350 Quarterly Report of the Chemical Committee, June, 1892 , 
Report, with a view to publication for general information in the 
Journal : — 
Memorandum prepared by the Chemical Committee on the 
ACTION TAKEN BY THE SOCIETY FOR THE REPRESSION OF ADUL- 
TERATION OF Manures and Feeding-stuffs. 
Since the year 1819, the Royal Agricultural Society of England 
has annually made a considerable grant from its funds for the pur- 
pose of enabling its members to obtain, at a low rate, analyses of 
manures, feeding-stuffs, and other substances used in connection 
with agricultural operations. It has thereby assisted its members 
with advice as to their purchases, and has helped to protect them 
from the practice of adulteration. 
The records of the number of analyses made during the earlier 
part of the period of forty-two years which has since elapsed have 
not been preserved ; but since 1865 the number of analyses made for 
members by the Society’s Consulting Chemist has been for each 
year as under : — 
1865 . . . . 
312 
1870 . 
. 1,018 
18GG .... 
335 
1880 . 
. 1,201 
1867 . . . . 
341 
1881 . 
. 1,058 
18GS . . . . 
432 
1882 . 
. 1,403 
18G9 .... 
4G5 
1883 . 
. 1,453 
1870 . . . . 
580 
1884 . 
. 1,628 
1371 . . . . 
730 
1885 . 
. 1,587 
1872 .... 
652 
1886 . 
. 1,581 
1873 .... 
670 
1887 . 
. 1,559 
1874 .... 
645 
1888 . 
. 1,570 
1875 .... 
704 
1880 . 
. 1,436 
1876 . . . . 
720 
1890 . 
. 1,447 
1877 .... 
642 
1891 . 
. 1,358 
1878 . . . . 
724 
The large increase 
after 1878 is accounted for by 
the fact that 
at the beginning of 1879 the Society established a laboratory of its 
own, and at the same time greatly reduced the fees charged to 
members for the analyses, in most cases to one-lialf of their former 
amount. 
At first the action of the Consulting Chemist was confined to 
the giving of private advice to such members as sent samples for 
analysis, and to the publication of an annual report to the Chemical 
Committee upon the more general adulterations which had come 
under notice during the year. 
In consequence of the frequent occurrence of adulteration of 
feeding-stuffs and manures, as brought to light in the reports of 
the Consulting Chemist, the Council of the Society decided, on 
July 7, 1869, at the instance of the late Lord Lichfield, that a 
quarterly report on the various samples of adulterated manures 
and feeding-stuffs, forwarded by members of the Society, sliould be 
presented by the Consulting Chemist to the Council, and that this 
