OK- \^^V^ / Az. ■1 _, - ■ .._ •■ OK -WRS V'y,^ ^I'^n - •3%+K ^\Vut, lUU , OK - I^ISS :tt ^ ^Hk A-n R^t. l^n , 'Uu SAPIENTIA WNIVERSAtIS EX LIBRIS UNIVERSITY OF NEWHANP5HIRE DISCOVERY INVENTION INSPIRATION EXPERIMENT STATION LIBRARY CLASS b-^V^-TnH3r NUMBER ..f4'"S"^" ■ 'T^uuVl"^l^^'^ ^^^ ACCESSION ^M S C. I I I "ta € 1 ^ INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS MADE FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. The inspection of commercial fertilizers reported in this bulletin was made under the direction of the Honorable Andrew L. Felker, Commissioner of Agriculture. The state inspector, Mr- Eugene D. Sanbom, collected sam- ples of 125 brands of fertilizer materials which were offer- ed for sale by dealers or had been delivered to consumers between March and June, 1927. The general character of the fertilizer materials collected is shown by the follow- ing classification: Complete fertilizer 96 Acid phosphate 5 Nitrate of soda 6 Sulphate of ammonia 2 Ground bone 5 Tankage 3 Sheep manure 7 Poultry manure 1 125 THE FERTILIZER LAW. The New Hampshire fertilizer law applies to all fertil- izer materials offered for sale, whether mixed materials in the form of complete fertilizers or unmixed materials as acid phosphate, nitrate of soda, ground bone, tankage, etc. Under the provisions of the law every manufacturer or dealer who shall sell or offer for sale any fertilizer 2 N. H- AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 material shall furnish with each lot or package a clearly printed statement certifying the brand name under which it is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer, the number of net pounds the package contains and a chem- ical analysis stating the minimum percentages of nitrogen of total phosphoric acid, of available phosphoric acid and of water soluble potash. No person shall sell or offer for sale any pulverized leather, hair or wool waste, peat, gar- bage tankage, or any inert material whatsoever, with- out an explicit printed statement of the fact conspicuously fixed to every package of such material. The state official in charge of the administration of the fertilizer law is the Commissioner of Agriculture. NEW ENGLAND STANDARD NINE Late in December, 1922, the directors of the New Eng- land Agricultural Experiment Stations and the agronomists of the New England State Colleges met in conference with representatives of the fertilizer manufacturers selling in New England and adopted nine grades of fertilizer which in their opinion meet all the fertilizer requirements of New England crops and soils. The formulas and recommended uses of these nine grades, known as the New England Standard Nine, are as follows: 1. 0-12-6 — For late fall seeding of grass and grain and for top-dressing clover and alfalfa. 2. 2-12-4 — For late summer and early fall seeding of grass or grain; also for com with the addition of manure. 3. 3-10-4 — For com, small grains, millet, tomatoes and cabbage on the heavier soils. 4. 3-10-6 — For corn, beans and peas on the lighter soils. Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 3 5. 4-8-4 — For potatoes, beets, carrots, onions and other root crops on the heavier soils. 6. 4-8-6 — For potatoes and other root crops on loams. 7. 5-4-5 — For tobacco. 8. 5-8-7 — For potatoes, celery and other truck crops on light soils. 9. 