Official Inspections 89. 79 



Results of Inspection. 



The following pages contain the report of the analyses of 

 commercial feeding stuffs made since the publication of Official 

 Inspections 84. 



There are reported in all about 350 samples, including all 

 received up to July I, 191 8. About one third of the samples were 

 submitted by dealers and consumers. The other samples were 

 drawn by the inspectors of the State Department of Agriculture. 

 In the course of their work the inspectors covered the entire state 

 with the exception of extreme northern and eastern parts. Prac- 

 tically all stores buying feed directly from out-of-state points 

 were visited at least once, most of them twice, and some of the 

 larger wholesale places, three or more times. The slow delivery 

 by the railroads and the unsettled condition of markets due to the 

 war have resulted in the collection of only about half the usual 

 number of samples. 



Occasionally brands of unregistered feeding stuffs are found 

 on sale in the State. This usually comes about because selesmen 

 offer their goods to the local dealers thinking that the companies 

 they represent have already taken care of the requirements of the 

 law. The local dealers do not at times give sufficient attention to 

 the requirements for written guarantees to protect themselves in 

 this respect, and it therefore sometimes happens that they unin- 

 tentionally violate the law in this respect. Usually 'such brands 

 are promptly registered by the manufacturers or shippers upon 

 calling their attention to the oversight. Dealers should always 

 ascertain before purchase whether or not the brands offered for 

 sale are registered in Maine, and a written guaranty should be ob- 

 tained stating that the feeding stuffs in question conforms in all 

 respects to the requirements of the Maine Feeding Stuffs Law. 

 On the receipt of every new shipment of goods the dealer should 

 take a sample according to directions which are furnished by the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, and send at once for analysis. 



