BULLETIN No. 140. 



FERTILIZER INSPECTION. 

 Chas. D. Woods, Director. 

 J. M. Bartlett, Chemist in Charge of Inspection Analyses. 



The law regulating the sale of commercial fertilizers in this 

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

 tains the analyses of the samples received from the manufac- 

 turer, 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 mar- 

 ket by a representative of the Station. 



In the tables which follow the discussion there are given the 

 results of the analyses of the manufacturers' samples of licensed 

 brands. The tables include all the brands which have been 

 licensed to March i, 1907. Dealers are cautioned against hand- 

 ling any brands not given in this list without first writing 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 2 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. 



Fertility and Plant Food. 

 To produce profitable crops and at the same time to maintain 

 and even to increase the productive capacity of the soil may 

 rightly be termed "good farming." Many farmers are able to 

 do this, and the knowledge of how to do it has been largely 

 acquired through years of experience, during which the char- 

 acter of the soil, its adaptability for crops, and the methods of its 

 management and manuring have been made the subjects of care- 

 ful study, without, however, any definite and accurate knowl- 

 edge concerning manures and their functions in relation to 

 soils and crops. Those who desire to study these questions, are 