8-6-6 — For top-dressing hay and pasture land. One object of this conference was to decrease the need- lessly large number of different grades on the market. Had the recommendations made been accepted by the con- sumers of fertilizer materials in New Hampshire, the 96 complet-e fertilizers analyzed in this year's inspection would have been comprised of 9 grades. Instead, there are 26 grades- This number should be reduced to 24 by omitting two grades, 8-16-8 and 10-16-14, which are double strength of the grades 4-8-4 and 5-8-7. These 24 grades include only 6 of the New England Standard Nine. Three grades of the New England Standard Nine were not found offered for sale. Not including the double strength grades equivalent to 5-8-7 and 4-8-4, there were 4 grades representing 15 brands containing more potash than the agronomists of New Eng- land consider is necessary or profitable to use. No grade in the New England Standard Nine contains more than 7 per cent potash. Three grades, representing 14 brands, were guaranteed to contain 10 per cent potash. One brand was guaranteed to contain 8 per cent potash. In Table 1 are given the grades of complete fertilizers collected, the number of brands found in each grade, the average analysis of each grade and the average retail price per ton. N. H- AGE. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 TABLE I *± _^ ■M • +J 4; c C !s a 01 C-- V 0) 2 0) 2 U.D , u OJ3 oja o 3 • M S o. a-TS rt o "3 o u age per al pnos acid age per lilable )ric aci age per ter so ash 2Si 82 w, x: U 4J >- .; - V" nJ ■*-* v. ^ 4j.— O O t) «j >x. QJ S O il'u o ►5"° > c >S.3 > rt o. t ^ ta '^ < < < <: < 1—9-^ 3 1.05 9.92 9.02 4.27 $37.33 1— 10— 3 1 1.08 11.00 10.08 3.38 45.00 2—8—2 3 1.88 8.87 8.06 2.49 27.50 2—8—10 2 1.82 8.72 7.68 10.00 46.00 2—9—3 6 1.78 9.54 8.88 3.12 39.60 2—10—2 1.78 10.88 9.99 2.30 38.60 2—10-^ 1.93 11.67 10.67 3.46 46.00 2— 12^1 1.84 12.62 12.03 4.23 37.33 3— 8^t 11 2.61 8.71 7.97 4.26 35.36 3—8—10 2.62 8.67 7.74 1042 57.00 3—10-^ 2.52 2.58 10.57 1061 10.09 9.59 4.15 5.77 3—10—6 ■42.06 3—12—3 2.56 12.95 12.01 3.66 41.00 4—6—10 11 3.32 6.75 6.10 9.65 44.55 4—8—4 11 3.39 9.19 8.09 4.10 40.45 4—8—7 3.36 8.90 8.28 671 48.50 4—16-^ 3.90 17.93 17.37 4.00 39.40 5—8—7 14 4.06 8.80 8.13 6.92 43.37 S— 10-5 4.26 11.77 10.00 5.12 36.20 6—6-^ 4.78 5.01 6.86 10.33 6.43 9.92 4.01 5.01 6—8—5 es'.'ix) 7—6-5 5.59 6.86 6.10 5.07 50.00 8—6-6 6.48 7.10 662 7.04 50.00 8—16—8 6.92 16.50 16.00 8.31 55.40 10-3—8 8.58 8.47 5.90 8.00 8000 10-16-14 2 8.26 16.64 15.76 14.05 67.00 RETAIL PRICE DIFFERENCES The unusually keen competition in the fertilizer trade during the past year has resulted in considerably lower retail prices for mixed fertilizers than for several years. Table II shows the minimum, maximum and average re- tail prices per ton of the formulas which are represented in this year's inspection by two or more brands. Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 TABLE II Minimum Maximum Average Formula Number of price price price brands per ton per ton per ton 1— 9^t 3 $32.00 $42.00 $37.33 2—8—2 3 27.00 28.00 27.50 2-3—10 2 46.00 46.00 46.00 2—9—3 0 33.00 47.00 39.60 2—10-2 5 29.00 50.00 38.60 2— 12--t 4 32.00 45.00 37.33 3—8-4 12 30.00 40.00 35.36 4-6—10 11 36.00 56.00 44.55 4—8-^ 11 32.00 58.00 40.45 4-8—7 2 48.00 49.00 48.50 5-8—7 14 36.20 60.00 43.37 7 40.00 65.00 50.00 10—16-14 2 66.00 68.00 67.00 The wide variation between maximum and minimum prices is not due to the difference in freight rates. In many instances the