2 MAINi; AGRICUI.TURAL EXPKRIMENT STATION. I913. 



In 19 10 the New England Mineral Fertilizer Company regis- 

 tered New England Mineral Fertilizer in Maine under the fer- 

 tilizer law. The following is quoted from the annual report 

 of the fertilizer inspection for 191 1 :* 



"NEW ENGLAND MINERAL FERTILIZER. 



Occasionally during the past 25 years there have been zealous 

 advocates of the use of ground rock as a fertilizer. Soil is 

 formed by the weathering of rocks by the slow processes of 

 time. Dreamers, and it is to be earnestly hoped their dreams 

 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 ingeniously suggested that these 

 various brands of lava be used in connection with barnyard 

 manure or else upon rich soils. The Department of Agriculture 

 of the American Health Association were willing to part with 

 these brand's for prices varying from $15.00 to $30.00 per ton, 

 f. o. b. Passaic, New Jersey. 



In 19 10 the New England Mineral Fertilizer and Chemical 

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

 England Mineral Fertilizer which was guaranteed to contain ■ 

 no nitrogen or ammonia, a trace of available phosphoric acid. 



* Maine Agricultural Experiment Station, Official Inspections 2Q. 

 January 191 i. 



