INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LIME PRODUCTS 

 FOR THE SEASON OF 1936 



By H. D. Raskins, Official Chemist' 



Manufacturers and Brands 



During 1936, 23 firms registered for sale in Massachusetts 50 brands of lime 

 products, advertised and sold for neutralizing acid soils, one brand of gypsum 

 or land plaster, and one brand of agricultural tale. The products are grouped as 

 follows : 



Hydrated or slaked lime 27 



Ground limestone 21 



Oyster shell lime 1 



Lime ashes 1 



Total 50 



Gypsum 1 



Talc 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 weeks' period 

 following April 1. The samples numbered 124, representing 53 brands, and 

 were drawn from stock in the possession of 97 agents or owners. There were 57 

 analyses made. 



One product not registered in the State during 1936 has been included in the 

 analyses: Gibsonburg Hi Lime, manufactured by the Gibsonburg Lime Products 

 Co., Gibsonburg, Ohio. This material was found on sale at the S. S. Kresge 

 Company's store in Boston. When informed that registration was necessary, 

 the product was withdrawn from sale by the manufacturer. It had been sold 

 only in small packages for general use and only a few packages had been disposed 

 of. 



Variations and Deficiencies in the Composition of Lime Products. 



No attempt has been made in the tables of analyses to segregate the high 

 calcium from the high magnesium products. Both high calcium and high mag- 

 nesium materials are found among the limestones as well as among the hydrated 

 limes and ai-e effective as neutrahzing agents when applied to soil. The cost of 

 the high magnesium products is usually about the same as for the high calcium 

 products. The former has the higher neutralizing value and of course supplies 

 magnesium in available form, this being of considerable importance when used 

 on soils deficient in available magnesia. 



About 79 per cent of the lime products analyzed showed no deficiencies. In 

 case of the ground unburned products (hmestone and shell lime) which showed 

 deficiencies, with one exception the low test was accompanied by a sufficient 



'Assisted by H. Robert DeRose, .\lbort F. Spelman, Assistant Chemists, James T. Howard, 

 C L.Whiting and G. E. Taylor, Sampling Agents. 



