EXPEKIMENT STATION BULLETINS 355 



FERTILIZER ANALYSES. 



BY R. C. KEDZIE, CHEMIST. 



Bulletin 174. — Chemical Depai'tment. 



The law providing for the inspection of commercial fertilizers and to regulate 

 the sale thereof was enacted fourteen years ago. The full text of the law is here 

 inserted: 



Section 1. TJic People of the State of Michigan enact, That any person or persons who 

 shall sell or offer for sale In this State any commercial fertilizer, the retail price of 

 which exceeds ten dollars per ton. shall affix on the outside of every package contain- 

 ing such fertilizer a plainly printed certificate, stating the number of net pounds therein; 

 the name or trade mark under which such article is sold; the name of the manufacturer; 

 the place of manufacture, and a chemical analysis, stating the percentage of nitrogen in 

 an available form; of potash soluble in water and of phosphoric acid in available form 

 (soluble or reverted) and the insoluble phosphoric acid. 



Sec. 2. Before any commercial fertilizer is sold or offered for sale, the manufacturer, 

 importer or party who causes it to be sold or offered for sale within this State, shall file 

 with the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture a certified copy of the analysis and 

 certificate referred to in section one, and shall also deposit with said secretary a sealed 

 glass jar containing not less than two pounds of such fertilizer, with an affidavit that it 

 is a fair sample of the article thus to be sold or offered for sale. 



Sec. 3. The manufacturer, importer, or agent of any commercial fertilizer, the retail 

 price of which exceeds ten dollars per ton as aforesaid, shall pay annually to the secre- 

 tary of the State Board of Agriculture, on or before the first day of May, a license fee 

 of twenty dollars for each and every brand of fertilizer he offers for sale in this State: 

 Provided, That whenever the manufacturer or importer shall have paid this license fee 

 his agents shall not be required to do so. 



Sec. 4. All such analyses of commercial fertilizers required by this act shall be made 

 under the direction of the State Board of Agriculture and paid for out of the funds 

 arising from the license fees provided for in section three. At least one analysis of 

 each fertilizer shall be made annually. . 



Sec. 5. The secretary of the State Board of Agriculture shall publish m his annual 

 report a correct statement of all analyses made and certificates filed in his office; to- 

 gether with a statement of all moneys received for license fees, and expended for 

 analysis. Any surplus from license fees remaining on hand at the close of the fiscal 

 year shall be placed to the credit of the experimental fund of said board. 



Sec 6 Any person or persons who shall sell or offer for sale any commercial tertiii- 

 zer in this State without first complying with the provisions of sections one, two, and 

 three of this act, or who shall attach or cause to be attached to any such package or 

 fertilizer an analysis stating that it contains a larger percentage of any one or more ot 

 the constituents or ingredients named in section one of this act than it really does con- 

 tain shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than one hundred dollars for the 

 first offense, and not less than three hundred dollars for every subsequent offense, and 

 the offender shall also be liable for damages sustained by the purchaser of such fertili- 

 zer on account of such misrepresentation. ,v, ■ ^ oo-or,t i= y,c,^^'hv n,i 



Sec 7 The State Board of Agriculture by any duly authorized agent is hereby au- 

 thorized 'to select from any package of commercial fertilizer exposed for sale m this 

 State a quantity, not exceeding two pounds, for a sample, such sample to be used for 

 thtpurposes of an official analysis and for comparison with the certificate filed with 

 the iecretlry of the State Board of Agriculture and with the certificate affixed to the 



'^^Sec^^^^AH suits for the recoverv of fines under the provisions of this act shall be 

 brought under the direction of the State Board of Agriculture. 

 Approved March 10, 1885. 



OBJECT OF INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 



The law does not prescribe any standard for the composition of a coinmerci:il 

 fertilizer the manufacturer being free to malie his own standard, the law simply 

 requiring that the fertilizers offered for sale shall be up to the standard set up 

 by the manufacturer. The license to sell does not certify to the value of the 