extremes were found in nearby local- ities. The samples representing the 14 brands of 5-8-7 fertilizer were drawn in the towns of Alton, Conway, Der- ry, Exeter, Goffstown, Hampton Falls, Lancaster, Little- ton, Manchester and Stratham. The retail prices per ton were: $36.20, $37.00, $38.00 (4 brands), $40.00 (2 brands), $42.00, $44.00, $50.00, $51.00, $55.00 and $60.00- The highest price, $60.00 per ton, and nearly the lowest, $37.00 per ton were found in the same town on the same day. They indicate that the purchaser must secure quo- tations from different sources to be assured that the price he pays is the lowest obtainable. CONFORMITY TO GUARANTEE The various brands of fertilizer offered for sale this year have shown much less than the usual consistency in meet- ing their guarantees, a result perhaps of the price com- petition in the industry. Sixty-two of the 125 brands an- alyzed were found to contain less than the guarantee of one or more of the three constituents. The total num- ber of guarantees on the 125 brands was 446, the total number of deficiencies 109. Many of these deficiencies 6 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 were comparatively negligible, however, the small defici- ency in one constituent being offset in value by overi-un in other constituents. A detailed summary of the deficiencies in the 62 brands which failed to meet their guarantees follows: Brands Nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, total phosphoric acid and potash 1 Nitrogen, total phosphoric acid and potash 0 Nitrogen, available phosphoric acid and potash 2 Available phosphoric acid, total phos- phoric acid and potash 4 Total phosphoric acid and potash 2 Available phosphoric acid and potash 2 Nitrogen and potash 4 Nitrogen, total phosphoric acid and avail- able phosphoric acid 6 Nitrogen and available phosphoric acid... 1 Nitrogen and total phosphoric acid 2 Potash 9 Available phosphoric acid and total phos- phoric acid 9 Total phosphoric acid 10 Available phosphoric acid 0 Nitrogen 10 Total 62 Total Deficiencies 4 0 12 4 4 8 18 2 4 9 18 10 0 10 109 NITROGEN DEFICIENCIES Six brands of nitrate of soda and two brands of sul- phate of ammonia were analyzed. All fully met their guarantees except one brand of nitrate of soda which was deficient by 0.63 per cent. One hundred and twelve other Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 7 brands were guaranteed to contain nitrogen in amounts varying from 0.82 per cent to 16 per cent. Twenty-five of these failed to meet the guarantee in full. Six were below the guarantee by less than one-tenth per cent. Thirteen were below by more than one-tenth per cent but less than two-tenths per cent. Three were below by more than two-tenths per cent but less than three tentlis per cent. Two were below by more than three-tenths per cent but less than four-tenths per cent. One failed to meet the guarantee by eigthy-four hundredths per cent. Since nitrogen is the most costly constituent of mixed fertilizers, any deficiency in this element considerably decreases the commerical value. The six brands of nitrate of soda an- alyzed this year averaged to contain 15.25 per cent nitro- gen and were sold at an average price of $69-75 per ton. The commercial value of the amount of nitrogen repre- sented by the greatest deficiency above was therefore nearly four dollars per ton. PHOSPHORIC ACID DEFICIENCIES Five brands of sixteen per