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, 

 Commissioner of Agriculture. The state inspectors, Mr. C. A. Lyon 

 and Mr. F. H. Smart, collected samples of 40 brands of fertilizer and 

 fertilizer materials which were offered for sale by dealers or had been 

 delivered to consumers during the year ending June, 1945. The gen- 

 eral character of the brands sampled is shown by the following classi- 

 fication : 



Complete fertilizer 30 



Phosphoric acid and potash '. 1 



Superphosphate 2 



Nitrate of soda 2 



Muriate of potash 2 



Ground bone 1 



Natural manures 2 



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 accom- 

 panied 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 

 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 pro- 

 visions 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 con- 

 cerning 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 fertili- 

 zer law is to protect the consumer against the misbranded products 

 which doubtless would soon appear on the market if the sale of fertili- 

 zer 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 



