fe;rtilizi:r inspection. 195 



[Continued from page 177.] 



So far as different lots were found by the inspector two 

 analyses of the same brand are given in the tables. A few 

 brands that were licensed were not actually shipped into the 

 State and in two or three instances the inspector failed to find 

 the brands in the hands of the dealers or agents. 



During the years immediately following 1895 there was a 

 tendency to the multiplication of brands. At present it is only 

 rarely that a company that has been doing business in the State 

 for years offers a new brand. With the growth of the sale of 

 fertilizers in the State, companies that formerly did no business 

 in Maine are now sending their goods to the State. This of 

 course results in an increase in the number of brands. While 

 it is unfortunate that so many farmers buy fertilizers from a 

 name rather than from the amount of plant food contained in 

 the fertilizer, it is gratifying that brands are not being unneces- 

 sarily multiplied. There has been a constant increase from the 

 20 brands licensed in 1885 to 200 or more brands of complete 

 manures and single ingredient chemicals licensed in 1906. 



When the manufacturers first put their goods upon the 

 market, recognizing the difficulty of accurate mixing, they 

 placed a somewhat elastic guarantee upon them. For instance, 

 potash might be guaranteed 4 to 5 per cent and for the most part 

 the goods would carry 4.5 per cent of potash. As competition 

 became closer and the process of manufacture became some- 

 what more trustworthy, the manufacturers worked closer and 

 closer to the minimum guarantee so that at present it rarely 

 happens that high grade fertilizers carr}^ much above the mini- 

 mum percentages of nitrogen and potash, the more costly con- 

 stituents of a fertilizer. If this were the whole story there 

 would be nothing to complain of, but up to the present year 

 there has been an increasing tendency to fail to maintain the 

 goods up to their minimum guarantee. 



For the most part these are slight and generally in 'only one 

 constituent. It also frequently happens that the other constit- 

 uents are in sufficient excess to preclude any idea of intention 

 on the part of the manufacturer not to live up to the guarantee. 

 Usually the trouble is due to incomplete mixing. For instance 

 in some formulas not more than 100 pounds of nitrate of soda 

 are used per ton. Nitrate of soda is a crystalline material and 