cent acid phosphate were analyzed and found to meet the guarantee. One hundred and twelve other brands were guaranteed to contain phos- phoric acid. Thirty-four of these were deficient in total phosphoric acid and twenty-five in available phosphoric acid. Thirteen failed to meet the guarantee of total phos- phoric acid by less than one-fourth per cent. Fourteen were more than one-fourth per cent below but less than one-half per cent. Five were more than one-half per cent below but less than three-fourths per cent. Two were more than three-fourths per cent below but less than one per cent- Thirteen failed to meet the guarantee in available phos- phoric acid by less than one-fourth per cent. Nine were more than one-fourth per cent below but less than one- half per cent. One was more than one-half per cent below 8 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 but less than three-fourths per cent. Two were more than three-fourths per cent below but less than one per cent. The five brands of acid phosphate analyzed this year aver- aged to contain 16.25 per cent available phosphoric acid and sold at an average price of $19.75 per ton. A deficiency of one per cent available phosphoric acid is equivalent, therefore, to about $1.20 per ton. POTASH DEFICIENCIES One hundred and fourteen brands were guaranteed to contain potash in amounts varying from 1.30 per cent to sixteen per cent. Twenty-four failed to meet the guaran- tees. Ten were deficient by less than one-fourth per cent. Seven were below by more than one-fourth per cent but less than one-half per cent. Five were below by more than one-half per cent but less than three-fourths per cent. Two were below more than three-fourths per cent but less than one per cent. A deficiency of one per cent potash repre- sents a decrease in the commercial value of about one dol- lar per ton. In the tabulation of the analyses in the following pages deficiencies of two-tenths of one per cent or more are shown in Italics. The names of the manufacturers are arranged alphabetically, and under the manufacturer the different brands are arranged alphabetically or numerically by formula. The nitrogen determinations were made by Mr. Gordon P. Percival, and assistance was rendered in mak- ing the phosphoric acid determinations by Mr. Frank S. Schlenker. Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 w m ■< B O Oh puno^ paa^uBJBUf) • •5Tj<'<)Ct->siHtcee05XOWO?~ -^^o <-! 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O tH coqt- co-^'n 05c:i-ioo5M05i-iin-*?o Nw>Hi^oic<)iN'Hq-*o COCO-*incOlOCO->^"l-Jr-i(M' int-rH -iHCO 0^1-I -CX) N iH W -JH i ^ r-i CCO«D co-^'cj s o a o a o ►J o tl . ■ N a> a-> ^ +^ s ^ 13 ^ -M +^ -tJ Oi tH tl Ui Pjj 0) aj 0) — O ■-! r-ITt(t-ina * N 0) o S w o " 3 'I* „»O00OCD u O ■^Thint-li^M 1 g a a afJ eS cS cs c3 ooo.occ a o u o o S^o tn p (H t^ a ei d ci es o o o 5j .S ^ 2^ ^' .X tH ^ OSStH o a^ ii aj t-fafei 2 O •=^^^ - P5coinfc ' fl M aa»o« fc, O O o „,'^ a iH t< t^£ M .2 S^ ^ N a o^£ THt- cj dco o •^inPn a a fl c« cS etf Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 11 ©ffltc* ©iH toCJ ©sin rH ©t- • ■* •* •©©W^rHlO . •©CCrH©C0lO . ! tp t-^ lo t- 00 ■* ■ oooo ©©©© ©© • o© • © © e4 : ; ; ; ; © • © • •©©©CC© • •o©©ccc • ; •^' t-^ id d X ■*' ■ rH ■ 8.25 10.11 8.56 6.03 ©t- • ©rt • dod ; . . .X • • ;•■©■■ cocq 00 rH rH Tft-rHCN©©!:- T-l M CI © © O CO © d t-^ X d d d d N rH rH r^ r^ r^ r-i 8.