INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS 



Made for the 



State Department of Agriculture 



The inspection of commercial fertilizers reported in this bulletin was 

 made under the direction of the Honorable Andrew L. Felker, Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture. The state inspector, Mr. Walter Mauricette, col- 

 lected samples of 67 brands of fertilizer and fertilizer materials which were 

 offered for sale by dealers or had been delivered to consumers during; the 

 year ending June, 1943. The general character of the brands sampled is 

 shown by the following classification : 



Complete fertilizer 45 



Phosphoric acid and potash 2 



Superphosphate 6 



Nitrate of soda ' 1 



Muriate of potash 1 



Ground bone 3 



Tankage 1 



Raw bone and tankage 1 



Milorganite 1 



Natural manures (i 



The Fertilizer Law 



The purchaser of a fertilizer should familiarize himself with the full 

 text of the fertilizer law. He should not accept from the dealer any bag of 

 fertilizer which is not tagged and guaranteed in compliance with the law. 

 The law governing these matters is as follows: 



"Every lot or parcel of commercial fertilizer or fertilizer material sold 

 or offered or exposed for sale within this state shall be accompanied by a 

 plainly printed statement, clearly and truly certifying the number of net 

 pounds of fertilizer in the package ; the name, brand or trademark under 

 which the fertilizer is sold; the name and address of the manufacturer or 

 importer ; the location 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 numbers. 



"No fertilizer or fertilizer material containing the three essential fer- 

 tilizing elements, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash may be sold or of- 

 fered 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 sec- 

 tion." 



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. AH 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 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 nitrogen, phosphoric acid. 

 and potash. The presence of these constituents can only be determined by 



