Inspection of Commercial Fertilizers 



There are presented in this bulletin the results obtained in 

 connection with the annual inspection of commercial fertil- 

 izers made by the State Department of Agriculture under 

 the direction of The Honorable Andrew L. Felker, Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture. Mr. Eugene D. Sanborn, State 

 Inspector visited practically every section of "the state and 

 collected samples of 104 different brands. 



A careful analysis of the results shows that at the prices 

 which the different brands were sold some furnished very 

 much more plant food for the dollar than others. For 

 instance, the average cost of nitrogen per pound in the 

 1-8-2 fertilizers was almost three times as great as the 

 average cost in the 4-8-4 fertilizers. 



Do you consider the actual plant food value of the fertil- 

 izer when you buy? This btdletin aims to help you in pur- 

 chasing your fertili:;er for this year. Do not throzv it azvay! 

 Read it! Use it ivhen you buy fertilizer again! It is with 

 the hope that the purchaser of fertilizers will be aided in 

 making his selections that the following discussion of the 

 meaning of the analysis and the methods of calculating 

 values are presented. If you need further help write to the 

 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, The New Hamp- 

 shire College Agricultural Experiment Station, Durham, 

 N. H. 



MEANING OF THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 



There are three of the ten elements essential for plant 

 growth which are most apt to be lacking in sufficient avail- 

 able quantity for best crop growth in our usual soils. These 

 are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Sometimes cal- 

 cium and sulphur may be deficient, but because these defi- 

 ciencies have apparently not been so marked and wide 

 spread our fertilizer practices have dealt mostly with the ap- 

 plication of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The value 



