OFFICIAL INSPECTIONS 29. II 



may some time come true, have in their imagination seen the 

 stone walls that encumber so many New England fields con- 

 verted by mechanical and chemical processes into forms avail- 

 able for the production of fruit, grain, hay, roots and tubers 

 for the food of man and other animals. 



In 1909 the American Health Association of Clifton, New 

 Jersey, published a most remarkable lOO-page pamphlet entitled 

 "The Fertility of the Soil and Life or Death. A Treatise on 

 the Use of Lava and its Influence on the Evolution of Plants, 

 Animals and Men," by the "Professor of Polaric Nutrition at 

 the Divine Science University." After a number of pages 

 which are apparently designed to befog the mind of the reader, 

 several different brands of lava such as the Mount Pelee Brand, 

 Mount Vesuvius Brand, the Coma Brand, Chimborazo Brand 

 for Trees, the Etna Brand for Sandy Soils, are exploited. In 

 most of the descriptions it is ingenuously suggested that these 

 various brands of lava be used in connection with barnyard 

 manure or else upon rich soils. The Department of Agricul- 

 ture of the American Health Association were willing to part 

 with these brands for prices varying from $15.00 to $30.00 per 

 ton, f . o. b. Passaic, New Jersey. 



In 1 9 10 the New England Mineral Fertilizer and Chemical 

 Company of Boston, Mass., were Hcensed to sell in Maine New 

 England Mineral Fertilizer which was guaranteed to contain no 

 nitrogen or ammonia, a trace of available phosphoric acid, a 

 trace of total phosphoric acid and a trace of potash. When 

 the application for the license was received, the question natur- 

 ally came up as to whether such a material could be licensed 

 under the fertilizer law of the State. The law applies to "any 

 material used for a fertilizing purpose, the price of which ex- 

 ceeds ten dollars a ton." As this was quoted at $15.00 a ton 

 in carload lots and $17.00 per ton in less than carload lots, it 

 seemed to come within the definition of the law. It will be 

 noted that the goods make no claim for the presence of plant 

 food as obtains in ordinary fertilizing materials, and as is con- 

 templated by the law. 



They have apparently issued a good deal of descriptive liter- 

 ature. In these publications considerable reference is made to 

 the work of the "Professor of Polaric Nutrition at the Divine 

 Science University," although he is not given his ofificial title, 



