New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. rae 
In 1898, 1,900 brands were registered in this office and the 
Station actually collected for analysis 1,427 samples repre- 
senting 901 brands, at an expense greatly above the money appro- 
priated by the State for this purpose. No such burden is laid 
upon an experiment station in any other State simply because in 
all-other States the fertilizer trade, either through a license fee, 
analysis fee or a ton tax, pays the expenses of inspection. In ° 
New York the State is assessed, and manufacturers, without 
additional expense to themselves, may add a new brand, even if 
not more than a carload is sold. If the creation of the new names 
- had any significance or value whatever, there would be less cause 
for criticism. As it is, hundreds of the brands sold in New York 
are essentially alike in the plant food which they furnish, 
nearly all of the so-called special fertilizers having no scientific or 
practical justification. It is not necessary to create a new brand 
every time a farmer or body of farmers wishes for a particular 
mixture of plant food, neither is it necessary to humor the desire 
of every local trader for a brand in his name, thereby causing large 
expense to the State. 
In view of this situation I recommend that the Legislature of 
1899 be asked to require the payment of a license fee for each 
brand of fertilizer put upon the market. Out of twenty-nine 
States which require fertilizer inspection New York is the only one 
which pays the expense from the State treasury. 
I desire in this connection to call especial attention to certain 
facts presented by Dr. Van Slyke in Bulletins 145 and 148, rela- 
tive to the fertilizer trade.. 
Few matters are more important to agriculture at the present 
time than is the extensive traffic in plant food. It is estimated 
by the U. 8. Department of Agriculture that in 1896 there was 
sold in the State 150,000 tons of fertilizers at a cost to the farmers 
of $4,621,500. But one other State is a larger consumer of these 
goods than is New York, due in part to her extensive’ market 
gardening interests. Without discussing the question whether 
so large a purchase of plant food is wise or even necessary, it is 
