INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



47 



Stone Meal. 



Manufactured by Donald S. McCrillis, Boston, Mass. 



Plant Food Elements. 



Potassium oxide . 

 Calcium oxide 

 Magnesium oxide 

 Phosphoric acid 



Guaran- 

 teed. 



3.00a 



2.00 

 .25 



Found. 



Soluble in 

 Dilute Hy- 

 drochloric 

 Acid. 



,08 

 2.36 

 2.82 



.32 



By 

 Fusion 

 Method. 



1.14 



5.72 



3.00 



.32 



a Total potash. No water soluble potash guaranteed. 

 6 Calcium carbonate 1%. 



Note: The maximum commercial valuation of the plant food in one ton of the Stone Meal is 

 79 cents; the ton cost of the Stone Meal is $35. 



Comparison of Stone Meal with Massachusetts Soils. 



Total Constituents 



Guaranteed in 



McCrillis Stone Meal. 



Acid Soluble Constituents 

 in 13 Types of 

 Massachusetts Soils. 



Insoluble matter (silica) 

 Potassium oxide 

 Sodium oxide . 

 Calcium oxide 

 Magnesium oxide . 

 Manganese oxide . 

 Ferric oxide 

 Aluminum oxide 

 Phosphoric acid 

 Sulfur trioxide 

 Nitrogen . . . . 



27.00 

 3.00 

 2.00 



.56 

 2.00 



.25 



4.00 



14.00 



.25 

 5.00 

 none 



69.92 

 .29 

 .73 

 .78 

 .54 

 .08 

 4.82 

 4.43 

 .21 

 .24 

 .22 



A comparison of the analysis of Stone Meal with the guarantee indicates 

 that the statement on the package does not represent the product sold at the 

 present time. Although this is an irregularity not permissable under the state 

 fertilizer control regulations, it is of insignificant importance in a product like 

 Stone Meal which, as the analysis shows, contains nothing either in quantity 

 or quality that is not present in ordinary soil. (See Table.) 



The matter of greater importance to the consumer is the fact that, on a com- 

 position basis as determined by chemical analysis, this product has no place on 

 the fertilizer market at the price at which it is offered to the public. Further- 

 more, Stone Meal has been used at this institution in the past in carefully 

 conducted vegetation tests both in the field and in greenhouse pots, as well 

 as in experiments to determine its worth as an insecticide. The conclusion 

 drawn at the completion of these experiments in 1914 is quite as true and ap- 

 plicable today as it was seventeen years ago; namely, that Stone Meal has 

 no economic agricultural value. 



