EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



FERTILIZER BULLETIIs^. 



BY R. C. KEDZIE, CHEMIST. 



Bulletin 161. — Chemical Department. 



Act No. 26 of the session laws of 1885 provides for the inspection, analysis and 

 licensing of commercial fertilizers sold or offered for sale in this State, under the 

 direction of the State Board of Agriculture. The law has heen printed in full in 

 the Fertilizer Bulletins in years past, and it is not necessary to reprint it now. A 

 summary of its provisions is given instead of the full text. 



1. Any person selling a commercial fertilizer, the retail price of vr'hich exceeds 

 $10, must stamp each package with the trade name, number of pounds and the 



percentage of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 



2. Before offering such fertilizer for sale, a certificate of its analysis and a 

 specimen of such fertilizer must be deposited with the Secretary of the Board, 



with a fee of $20 for each brand of fertilizer, on or before the first day of May. 

 If the manufacturer fulfills all the conditions of this section for any given bi-and 



of fertilizer, his agent for such fertilizer is not required to take out a license; 

 otherwise each agent must take out a license, or be liable to the penalty. 



3. The penalty for violating this law is a fine of not less than $100 for the first 

 offense and $300 for every subsequent offense. 



The law is very plain, and it would seem that no one need misunderstand it. 

 Yet a few points need to be emphasized. The sample of fertilizer, certificate of 

 analysis and fee for license must be deposited with the Secretary on or before the 

 first day of May each year. If the manufacturer neglects or refuses to take out 

 a license, each dealer must take out a license to avoid the penalty. It would be 

 wise for the retailer to refuse to handle the fertilizers of any manufacturer who 

 does not protect his agents by promptly complying with the law. The agent 

 would regard it as a hardship to pay $100 fine because of the neglect of his 

 principal. 



OBJECT OF THE LAW. 



It is the aim of this law to protect two classes; the farmer in buying fertilizers, 

 and the manufacturer in selling his products. By publishing the real nature of 

 the fertilizer as shown by analysis of the material found in the open market the 

 intelligent farmer can make some estimate of the value and know the amount 

 of desirable materials in the fertilizer, and thus be protected from fraud. The 

 honest manufacturer is protected by the same means from the competition of dis- 



