guaranteed. Additional plant food elements, determinable by chemical methods, may 

 be guaranteed only by permission of the commissioner by and with the advice of the 

 director of the agricultural experiment station. When any such additional plant foods 

 are claimed, they shall be included in the guarantee, and shall be subject to inspection 

 and analysis in accordance with the methods and regulations that may be prescribed 

 by the commissioner. 



(b) A distributor shall not be required to register any brand of commercial fer- 

 tilizer which is already registered hereunder by another person. 



(c) The plant food content of each and every brand of commercial fertilizer must 

 remain uniform for the period of registration. 



Sec. 5: Labeling, (a) Any commercial fertilizer offered for sale or sold or distributed 

 in this state in bags, barrels, or other containers shall have placed on or affixed to the 

 container in written or printed form the net weight and the information required. 

 (1), (2) and (3) of paragraph (a) of section 4 either (1) on tags affixed to the end of 

 the package between the ears and/or on the sewed end or (2) directly on the package. 

 (b) If distributed in bulk, a written or printed statement of the weight and the informa- 

 tion required by (1), (2) and (3) of paragraph (a) of section 4 shall accompany delivery 

 and be supplied to the purchaser." 



The Law provides for the levying of a penalty amounting to three times the com- 

 mercial value of the constituent found deficient when deficiencies exceeding allowed 

 tolerances are found. The following table of tolerances as adopted by the State Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is quoted from the Rules and Regulations of that Department. 



Soluble Potash 

 Guarantee Deficiency 



2% 0.20 



3% 0.30 



4% 0.40 



4-8% inc. 0.50 



8-20% inc. 0.60 



Over 20% 1.00 



The chief purpose of the official inspection of fertilizers is to protect the consumer 

 against misbranded products that probably would soon appear on the market if the 

 sale of fertilizer was not under State regulation. If the consumer accepts fertilizer not 

 labeled in compliance with the law, he does so at his own risk. He should acquaint 

 himself with the requirements of the law concerning labeling and be familiar with the 

 terms and symbols used on the label. 



A commercial fertilizer generally supplies one or more of three elements; nitrogren, 

 phosphorus and potassium; which are commonly required in relatively large amounts 

 for plant growth. The percentage of each of these three materials is usually represented 

 by numerals in designating the grade of a fertilizer. These percentages are presently 

 expressed in terms of nitrogen, phosphorus pentoxide and potash, and the symbols used 

 are N, P 0. and KO respectively. The term phosphoric acid is commonly used when 



referring to the phosphorus content. This terminology is confusing and the designation 

 of the fertilizer content is being referred to more and more in terms of the element, 

 N, P and K. A movement is underway to adopt as official and put into standard practice 

 the expression of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash in terms of the elements. To be 

 effective this must be done on a nationwide basis and at the same time. 



Under certain conditions, other elements such as magnesium, boron and other so- 

 called minor elements are needed to correct soil deficiencies in certain localities. These 

 may be included in the mixed fertilizer. 



Much advertising of fertilizer materials packed in small packages is directed to the 

 attention of the home gardener and growers of house plants. This small package serves 

 a definite need, however the "miracle" results claimed may not always be obtained. In 

 general, it is more economical for the gardener to purchase fertilizer of a reliable brand 

 and in reasonably large packages. 



During the past year, interest among tank truck operators in the application of 

 liquid fertilizers has not been as apparent as in the previous year. Difficulty and the 

 cost involved in solving a number of practical problems such as corrosion, proper 

 timing of applications, and others, accounts for this decline of interest. Certain large 

 operators are investigating the use of ammonia concentrates in liquid and gas form 

 under New Hampshire conditions. 



