2 N. II. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 317 



trademark under which the fertilizer is sold, the name 

 and address of the manufacturer or importer, the loca- 

 tion of the factory, and a chemical analysis stating the 

 minimum percentage of nitrogen, of available phosphoric 

 acid and of water soluble potash expressed in whole num- 

 bers. 



"No fertilizer or fertilizer material containing the three 

 essential fertilizing elements, nitrogen, phosphoric acid 

 and potash may be sold or offered for sale if the total 

 minimum plant food nutrients contained therein is less 

 than fourteen percent by weight, provided however that 

 natural animal and bird manures shall be excepted from 

 the provisions of this section." 



The state official charged with the enforcement of the 

 fertilizer law is the Commissioner of Agriculture. Copies 

 of the full text of the law may be obtained from his office 

 in Concord. All inquiries concerning the law and all 

 matters relative to the registration of brands should be 

 addressed to his office. 



The chief purpose of the official inspection required 

 by the fertilizer law is to protect the consumer against 

 the misbranded products which would doubtless soon 

 appear upon the market if the sale of fertilizer was not 

 under state regulation. The value of a fertilizer depends 

 mainly upon its content of available plant food, particu- 

 larly nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. The pres- 

 ence of these constituents can only be determined by a 

 chemical analysis. To insure that they are being fur- 

 nished by all manufacturers in the guaranteed amounts, 

 it is considered necessary that each brand of fertilizer 

 offered for sale be officially inspected and analyzed one 

 or more times each year. When failure to meet the 

 guarantee is proven by chemical analysis, the prosecution 

 or seizure provisions of the law may be invoked. The 

 purchaser's refusal to buy a fertilizer which does not 

 conform to the law in every respect will not only assist 



