Dec. 1896.] FOREIGN AND COLONIAL OFFICE REPORTS. 



317 



Sale of Fertilisers and Seeds in Germany. 



In Sir Charles Oppenheimer's Report on the trade of the 

 'Consular district of Frankfort- on-Main, details are given of a 

 Bill which will be submitted to the Prussian Diet with the view 

 of regulating the trade in fertilisers and seeds. Inasmuch as the 

 export of seeds, as well as of fertilisers, carried on from Great 

 Britain to Germany is rather important, it may prove useful if 

 these proposed regulations are made known to English interested 

 circles. The following are the main sections of this Bill : — ■ 



Commercial fertilisers, fodder, and seeds may only be sold 

 under the following conditions : — 



When selling commercial fertilisers and fodder in quantities of 

 25 kilos, (about 55 lbs.) or above, and of seeds in quantities of 

 10 kilos, (about 22 lbs.) and over, a certificate (bill, invoice, &c.) 

 must be issued in accordance with the following regulations, 

 which must contain : — 



(a.) For commercial fertilisers, the precise name of the 

 fertiliser, mentioning its nature and origin, the per- 

 centage of the constituent parts which regulate its 

 value, and the form in which these elements are 

 found. 



(b.) For fodder, an accurate description of the materials as 

 regards their nature and origin, giving at the same 

 time the names of seeds or materials which have served 

 for its manufacture, and the per-centage of the elements 

 which regulate the value. 

 (e.) For seeds, the name, nature, and origin, as well as the 

 degree of purity to be given in per-centages, and the 

 germinating power of the commodity. In cases where 

 the origin cannot be given with certainty this must be 

 stated in the certificate. 

 When fertilisers and feeding stuffs are sold according to 

 analysis, it is not necessary to give the details of the per- 

 centages, but a note must be inserted on the certificate to that 

 effect. 



The sale of the following is prohibited : — (a) Commercial 

 fertilisers, fodder, or seeds, which contain injurious elements to 

 a, prohibited amount; (b) damaged fodder, in case the goods 

 are not distinctly described in the certificate as unfit for fodder. 



[Foreign Office Report, Annual Series, No. 1752. Price 3d.] 



Agriculture in Norway. 



Mr. T. Michell, Her Majesty's Consul-General at Christiania, 

 in a report to the Foreign Office on the trade of Norway during 

 1895, gives the following account of the condition of agriculture 

 in that country :• — 



The past year was a very bad one for agriculture. The 

 present position of the farmers is worse than ever before, and 



