INSPECTION OF AGRICULTURAL LIME PRODUCTS 

 FOR THE SEASON OF 1939 



By H. D. Haskins, Official Chemist 1 



Manufacturers and Brands 



During 1939, 23 firms registered for sale in Massachusetts 50 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 . 

 Pulverized and ground limestone 

 Oyster shell lime 

 Lime ashes .... 



Total 



Gypsum 

 Talc . 



25 



23 



1 



1 



50 



1 

 1 



The analytical results which appear in this bulletin represent, with but few 

 exceptions where samples were furnished us by request, officially drawn samples 

 secured by the same sampling agents who drew the samples of commercial ferti- 

 lizer which served for the inspection of that commodity; the samples therefore 

 came from every section of the State and are, we believe, representative of the 

 lime products sold in Massachusetts as soil amendments. 



We were not successful in securing a sample of Solvay Pulverized limestone, 

 registered by the Solvay Process Co., Syracuse, N. Y. With this exception all 

 of the lime products registered in Massachusetts were analyzed and results appear 

 in the tables following. 



Variations and Deficiencies Found in the Composition 

 of Lime Products 



Of the lime products effective in neutralizing soil acidity, about 85 per cent 

 of those analyzed fully met the minimum guarantee; of the 23 ground limestone 

 products, 5 showed deficiencies. Some of the deficiencies were not of a serious 

 nature as the companion ingredient was present in sufficient excess to more than 

 make up the full neutralizing value of the product as based on the stated guarantee. 

 The same may be said of the hydrated lime products where only four out of 25 

 brands, about 16 per cent, showed any deficiencies whatever. The tables of analyses 

 will show the extent of variations from the guaranteed composition. 



Tonnage of Lime Products Sold in Massachusetts 



Early in 1939 an effort was made to secure reliable statistics as to the tonnage 

 of lime products used in Massachusetts during 1938. Data were secured both 

 from lime firms producing and selling lime for agricultural purposes, and from 

 fertilizer manufacturers who use dolomitic ground limestone in fertilizer mixtures 



1 Assisted by H. Robert DeRose, J. W. Kuzmeski, Albert F. Spelman and Leo V. Crowley, 

 Assistant Chemists; J. T. Howard, L. A. Graves and C. L. Whiting, Sampling Agents; George E. 

 Taylor, Laboratory Assistant, Cora B. Grover, Clerk. 



