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EXPLAIN NEW STATE 

 FERTILIZER LAW 



Probaby the first thing about the new 

 fertilizer law that will be noticed by 

 farmers will be the registration tags of the 

 Illinois Department of Agriculture on 

 rock prosphate. The new Illinois ferti- 

 lizer law passed at the last session of the 

 legislature states that the term "commer- 

 cial fertilizer" now covers "any sub- 

 stance .... combination or mixture 

 offered for sale for use in inducing in- 

 creased crop yields when applied to the 

 soil." It does not include agricultural 

 limestone, marl, burnt or hydrated lime or 

 unprocessed animal manure. 



Before any commercial fertilizer may 

 be sold it is now necessary that a state- 

 ment be filed or registered with the State 

 Department of Agriculture giving the 

 name and address of the manufacturer, 

 also: 



1. Weight of each package in pounds 



2. Brand name and/or trade mark 



3. Guaranteed analysis (in percent) 



(a) Nitrogen 



(b) Available phosphoric acid 



(c) Potash, soluble in water 

 The combined percentage of these con- 

 stituents, where two or more are included, 

 must now equal at least 20 per cent 

 (There was no lower limit in previous 

 law) . The requirement that mixed ferti- 

 lizer must now contain 20 per cent or 

 more plant food minerals is in line with 

 cooperative efforts toward higher analyses 

 and lower unit costs to farmers. 



The vendor (seller) shall brand or at- 

 tach to each package or in bulk ship- 

 ments to the invoice a copy of the state- 

 ment given above. Phosphoric acid in 

 mineral phosphates (such as rock phos- 

 phate) shall be claimed as total phosphor- 

 ic acid, if desired (often listed as PjOg) . 

 No guarantee for less than one per cent 

 nitrogen or potash shall be recorded ex- 

 cept in such grades as contain no guaran- 

 tee for nitrogen or potash. 



An official tag or stamp of the State 

 Department of Agriculture shall be af- 

 fixed to every package or container of 

 fertilizer. Where material is sold in bulk 

 such as rock phosphate, muriate of pot- 

 ash or superphosphate, the stamps will 

 be in one and five ton denominations 

 and will be attached to the invoice. 



Where material is found not carrying 

 proper tags, stamps or guarantees, it is 

 suggested that the farm adviser be noti- 

 fied and he will get in touch with the 

 proper officials. 



The State Department of Agriculture 

 shall cause one or more analyses to be 

 made annually of all commercial ferti- 

 lizers registered in this state. The re- 



sults of such official analyses shall be 

 made public in reports or bulletins from 

 time to time but at least annually. Cer- 

 tain penalties, of course, are imposed for 

 violation of this law. 



By John R. Spencer 



"The purpose (Of the AFBF national 



fertilizer program) is to accomplish in a 

 ten year plan what otherwise might not be 

 done for 50 years. 



"But while our nation is now 80 per cent 

 industrial and urban the production of suf- 

 ficient foods and fibers from the country's 

 six million farms is a matter of the national 

 welfare. Nutritional experts have been 

 warning that mineral-poor soils produce 

 mineral-poor foods which are responsible 

 for malnutrition and ill health. There is 

 no reason why the nation cannot produce 

 fertilizers enough to restore the depleted 

 soil elements." (New York Times.) 



Two new local quarries were found in 

 Winnebago county and one each in Will 

 and Pike counties during November by the 

 department. 



According to Dr. W. L. Burlison, the 

 Land Grant College Post War Planning 

 Committee estimates Illinois farmers should 

 use 45 million tons of agricultural lime- 

 stone within the next ten years on their 

 tillable land acres. 



There are four t>pes of rock phosphate 



material now available to Illinois farmers 

 coming from both Tennessee and Florida. 

 Indications are that in the calendar year 

 of 1945 will exceed all previous tonnages 

 of rock phosphate applied. 



According to records kept by this depart- 

 ment there were more than JO price in- 

 creases allowed limestone quarry operators 

 in the year ending Sept. 30 by the OPA. 

 It is necessary that all new producers estab- 

 lish ceiling prices for their material under 

 MPR No. 386. Present information is that 

 OPA control of limestone prices will con- 

 tinue at least until July 1, 1946. 



It takes about 150 pounds of nitrogen, 



25 pounds of phosphorus and 75 pounds of 

 potassium delivered into the corn plants to 

 produce 100 bushels of corn. TJiis is not 

 a new statement but it is one. which must 

 be "kept in mind" by all farmers. Other 

 crops, of course, remove fertility also in 

 different amounts. Consult your farm ad- 

 viser. 



'Hunger Signs in Crops," Dr. E. E. De- 

 Turk's excellent address at the soil im- 

 provement conference at the recent annual 

 meeting, has been mimeographed. Re- 

 vised copies may be obtained by writing to 

 this department of the lAA in Chicago. 

 (The first mimeo copies had a few errors). 



Five samples of rock phosphate both 



bulk and sacked carloads were picked up by 

 this department for spot checking in De- 

 cember. 



An item of more than passing interest 



to all farmers using rock phosphate was in 

 a recent newspaper article which discussed 

 tooth decay. U.S. Public Health studies 

 have shown that teeth of children drinking 

 fluorine free water have a considerably 

 higher incidence of tooth decay than those 

 drinking water containing slightly more 

 than one part per million of fluoride. A 

 carefully controlled study to test the effective- 

 ness of adding one part per million of 

 fluorine to its water supply is being spon- 

 sored in Evanston, III. 



There is from 2'/2 to 3V2 per cent of 

 fluorine as calcium fluoride in rock phos- 

 phate which is used so widely for direo 

 soil application in Illinois. 



Clark county applied 51,000 tons of lime- 

 stone and 1500 tons of rock phosphate on 

 farm soils in 1945, according to Farm Ad- 

 viser Charles N. Glover. 



The soil that has an abundant and well- 

 balanced supply of the necessary nutrients 

 has the best chance of producing top yields. 



A limestone quairf in Kendall county il- 

 lustrates the old and the new way of 

 preparing the product. Left shows the 



old Idlns for burning and right is the more 

 modem equipment set up to prepare the 

 limestone by crushing. 



IRD 



lANUARY. 1946 



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