2 N. II. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 336 



and address of the manufacturer or importer; the lo- 

 cation of the factory; and a chemical analysis stat- 

 ing the minimum percentage of nitrogen, of available 

 phosphoric acid and of water soluble potash expressed 

 in whole numbers. 



"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 per cent 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 of- 

 fice 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 ap- 

 pear on 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, particularly ni- 

 trogen, phosphoric acid and potash. The presence of 

 these constituents can only be determined by a chemical 

 analysis. To insure that they are being furnished 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 provi- 

 sions of the law may be invoked. The purchaser's re- 

 fusal to buy a fertilizer which does not conform to the 

 law in every respect will not only assist in the enforce- 

 ment of the law but will at the same time insure himself 



