1911.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 67 



pies, without which an analysis is of little value. In case of 

 soils, but few complete detailed analyses have been made, and 

 those only when abnormal conditions pointed to malnutrition 

 or over-fertilization. In many cases tests were made to deter- 

 mine the relative amount of organic matter present and the 

 acidity. Advice as to the use of fertilizer on any particular 

 soil has been based more particularly upon the general charac- 

 ter of the soil, previous manurial treatment, crop rotation, cul- 

 tivation, and upon the crop to be gTown. 



In the analysis of by-products, refuse salts and materials used 

 as fertilizers, the report has included the relative commercial 

 value of the material and the l)est method of utilizing the same. 

 During the year 300 miscellaneous analyses w'ere made for citi- 

 zens of the State and for the various departments of the experi- 

 ment station. They may be grouped as follows : — 



Fertilizers and by-products used as fertilizers, .... 223 



Soils, 44 



Miscellaneous materials, . .33 



Total, 300 



As in the past, co-operative work was done in connection with 

 the study of new methods of analysis for the Association of Offi- 

 cial Agi'icultural Chemists. Much time and study were also 

 given to perfecting a suitable method to determine the relative 

 availability of nitrogen from organic sources in mixed fertil- 

 izers. Tests w'ere also made on 80 brands of fertilizer selected 

 from the 1910 official collection, to ascertain the efficiency of 

 the improved alkaline-permanganate method in detecting the 

 presence of low-grade organic ammoniates. 



6. Report of the Feed and Dairy Section. 

 'Mv. P. H. Smith reports: — 



The Feed Law. 



During the past year 1,055 samples of feedstuff s have been 

 collected by Mr. James T. Howard, official inspector. These 

 samples have been analyzed and are soon to be published, to- 

 gether with the necessary comments. 



Analytical Worl: — The analytical work has consisted of 



