Official Inspections 93. 69 



from Germany were no longer available. This has led to the 

 use of large numbers of varying and unusual materials as the 

 source of potash. While it is confidently expected that Ameri- 

 ca will, in the near future, be able to produce all its own potash 

 in form suitable for agriculture and the arts, this is not as yet 

 an accomplished fact except in part. 



This shortage and scarcity and variety of material entering 

 into mixed goods have brought it about that even the most reli- 

 able standard brands are liable to be made up in a single season 

 on quite different formulas although they would give the same 

 ultimate analyses. Furthermore these goods instead of being 

 rhipped in large quantities into warehouses are for the most part 

 sent directly to the user, and hence the samples collected by the 

 inspectors are rarely representative of more than a few tons 

 This diversity of manufacturing formulas for making up the 

 goods of the same brand and analyses was clearly brought out 

 in cooperation with the companies in looking up the borax sit- 

 uation. It has also been very evident in the different analyses 

 rhowing the different sources of nitrogen in the different sam- 

 ples of the same brands as they have been examined in recent 

 years. 



This economic situation is a fact, and the question is : 

 How can the consumer adjust himself to these new conditions 

 so as to have a somewhat similar protection from the fertilizer 

 inspection that he had in earlier years when the brands ran far 

 more uniform in their manufacturing- formulas than is now 

 possible ? 



There is also another phase of this same situation which 

 was developed in looking up the borax troubles in Aroostook 

 and Penobscot Counties. In many instances the user of the 

 fertilizer had applied it all to the land and not a single pound 

 was obtainable to study the composition of the goods that he 

 actually used. And when any of it was left it often happened 

 that it was only a small amount in a bag or barrel which had 

 been very uncertainly stored and was of doubtful authenticity. 

 Furthermore a small residue of a fertilizer cannot accurately 

 represent goods put out by the manufacturer anymore than a 

 few potatoes left in an unloaded car could accurately represent 

 the quality of the potatoes that were shipped. Maine is a large 

 user of commercial fertilizer, perhaps using per acre in its 



