INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 15 



mercial valuation per ton" gives the sum of the valuation of each plant food 

 element computed from the analysis by use of the trade values adopted by the 

 Massachusetts Fertilizer Control for 1929, which appear on a preceding page of 

 the bulletin. 



Under the heading "Approximate commercial shortage per ton" is shown the 

 commercial valuation of the deficiencies or tests found below the guarantee after 

 allowance is made for the value of overruns or tests above the guarantee. 



Deficiencies are emphasized by boldface type. 



Mixtures Showing No Commercial Shortage. This table gives the analy- 

 sis of those fertihzers substantially complying with the guarantee and includes 

 also those mixtures that are more or less out of balance, that is, having deficien- 

 cies in one or more plant food elements, but having overruns which largely 

 offset the value of the deficiencies. Fortunately, only a very few of these were 

 found, and as the analyses are given in sufficient detail so that they may be 

 readily discovered, they are not placed in a group by themselves as formerly, 

 when the more abbreviated tables were used. 



"Number of samples" indicates the number of samples included in the composite 

 which was analyzed. 



Inferior Nitrogen. The presence of inferior forms of organic nitrogen is indi- 

 cated by footnotes. 



Potash Forms. Wherever tests for chlorine showed a sufficient amount present 

 to unite with all of the potash found, the source of the potash is designated as 

 muriate. Wherever insufficient chlorine was found to account for all of the 

 potash it is evident that forms of potash other than muriate were used. In such 

 cases, the figures under the sub-heading "As muriate" do not imply necessarily 

 that muriate of potash was actually added to the mixture, but that chlorine was 

 present, probably from impurities in the fertilizer chemicals, in amounts to 

 account for the percentage of potash indicated. The balance of the potash found 

 is fisted under the sub-heading "In forms other than muriate" and may be derived 

 from sulfate, nitrate, or carbonate, as the case may be. 



