166 Report of the ConsuUhig aiid Acting Consulting 
tion — an association representing the leading manure manufacturers 
of the country — at their general meeting last year passed the foUow- 
iiig resolution : — 
That this meeting is of opiniou it is desirable, in the interests of the 
trade, that, for the future, the percentage of soluble phosphate guaranteed 
shall be branded on each bag sold for the home trade in a conspicuous 
place. 
A farmer, therefore, has now only himself to blame, if he does 
not satisfy himself as to the quality of the superphosphate he buys. 
Dissolved Bones. — In the published Quarterly Reports reference 
has been made to some cases of manures sold as " pure dissolved 
bones,'"' which on examination have proved to contain either an 
admixture of material other than bone, or to be made from bones 
which had been deprived of the greater part of their nitrogenous 
matter by the process of steaming them. Under the provisions of 
the Merchandise Marks Act it has been laid do-wn by the highest 
autliorities that, for a manure to be pi'operly described as " pure 
dissolved bones," it must be made from raw bones and acid only, 
without any admixture whatever. 
Nitrate of Soda and other Nitrogenous Manures. — It is worthy 
of note that, during the two years, the numerous samples of nitrate 
of soda sent for analysis have all been found to be genuine ; sulphate 
of ammonia, with few exceptions, has also been of good quality. 
Samples of shoddy, wool-refuse, &c. frequently contain a large 
quantity of dirt, and in many instances weed-seeds occur to a large 
extent. These, when tlieir A-itality has not been destroyed, are a 
veiy fruitful source of spreading the growth of weeds upon land to 
which such shoddy is applied. Cotton-waste, a substance manurially 
of no value, was in one instance sold as wool-manure, and -was 
reported upon accordingly. 
Refuse and Miscellaneous Jfaferlals used for Manure. — The 
most frequent source of impu.l.ion which the farmer experiences is 
' undoubtedly in the sale to him of materials with no proper guarantee 
of quality, or else under misleading descriptions worded in such 
a way as to make him believe that he is buying at a very low price 
a manure which is a very valuable one. A frequent practice with 
re.speot to many manures to which high-sounding descriptions are 
given, is to lay special stress on the words " guaranteed analysis," 
and to pu1)lisli in a conspicuous part of the circular an analysis 
which on a close examination is found to be not really the one 
guaranteed, and which does not represent the composition of the 
material actually sold. 
Cases of tlie above nature have been repeatedly published in 
the Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, but unfortunately 
the attraction of a low price is a strong incentive to a farmer to buy 
what is represented to him as being a manure worth two or three 
times the price asked. For example, a farmer bouglit 14 tons of a 
manure stated to be genuine Peruvian guano at 21. \1s. Od. a ton. 
The following was the analysis : — 