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 9.00 8.00 ...©.. . . .o • • ;•■«■• ©4> ©© cod rH ©c©©o©©© ©©©©e>©qic ddx'ddddd r^r-^ r^ rH ^-rH 9.27 10.77 9.29 6.57 ffi© • «© • dx ; 1.31 26.31 14.24 17.16 (»rH MX rHN ©ci:«i-©©©© © © rH t- rH O © [- l-^i-^drHt-^ddro rHrH rH rH rH n 9.00 ll.OO 9.00 7.00 ©6 . inia . dod : 0.50 22.90 14.00 17.00 .... .... ©© Ift© rH«^ ©©io©ic©©© ©KJINICCIICL-© ddocddddeo r^i-< rH rHricvl ©iHO© ©OOCOlH r-ir-Icod 1.87 3.48 15.49 1.92 2.49 5.84 20.08 ir.-rf •CdttXOlC© • © © M^ ^ © CC o ; CC CC •*' d d 00 CC ©-.OS^t-; i-i 1-! cc L-' 1.65 3.29 15.00 o:©w -w© W Tf © ■ I^ 1- r-Irirt<' >-■©■ ©© c<© •©r^rHXXN© ■ W rH rH LI O W Tf IccTfTfddx'ci o o o f5 K S a « z o cH CI Pi D o y. a a O H 2 "2 fc, fc, 71 0) a; t, fci S N N 0) a> r^ 4J 4j ..^ r^ 0; oJ ti fci © -4-) fccti tutu HO a a a a a 3 PhKShM a o o CO — CS o I- Sr-. "S'3 o o o y. S X «a a o g M S ® o o-o m 4) 0) O a a a> ■i->*j t< o o o Ol 3 a ©pi, o o Q G 5,. 00 o ^ O S „ C3 r: ^H B It?; a^'O - r- a. • «=;;!< 2 * o g§S,a?-5 ^^ P o sc^,:? O >« tj •« .~ 3 c [SI'S ■.2 a u o Oi u ?£ op 3 ■*Ph 05 05 o o z ci Eh at = •=5 fa Ph 'CrHX OQ 05 OQ o) 0) a> ci cs ci +- -M +J N «:! s •- 0) •^ a: .F^ -^ 1^ fa Sfo^ o fa ^M '?,«°?d ^=?V©-S LO X X rH fa EC aj o: 05 M fl^ C 4J i> O ■W .*-» -4-, 4-, +J cS cj « cS 03 *^ +J .M 4-, -M aaaaaaaa b,t4;Hbh;.iPb 4)a^a'!iJai4Jaj4> o5:nai&OQQxo5X C3csc3c3e3c3c3c3 12 N. H- AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 < E-i O punoj p99}nB.U)nf) lO CO ■^004 to C^50qr-IO-=^^^ •iHNOOIN© • rH CO O O tH ©oocoo o o q c q o •COOOO o o o s o O K a* puno^ij CD IN t-Oco tooico dodoor^too o • (N CO ?-; q q Xiae^neaBnt) o CO ooopoo ooqooq Coo 00 o6 tod o -ooooo q .qqqqq d "odoo'odiNd O q d IN O o d IN O O puno^ ■^ to ®5 C5 -.■^ooO t- 05 C3 '^H '^ ©J LI d Tji 00 oo' 00 © j d o paajnBJBnf) to Oooooo q q q q q q 'HO5 05 0it-b- OOOOOOC lo o Lt in lo lo Lo dNXodoooid iHIN rH pun(\>I OO'NOO 05 -^d »-IN CCOCCi-HOO to 1.0 CC O iH w* tH Tji IN CO 00 >« • O t- C t< l.- LO • lO rH LI N to l- ; e cj cs es +J -M +J a a a p ^ ^ O) a; IJ O) m ui m m ^A xn tfi iri m VI ^ ^ < Z e3 .a ft CO o op t-OO 00 0) o ^^ w . o q ft«? Ml- 2 " 5 p p ^S&Sg&ft a o Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 13 C r-j C >0 -^ ■*' t^ ■- W M ■* © q t- X C5 Iff flicjc^t-^sioooo •:©© ■jj-qio OOCJiH oooocco Lff Iff L-i Iff Lff O Iff x'o6s^©o6ao© ©c 99 eioj u»iffloq.-i-i5-o e> 00 tc oi 00 «e ©©©©©© qqqqq© i-!oSt-C5CSl-^ o X Iff IN ©CSXrHX © 1-; I~l M © e« © O ©■*<^ X — -^ - '-^ ^1 — ^H "T a o o3 o QJ D QJ d^ flJ QJ O QJ flj o u o z -n D O h] ■< e: P t< 0) hi 3 a OS c O) .a a a o. 14 N. H- AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 231 w EH o pnno^a paejuBJBtif) o 5D 00 to CO © ©ood ooo© ©«4-*-* o © © © © © © e4 < o W m o K pano^a CO paajncjBnf) ©©©© oq©© © in pur.o^hi »-(Moooq «OrHC5 06 CO to t- 00 CO paa:)nBJBno o©©© ©q©_® t^TH©CJ © © © © O (d tH pnno^i 00©©»O COr-ii-id d co 00 paa^nBJBiio OOt-iM© (NtOOO-* eiir-idd CO CO © CO © © d o h3 03 H fa Q Z a; a> a; a < K Ah a. 02 61 a H O o u « D Z ■< « S« « §! J TO P *^ O X} Ph o a m S E£ Ah o o Z a o Oh ■a a u Ah « s CS Ah XI W -O a; > 3 Ah -a a pq a a o o Q <* 5 o D Ah a ■a PQ ^ Dec, 1927] fertilizer inspection, 1927 15 CO Ti< © o ■^ -^O 05 r-l Tt< ©oooooo ooooooo © o co©oo-*t--*>n T»H 00-^©'*Hift ■^ (NCDC^OiHifCO 00 't e^ CO T-t © C5 © W 00 CO ■* r-l "it N o u a < CQ P S o ■o a a tH tH.~ r" .p-i t/3 ». L- tH ,w ■a o o 03 tH O ■M ^?saa»^^^^-. ^ :':.:i,!.-:.;:--;t-|.:: l:i ^!P^''