Circular No, 32 A July i, 1918 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 



DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL CHEMISTRY 



An Act Relative to the Sale of Commercial Fertilizers 

 [Chap. 220, 1918] 



Beit enacted, etc., asjollows: 



Section i. Chapter three hundred and eighty-eight of 

 Director to issue cer- the acts of nineteen hundred and eleven is hereby amended 

 tificate of registra- by striking out section six, and substituting the following : — 

 tion when COndi- Section 6. When the certified copy of the label of any 

 tions are fulfilled, brand of fertilizer has been filed, and the proper fees have 

 Director or deputy been paid, the director of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 may refuse or can- Experiment Station shall issue or cause to be issued a cer- 

 cel certificate if tificate to that eftect ; and the certificate shall be deemed 

 statements are to authorize the sale in this commonwealth, in compliance 

 misleading. with this act, of the brand of fertilizer for which the certifi- 



cate is issued up to and including the thirty-first day of De- 

 cember of the year for which it is issued. The director of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station or his authorized deputy may refuse to issue a 

 certificate for any fertilizer or brand of fertilizer which does not contain at least 

 one half of one per cent of nitrogen, or one half of one per cent of potash soluble 

 in distilled water, or one per cent of phosphoric acid, or five per cent of lime, or 

 five per cent of magnesia, or which contains its potash or phosphoric acid or lime 

 or magnesia in forms substantially insoluble by the methods of analysis for com- 

 mercial fertilizers prescribed by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 

 of North America, or which does not possess substantial properties as a ferti- 

 lizer. The said director or his deputy may also refuse to issue a certificate for 

 any fertilizer under a name, brand, or trade mark which is untrue in any partic- 

 ular, or which, in his opinion, would be misleading or deceptive in any particular, 

 or would tend to mislead or deceive as to the constituents or properties of said 

 fertilizer. The director or his deputy may refuse to issue more than one certifi- 

 cate for any fertilizer under the same name or brand, or to issue a certificate for 

 any fertilizer under a name or brand to the use of which the party is not lawfully 

 entitled. Should a certificate be issued for any fertilizer and it be discovered 

 afterward that the certificate itself, or the granting of it, or the manner of pro- 

 curing it, was in any respect in violation of any provision of this act, the said 

 director and his authorized deputy, shall have power to cancel the certificate. 

 No commercial fertilizer or brand of fertilizer shall be sold or offered or exposed 

 for sale until a certificate has been issued by the director or his authorized dep- 

 uty, and any manufacturer, importer, or other person who shall sell, or offer or 

 expose for sale a fertilizer or brand of fertilizer for which no certificate has been 

 issued, or the certificate for which has been cancelled, shall be punished by a 

 fine not exceeding two hundred dollars for each offence. 



