34 

 DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS REGARDING FERTILIZERS. 



A committee appointed by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 

 and known as the Committee on Definition of Terms and Interpretation of Results 

 on Fertilizers, have in their annual report to the Association formulated certain 

 definitions and interpretations that will have an important bearing on and be of 

 great assistance to the fertilizer control service of the countr}\ It is felt that 

 the fertilizer consuming public, as well as the fertilizer manufacturers, should be 

 familiar with these definitions and interpretations. The following definitions 

 and interpretations have been adopted as official by vote of the Association of 

 Official Agricultural Chemists. 



Basic Phosphate Slag. 



Basic phosphate slag is a by-product in the manufacture of steel from phos- 

 phatic iron ores. The product shall be finely ground and shall contain no admix- 

 ture of materials other than what results in the original process of manufacture. 

 It shall contain not less than twelve per cent (12%) of total phosphoric acid (P2O5), 

 not less tlian eighty per cent (80%) of which shall be soluble in two per cent (2%) 

 citric acid solution according to the Wagner method of analysis. Any other phos- 

 phate slag not conforming to this definition shall be designated low grade. 



Interpretation of the Word " Lime " as Applied to Fertilizers. 



The term lime shall not be used in the registration, labelling, or guaranteeing of 

 fertihzers or fertihzing materials, unless the lime is in a form to neutralize soil 

 acidity, such as the oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate, or equivalent magnesia com- 

 pounds. 



Dried Pulverized or Shredded Manures. 



Dried pulverized or shredded manures shall be only what the name indi- 

 cates, and not mixtures of manures and other materials. 



Manure Salts. 



Manure salts shall be understood to mean potash salts containing high per- 

 centases of chloride and from twenty per cent (20%) to thirty per cent (30%) of 

 potash (K2O). The term double manure salts should be discontinued. 



Sulfate of Potash-Magnesia. 



Sulfate of potash-magnesia is a potash salt containing not less than twenty- 

 five per cent (25%) of potash (K2O), nor less than twenty-five per cent (25%) 

 of sulfate of magnesia, and not more than two and five-tenths per cent (2.5%) of 

 chlorine. 



Fertilizer Formula. 



The term fertilizer formula shall be interpreted as expressing the quantity and 

 grade of the crude stock materials used in making a fertihzer mixture. For 

 example: 800 pounds of 16 per cent acid phosphate, 800 pounds of 9-20 tankage, 

 and 400 pounds of sulfate of potash-magnesia. 



Analysis. 



The word analysis, as applied to fertilizers, shall designate the percentage 

 composition of the product expressed in terms of nitrogen or ammonia, phosphoric 

 acid, and potash in their various forms. 



