2 maine agricultural experiment station. 1916. 



Requirements of the Law. 



The law regulating the sale of fungicides and insecticides 

 was enacted by the legislature of 191 1. It is comparatively 

 new and is only coming to be fully understood. During the 

 years 1912 and 1913 a large part of the work of inspection 

 was instructing dealers relative to the law and what they must 

 do to conform with it. Nearly all Of the dealers in fungicides 

 and insecticides were visited by the inspectors during those 

 years and many hundred letters were written regarding the 

 law and its requirements. While much progress was made 

 the law is still only partly understood. The need for the law, 

 shown in the results of the first general and imperfect survey, 

 is still more apparent as the inspections have been continued. 

 The situation at the start would have been very discouraging 

 were it not for the fact that it was no worse than was the 

 case with grass seeds or feeding stuffs when the laws regulat- 

 ing those commodities were enacted. 



The scope of the law is the same as the National Law. It 

 is very broad and includes all materials which are used for pre- 

 venting, destroying, repelling or mitigating fungi and insects 

 that infest vegetation, man and other animals, or houses, or any 

 environment whatever. 



Every lot or package shall be plainly marked with the num- 

 ber of net pounds in the package, the name or trademark under 

 which the article is sold, the name and address of the manu- 

 facturer or shipper, the minimum percentage of total arsenic 

 and the maximum percentage of water soluble arsenic. 



Before a fungicide or insecticide can be lawfully sold in the 

 State it is necessary that it be registered and for that purpose 

 there must be deposited with the Commissioner of Agriculture 

 a certified copy of the statements named above, a registration 

 fee of $10.00, and, if the commissioner requires, a sample of 

 the fungicide or insecticide. 



The registration fee is not assessed on a brand consisting of 

 organic matter and not containing any added inorganic matter 

 or mineral chemical, provided that a complete chemical analysis 

 is given in, and as a part of, the required certificate. 



