12 MAINE AGRICULTURAI, EXPERIMENT STATION. I9II. 



SO far as noted, in the publications of the New England Mineral 

 Fertilizer Company. 



There are probably no claims made for the composition of 

 these goods that are not borne out by fact. They do, however, 

 make claims for the performance of this so-called fertilizer 

 many of which are contrary to exact experiments that have been 

 obtained with this class of materials. It is not a new thing to 

 attempt to fertilize land with ground rock. Feldspar which 

 contains a large amount of potash has been used repeatedly in 

 scientific experiments with no substantial results. It is impos-. 

 sible to quote at any length from the absurd literature which 

 is used in advertising these goods. One claim — -"No fear of 

 burning the plants with this fertilizer" — is probably correct. 



The writer has no knowledge of the sales that were made 

 in Maine in 1910 of these goods with the single exception of a 

 lot which was sold to Mr. A. J. Orf of North Bradford. When 

 Mr. Orf received the goods he wrote to the Experiment Station 

 about having them analyzed. He was informed that no doubt 

 the goods would carry what they claimed to — that is, not any 

 of the ordinary plant food materials, but would contain an 

 abundance of the constituents of rocks quite similar to those 

 present in his field. On receipt of the letter from the Experi- 

 ment Station Mr. Orf was naturally indignant with the com- 

 pany and wrote them a strong letter. They, however, persuaded 

 him to make a trial of the Mineral Fertilizer and he wrote them 

 in October, enclosing a slip taken from the Bangor Commercial, 

 showing that he had taken the first premium on pumpkins and 

 cucumbers at the Charleston Fair, grown by the use of New 

 England Mineral Fertilizer. Naturally the company were 

 elated at this testimony and sent to the writer a series of letters, 

 including the one which he had written Mr. Orf, which they 

 proposed to publish to show the value of the New England 

 Mineral Fertilizer and the ignorance of Experiment Station 

 people. 



On receipt of this communication the writer at once wrote 

 Air. Orf asking for particulars as to soil, methods of treatment, 

 etc., and also asking the best way to get to his place in order 

 that the land where this marvel was produced might be seen. 

 October 21 Mr. Orf wrote that he grew the pumpkins and took 

 the prize at Charleston. These were grown "on New England 

 Mineral Fertilizer with a light coat of manure." He also says : 



