CONTROL SERVICE 



{A svb-division of the Department of Chemistry, J. B. Lindsey, Chemist) 



INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LIME PRODUCTS 

 FOR THE SEASON OF 1925 



By H. D. Haskins, Official Chemist, assisted by L. S. Walker and 

 G. B. Dalrymple 



MANUFACTURERS AND BRANDS 



During 1925, 21 firms or individuals registered 24 different brands of agricultural 

 lime and two brands of gypsum or land plaster. The general character of the 

 products is indicated below: 



Hydrated or slaked lime 12 



Lime ashes 3 



Precipitated lime 1 



Ground limestone 7 



Ground shell lime 1 



24 

 Gypsum or land plaster 2 



With the exception of four brands, which are listed below, all of the registered 

 products have been analyzed during the season. 



PRODUCTS NOT SAMPLED 



Brewer & Co.. Inc., Worcester, Mass., Producto Agricultural Limestone. 



Edward Bryant Co., 23 Central St., Boston, Mass., Tolman Land Lime; Tolman Lime-Wood Ashes. 



Vermarco Lime Co., West Rutland, Vt., Vermarco Agricultural Lime. 



HYDRATED OR SLAKED, PRECIPITATED AND AIR- 

 SLAKED LIME AND LIME ASHES 



A reference to Table I shows that with few exceptions the guarantees on these 

 products have been satisfactorily maintained. It may be noted that those products 

 relatively high in magnesium vary more or less in composition from year to year. 

 For this reason it is somewhat difficult to give a consistent guarantee of calcium 

 and magnesium oxides. Generally speaking, a variation of a few points either way 

 is not a serious matter provided the sum of the two oxides found is equivalent to 

 that which is guaranteed. In this connection it may be said that magnesium has 

 a somewhat higher neutralizing power than does calcium; on the other hand, as a 

 soil amendment the liigh calcium lime is perhaps more often selected. 



"Limestone Dust," a by-product of the New England Lime Co., shows the most 

 serious shortage of any of the lime products in this group. It is a dust chamber 

 product which is apt to vary widely in the amount of carbonate of hme present. 

 For this reason it seems that the product carries a guarantee which is rather too 

 high, although analyses in the past may have justified the guarantee claimed. 



