INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 3 



The following brands were not found on display by the sampling agents at any 

 point in the state and therefore do not appear in the tables of analyses. 



Brands of Fertilizer Registered but Not Sampled 



Drawing of Samples 



Between April 1 and June 15, three sampling agents made a thorough canvass 

 of the state: James T. Howard in Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire 

 Counties; G. E. Taylor in Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes 

 Counties; and C. L. Whiting in Essex, Middlesex, Sufiolk and Worcester Counties. 

 They visited 187 towns, took 1,793 samples, representing 514 brands, from stock 

 in the possession of 516 agents or owners, and called upon 230 agents where 

 no samples were drawn because the agency had been discontinued, the stock was 

 all sold out, or sufficient samples had alread}' been taken of the brands found. 

 They sampled 23,142 sacks, representing 18,153 tons of fertilizer. One ton was 

 sampled to every three and four-fifths tons sold in the state. 



COMPARATIVE COST OF FERTILIZER CHEMICALS AND UNMIXED 

 FERTILIZER PRODUCTS 



Of the mineral forms of nitrogen, ammonium sulfate held firm at $29.00 through 

 June. In July it dropped to $26.50 and has since that date advanced gradually, 

 the average for September 1938 being $27.00. Sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate 

 have shown a uniform price of $28.30 and $2^.00, respectively, from March 1 to 

 October 1. Potassium nitrate held firm at $57.50 through March, April and 

 May, followed by a decline to $55.00 which was maintained through July, August 

 and September. Synthetic urea and calcium cyanamid have been quoted uni- 

 formly at $95.00 and $24.15 for the seven months following March 1. Among 

 the animal ammoniates, dried blood has shown the usual fluctuations, declining 

 from $48.80 in March to $41.20 in June. During July and August it advanced to 

 $47.52, and declined again in September to an average of $44.38. Tankage, hoof 

 meal and dry ground fish have shown fluctuations similar to dried blood. 



Of the organic vegetable ammoniates, 41% protein cottonseed meal (6.56% 

 nitrogen) has been quoted at an average price of $23.38 for the period March 1 to 

 October 1. The average quotation for castor pomace during the same period 

 was $19.36. 



