FERTILIZER INSPECTION. 



Chas. D. Woods, Director, 



J. M. Bartle;tt, Chemist in charge of Fertilizer Analysis. 



The law regulating the sale of commercial fertilizers in this 

 State calls for two bulletins each year. The first of these 

 contains the analyses of the samples received from the manu- 

 facturer guaranteed to represent, within reasonable limits, the 

 goods to be placed upon the market later. The second bulletin 

 contains the analyses of the samples collected in the open market 

 by a representative of the Station. 



The analyses of the manufacturer's samples for this year were 

 published in March. The present bulletin contains the analyses 

 of the samples collected by the representative of the Director 

 of the Station. 



The figures which are given as the percentages of valuable 

 ingredients guaranteed by the manufacturers are the minimum 

 percentages of the guarantee. If, for instance, the guarantee is 

 :2 to 3 per cent of nitrogen, it is evident that the dealer cannot 

 be held to have agreed to furnish more than two per cent and so 

 this percentage is taken as actual guarantee. The figures under 

 the head of "found" are those showing the actual composition of 

 the samples. 



A comparison of the results of the analyses of the samples col- 

 lected by the Station with the percentages guaranteed by the 

 manufacturers shows that, as a rule, the fertilizers sold in 

 the State are well up to the guarantee. In a few instances the 

 particular lots of fertilizers sampled are not quite as good as 

 they should be ; there is, however, no case which appears to be an 

 attempt to defraud. The comparisons indicate that the manu- 

 facturers do not intend to do much more than make good the 

 minimum guarantee and this is all that the purchaser can safely 

 expect. 



