Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 



TABLE II 



The wide variation between maximum and minimum 

 prices is not due to the difference in freight rates. In 

 many instances the extremes were found in nearby local- 

 ities. The samples representing the 14 brands of 5-8-7 

 fertilizer were drawn in the towns of Alton, Conway, Der- 

 ry, Exeter, Goffstown, Hampton Falls, Lancaster, Little- 

 ton, Manchester and Stratham. The retail prices per ton 

 were: $36.20, $37.00, $38.00 (4 brands), $40.00 (2 

 brands), $42.00, $44.00, $50.00, $51.00, $55.00 and $60.00- 

 The highest price, $60.00 per ton, and nearly the lowest, 

 $37.00 per ton were found in the same town on the same 

 day. They indicate that the purchaser must secure quo- 

 tations from different sources to be assured that the price 

 he pays is the lowest obtainable. 



CONFORMITY TO GUARANTEE 



The various brands of fertilizer offered for sale this year 

 have shown much less than the usual consistency in meet- 

 ing their guarantees, a result perhaps of the price com- 

 petition in the industry. Sixty-two of the 125 brands an- 

 alyzed were found to contain less than the guarantee of 

 one or more of the three constituents. The total num- 

 ber of guarantees on the 125 brands was 446, the total 

 number of deficiencies 109. Many of these deficiencies 



