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 Perley I. Fitts, Commissioner of Agriculture. 

 Mr. George H. Laramie, Fertilizer Control Supervisor, and Mr. Vincent P. Peter- 

 son, Inspector, collected samples of 82 brands of mixed fertilizer and fertilizer 

 materials which were offered for sale by dealers or had been delivered to con- 

 sumers during the year ending June, 1948. The general character of the brands 

 sampled is shown by the following classification: 



Complete fertilizer 53 



Phosphoric acid and potash 6 



Superphosphate 7 



Nitrate of soda 1 



Muriate of potash 2 



Ground bone 6 



Milorganite 1 



Natural manures 6 



THE FERTILIZER LAW 



The purchaser of 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 gover- 

 ning these matters follows: 



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

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

 pi'inted 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 provisions of this section." 



Copies of the full text of the law may be obtained from the Fertilizer Control 

 Supervisor, State House, Concord, N. H. 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 doubtless would 

 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 con- 

 stituents can be determined only by a chemical analysis. To insure that they are 

 being furnished by manufacturers in the guaranteed amounts, it is considered 



