No. C. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 



The examination of commercial fertilizers found upon the markets 

 of the State, twice during each year, and the publication and dis- 

 tribution of the bulletins showing the result of these examinations, 

 forms a considerable part of the work of the Department. Great 

 pains is taken to secure as nearly as possible, samples of every 

 brand of fertilizer sold in the State. For sampling purposes, the 

 .State is divided into fourteen districts, and an agent of the De- 

 partment, commissioned and sworn to faithfully and impartially 

 perform the duties assigned him, is put to work in each district, as 

 nearly as possible at the periods when the fertilizers used for fall 

 and spring seeding begin to move. Each agent is instructed to con- 

 tinue his work from day to day, until 96 samples have been secured, 

 which usually requires about four weeks. The samples as collected 

 are sent under seal to the chemist who makes the analysis, accom- 

 panied b} r a report giving full information concerning each sample, 

 whereby its identity can be preserved, and a copy of the same 

 report is sent to this Department, where a complete record of the 

 history of each sample is kept. 



As soon as the work of analysis is completed, a bulletin is pre- 

 pared, giving results of analysis whereby purchasers may be advised 

 concerning the quality and value of each sample analyzed. The 

 Department makes every possible effort to get the bulletin of each 

 season (spring and fall) printed and distributed before fertilizers 

 to be used the following season are bought, so that purchasers 

 may have the benefit of the information it contains to assist them 

 in making their selection. In this we are not always successful, 

 owing to the magnitude of the work to be done and the short time 

 we have in which to accomplish it. 



During the year 1905, the number of different brands of fertilizers 

 taken by our agents was 986, and yet when we oompare this number 

 with the number of licenses issued to manufacturers to sell within 

 the State, we find that only 86 per cent, of the whole number of 

 brands sold in the State was secured. The very short period during 

 the spring and fall seeding season of each year that fertilizers arc- 

 to be found in the possession of dealers and consumers, and the 

 limited amount of money that can be spent upon this work, render 

 it impossible to make the work more complete. This work is accom- 

 plished without cost to the State, the money used being derived 

 from the license fees paid by manufacturers. 



The Act of Assembly regulating the manufacture and sale of 

 commercial fertilizers requires, that every package of such fertili- 

 zers, sold, offered or exposed for sale within the Commonwealth, 

 shall have plainly stamped thereon, the name of the manufacturer, 

 the place where manufactured, the net weight of its contents and 

 an analysis stating the percentage therein contained of nitrogen, 

 in an available form, of potash, soluble in water, of soluble and 

 inverted phosphoric acid and of insoluble phosphoric acid. 



It is unfortunate that the Act does not require manufacturers to 

 give, in addition to the foregoing information, a statement of the 

 sources from which the several elements of the plant food they 

 contain are derived. Phosphoric acid, as found in commercial fer- 

 tilizers, may be derived from what is commonlv known as South 

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