2 N. H, AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 294 



The purchaser's refusal to buy a fertihzer 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 himself the protection of the law. 

 If the buyer fails to assure himself the legal require- 

 ments have been met, he accepts the fertilizer at his 

 own risk. Whether or not the purchaser familiarizes 

 himself with the complete text of the fertilizer law, 

 he should not accept from the dealer any bag of fer- 

 tilizer which is not tagged and guaranteed in compliance 

 with the law. The law governing these matters fol- 

 lows: 



"Every lot or parcel of commercial fertilizer or fer- 

 tilizer material sold or offered or exposed for sale within 

 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 location of the factory, and a chemical analysis stat- 

 ing 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, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash may be sold or oifered 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, phosphoric 

 acid and potash. The presence of these constituents 

 can only be determined by a chemical analysis. To in- 



