INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LIME PRODUCTS 

 FOR THE SEASON OF 1935 



By H. D. Haskins, Official Chemist" 



Manufacturers and Brands 



During 1935, twenty-four firms registered for sale in Massachusetts fifty- 

 three brands of lime products advertised and sold for neutralizing acid soils, 

 and one brand of land plaster or gypsum. The products are grouped as follows: 



Hydra ted or slaked lime 31 



Ground limestone 21 



Oyster shell lime 1 



Total 53 



Gypsum 1 



All of the lime products registered in Massachusetts during the year were 

 sampled and analyzed and the results appear in this bulletin. Most of the 

 samples were secured by the same agents who drew the samples for the fertilizer 

 inspection, and were taken from all parts of the State during a ten-week period 

 following April 1. A few samples were drawn, upon request, during the fall 

 when much of the land in the Connecticut Valley is plowed and limed in prep- 

 aration for the onion crop to be grown the following spring. The samples 

 numbered 117, represented 54 brands, and were drawn from stock in the pos- 

 session of 92 agents or owners. 



Two products not registered in the State during 1935 have also been included: 

 Jag's Hydrated Pure Lime, manufactured by Atlas Products & Manufacturing 

 Co., Philadelphia, Penn., was found on sale at only one hardware store. It was 

 sold only in small packages and was advertised for general use. The analysis 

 is included since some of it may have been used on local gardens. Herzog's 

 White Lime, manufactured by the Herzog Lime & Stone Co., Forest, Ohio, was 

 sampled at two stores. In both cases the product was sold only in small pack- 

 ages and had been carried over from 1934 when the product was registered. 

 No new lots were sold in Massachusetts during 1935. 



Variations and Deficiencies in the Composition of Lime Products 



Lime products used as soil amendments may be divided into two groups, the 

 high calcium and the high magnesium limes, both of which are found among 

 the fine ground limestones as well as among the hydrated products. The high 

 magnesium limes usually have a higher neutralizing value besides furnishing 

 the plant food element magnesium in available form. Some Massachusetts 

 soils are showing evidences of magnesium deficiency, and on such soils the high 

 magnesium products may prove the best selection. Their cost is usually about 

 the same as that of the high calcium products. 



Sixty-nine per cent of the lime products analyzed showed no deficiencies, 

 and in many cases where small deficiencies did occur in one of the elements, an 

 overrun of the companion element gave a sufficient increase in neutralizing 

 value so that the small deficiency was of little significance. 



'Assisted by H. Robert DeRose, First Assistant Chemist; James T. Howard, C. L. Whiting, 

 and G. E. Taylor, Sampling Agents. 



