56 



HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



Three hundred and seventy-two samples were analyzed 

 at the close of November, 1900, representing 251 distinct 

 brands of fertilizer. These analyses were published in three 

 bulletins of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College: No. 65, March; No. 68, July; 

 and No. 70, November, 1900. 



The samples not already analyzed, together with others 

 that may be collected before the first of May, 1901, will he 

 examined with a view of being published in our spring bul- 

 letin. It has not always been possible to secure a complete 

 list of the samples licensed in the State ; Init as thorough a 

 canvass as possible is annually made, varying more or less 

 the towns to be visited from year to year, as seems advis- 

 able to the inspector. The methods of sampling are those 

 laid down l:)y our State laws for the regulation of the trade 

 in commercial fertilizers. 



For the readers' benefit the following abstract of the results 

 of our analyses is here inserted : — 



1900. 



(rt) Where three essential elements of plant food were guaranteed :- 

 Number with three elements equal to or above the highest guarantee, 

 Number with two elements above the highest guarantee, . 

 Number with one element above the highest guarantee. 

 Number with three elements between the lowest and highest guarantee. 

 Number with two elements Ijetween the lowest and highest guarantee. 

 Number with one element between the lowest and highest guarantee. 

 Number with three elements below the lowest guarantee, . 

 Number with two elements below the lowest guarantee, 

 Number with one element below the lowest guarantee, 



(b) Where two essential elements of plant food were guaranteed : — 

 Number with two elements above the highest guarantee, . 

 Number with one element above the highest guarantee. 

 Number with two elements between the lowest and liighest guarantee. 

 Number with one element between the lowest and highest guarantee, 

 Number with two elements lielow the lowest guarantee. 

 Number with one element below the lowest guarantee, 



(r ) Where one essential element of plant food was guaranteed : — 



Number above the highest guarantee 



Number between the lowest and highest guarantee, .... 

 Number below lowest guarantee 



15 



24 

 85 

 118 

 92 

 43 

 1 

 11 

 50 



A comparison of the above-stated results of our inspec- 

 tion with the results of 1899 shows, with the exception of 

 those fertilizers which are classed under (i) (where two 

 essential elements of plant food are guaranteed), a marked 

 superiority in favor of the samples analyzed in 1900. 



