Notes on the Fertilizer xVct. 35 



Potash salts of less purity are supposed not lo be entitled to the 

 name applied to the pure article. It is to be noted that for many 

 common commercial fertilizers no standards are laid down. In a 

 number of these, such as nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, 

 the " refraction," as it is called in the trade — that is the percentage 

 of matter other than that chemically entitled to the name used — is 

 practically constant and the articles are to all intents standardized by 

 the trade. Should occasion arise, however, it is obvious that the 

 principle adopted for potash salts could be extended to other ferti- 

 lizers. No definitions have been adopted with respect to farm foods, 

 but as a matter of course the article must actually be what it purports 

 to be. 



Control. 



Under Sections 14 and 15 an officer in the public service who acts 

 under written authority from the Department may enter any premises 

 where fertilizers, farm foods, etc., are kept or suspected of being kept 

 for sale and purchase samples of these articles. These samples must 

 be divided each into three parts, one of which must be sent to an 

 analyst duly appointed. The officer purchasing, l>eing a buyer, must 

 be furnished with an invoice. Should the fertilizer or farm food be 

 found upon analysis or examination to be not of the nature, composi- 

 tion, or quality as described in the invoice proceedings may be insti- 

 tuted against the seller for contravention of Section G or of any regula- 

 tion which may apply in the particular case. Another portion of the 

 sample must be handed to the seller, who may, if he doiibts the 

 analysis furnished by the official analyst, submit the portion for 

 analysis to any analyst not being in Government employ. The seller 

 may also, under certain conditions, demand a fmther analysis. 

 (Section 19.) 



Any purchaser of a fertilizer or farm food, iiot being the officer 

 authorized thereto, may under certain conditions take samples and 

 submit them to a duly appointed analyst. (Regulation No. 27.) The 

 regulation should be carefully studied by those who desire to take 

 advantage thereof. It must be remembered that failure to comply 

 with the details will -almost certainly stultify any subsequent legal 

 proceedings. 



Saving Clauses. 



A vendor in the second place who purchases a duly registered 

 fertilizer or farm food under a written warranty and, having no 

 reason to believe that the article was otherwise, who sells it in the 

 same state as that in whicli he bought it is not liable for any short- 

 comings in the article. 



Further, if the seller prove that the sample was not representa- 

 tive, which it might not be in certain cases, and if he prove in addi- 

 tion that there is reasonable ground for believing that the article was 

 fraudulently placed in the containing leceptacle he shall be dis- 

 charged.* (Section 21.) 



It should he noted that proof of intention to defraud is not 

 necessary . (Section 20.) 



* Cases similar to those which would fall under this portion of Section 21 are not 

 unknown. In a recent prosecution for milk adulteration, one analyst found about 3^ per 

 cent, of fat in one portion of the sample while another found over 11 per cent, in another. 

 It is obvious that the portions were not the same, the fault lay in the sample or the sampling. 



