INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LIME PRODUCTS 



FOR THE SEASON OF 1937 



£39-2- 



By H. D. Haskins, Official Chemist' 



<?l-H4 



Manufacturers and Brands 



During 1937, 23 firms registered for sale in Massachusetts 51 brands of lime 

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

 and one brand of agricultural talc. The products are grouped as follows: 



Hydrated or slaked lime 27 



Ground limestone 22 



Oyster shell lime 1 



Lime ashes 1 



Total 51 



Gypsum 1 



Talc 1 



The analytical results which appear in this bulletin represent officially drawn 

 samples secured by the same sampling agents who drew the samples for the 

 fertilizer inspection. The samples came from a wide range of territory within 

 the State and it is believed that they are quite representative of the lime products 

 sold in the State as soil amendments. All of the lime products registered were 

 sampled and analyzed. 



Variations and Deficiencies in the Composition of Lime Products 



About 80 percent of the agricultural lime products analyzed fully met the 

 minimum guarantees. Among the ground unburned lime products five showed 

 deficiencies: four of these were only slight and were confined to only one in- 

 gredient, the other ingredient showing an overrun more than sufficient to balance 

 the low test so that there was no decrease in neutralizing value. The Monarque 

 Agricultural Dolomite, manufactured by Clifford L. Miller, was deficient 1.16 

 percent in calcium oxide and 1.80 percent in magnesium oxide, or a net deficiency 

 in calcium oxide equivalent of 3.66 percent. 



Mechanical Fineness of Unburned Lime Products 



In Control Bulletin No. 87, December, 1936, page 9, were given the definitions 

 of Pulverized Limestone (fine-ground limestone) and Ground Limestone (coarse 

 ground limestone). In case of the former product all shall pass a 20-mesh and 

 at least 75 percent shall pass a 100-mesh sieve. In case of the latter, all shall pass 

 a 10-mesh and at least 50 percent shall pass a 100-mesh sieve. In order that the 

 purchaser may more readily select the grade of limestone which he desires, the 

 finer ground or pulverized products and the ground limestones or coarse-ground 

 products have been grouped under appropriate headings in the table of analyses. 

 From the published data it will be seen that out of a total of eighteen manu- 

 facturers, twelve furnish the pulverized or more finely ground product and six 



'Assisted by H. Robert DeRose, Assistant Chemist, L. A. Graves, G. E. Taylor and C. L 

 Whiting, Sampling Agents. 



