2 N. H. Agr. Experiment Station [Bulletin 288 



The purchaser's refusal to buy a fertilizer which does 

 not conform to the law in every respect, will not only 

 assist in the enforcement of the law but will at the 

 same time insure him the protection of the law. Whether 

 or not the purchaser familiarizes himself with the com- 

 plete 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 follows: 



"Every lot or parcel of commercial fertilizer or fer- 

 tilizer material sold or offered or exposed for sale with- 

 in this state shall be accompanied 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 loca- 

 tion of the factory, and a chemical analysis stating the 

 minimum percentage of nitrogen, of available phos- 

 phoric acid and of water soluble potash expressed in 

 whole numbers. 



"No fertilizer or fertilizer material containing the 

 three essential fertilizing elements, nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric 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, pro- 

 vided however that natural animal and bird manures 

 shall be excepted from the provisions of this section." 



The chief purpose of the fertilizer law is to protect 

 the consumer against the misbranded products which 

 would doubtless soon appear upon 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, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash. The presence of these con- 

 stituents can only be determined by a chemical analysis. 

 To insure that they are being furnished by the manu- 



