not send samples for analysis without first writing to the Chemist 

 of the Experiment Station for instruction in regard to taking the sam- 

 ple. This is very important as this Department will analyze only those 

 samples secured by the regular inspectors or those taken in accordance 

 with our instructions. 



Consult the fertilizer bulletins and find out what companies are most 

 consistently fulfilling their obligations as to the amounts of plant-food 

 guaranteed. 



Low crop yields may be due to any one of a number of causes such as 

 poor drainage, soil acidity, poor physical condition, insufficient moist- 

 ure, unfavorable climatic condition, lack of available plant-food, etc. 

 Fertilizers can correct only one of these causes, namely, lack of plant- 

 food, and they should not be condemned when they fail to produce re- 

 sults if the real cause of low yields is due to some other condition. 



The best results from the use of commercial fertilizers will 6e obtained, 

 only, when all of the conditions affecting plant growth are as nearly 



