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To the Manufacturers of, Dealers in and Consumers of Commercial Fertilizers:

Agreeable to the requirement of the fertilizer law of Ohio, I herewith present "a correct report of all analyses" of commercial fertilizers made by the State Chemist, "and certificates filed" by the manufacturers or general agents, guaranteeing ingredients, for the year 1904.

The following tables of analyses and valuations of commercial fertilizers include all brands that have been properly licensed to sell in the state that have been found on the markets by my Deputy Inspectors of Fertilizers. An additional table will be found giving a list of brands which have been properly licensed, but not found on the markets. If other brands have been sold in this state they have not been found by my Deputies.

All licenses expire December 31, 1904, and no commercial fertilizers can be legally sold or offered for sale in the state after this date until fees are paid and licenses secured by the maufacturers or agents for the year ending December 31, 1905, so the agent who proposes handling, selling, or dealing in commercial fertilizers in 1905, will do well to see that the manufacturer has paid license on each and every brand he offers for sale, for if the manufacturer fails to do this, the "importer or party who causes it to be sold or offered for sale within the State of Ohio," will be held for the same or subjected to the payment of the fines and penalties prescribed in Sections 4446f and 7002 of the Revised Statutes. To avoid all possibility of trouble, the agent handling commercial fertilizers should see that the manufacturer has complied with the law before goods are offered for sale. Whether or not this has been done can be learned from the manu

facturer, or from the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, Columbus, Ohio.

It is to the advantage of all dealers in and purchasers of commercial fertilizers that the fertilizer law should be enforced, and if they know of any brands offered for sale in 1904, not appearing in the following lists, they will aid the enforcement of the law and confer a favor by notifying the Secretary. In a few cases goods are shipped into the state by parties who are ignorant of the law, and who will promptly comply with its requirements as soon as they receive the necessary information.

With the co-operation of all farmers using commercial fertilizers, and of all just manufacturers and dealers, I feel certain that evasions of the law will be few and will soon cease altogether. The penalties prescribed by law and the injury to the reputation of the manufacturer who' seeks to evade it are so great that he can not afford to neglect or refuse to comply with its reasonable requirements.

Manufacturers intending to place their goods on sale in Ohio should send to the Secretary for blanks on which to make formal application for license.

Manufacturers, when applying for licenses, will facilitate the work of sampling their goods by sending to the Secretary lists of their agents and stating where goods may be found.

SAMPLES SENT BY MANUFACTURERS.

To comply with the law, manufacturers should always send samples of commercial fertilizers to the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, when making applications for licenses, that they may be used in comparison with those drawn on the markets for analysis.

ADVANCE REPORTS.

It is my custom to send advance reports to manufacturers, to give them an opportunity to check the Chemist's work, before the results are published in the annual report, in order to insure accuracy. The analyses. reported will be published unless some errors are shown. It is not sufficient to claim they are wrong because they show lower percentages than the maufacturers claim; this is not proof or evidence of error. The object of sending these advance reports is to enable me to eliminate errors should they exist. Where there are doubts about the findings I will have samples re-tested and will, if requested, cause parts of the samples in question to be sent to any member of the Association of Official

Agricultural Chemists, of which Prof. Harvey W. Wiley, of Washington, D. C., is Secretary; but the manufacturers making such requests must pay the official chemists they select for making analyses.

REGULAR ANALYSES.

The work of sampling and analyzing fertilizers is done in accordance with the fertilizer law of the state, and under this law the Official Chemist analyzes such samples as are furnished him by the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture.

Samples are drawn from the open markets of the state and from stocks purchased by consumers of commercial fertilizers by my duly au thorized Deputy Inspectors, F. A. Derthick, Ed. Loewer, R. H. Ramsdell, B. M. Derthick and M. R. Merritt. Great care is taken in this work, and samples are drawn from every brand that can be found in the state by diligent search and inquiry, covering a period from the latter part of March until the early part of December. It is regretted that samples of all licensed goods could not be found, but until manufacturers and dealers give more care to the matter of informing me where goods can be found, perfect results can not be obtained. With the information possessed by the Secretary and his Deputy Inspectors, the field has been worked diligently and faithfully.

SPECIAL ANALYSES.

I frequently have requests from farmers and agents to make special analyses of samples of commercial fertilizers. I am obliged to say that the law does not provide for these, and I have no fund for paying for the work involved. If it will be an accommodation, I will have special analyses made by the Official Chemist of such samples as may be sent me with the proper fees, as follows: "Phosphates" and "Superphosphates": Ammonia, three dollars ($3); phosphoric acid (two determinations), six dollars ($6); potash, three dollars ($3); or a total of twelve dollars ($12) if all three ingredients are claimed. "Bones" and "Tankages": Ammonia, three dollars ($3); total phosphoric acid, three dollars ($3); potash, three dollars ($3); or a total of nine dollars ($9) if all three ingredients are claimed; or, in other words, three dollars ($3) for each and every determination.

In selecting a sample for analysis great care should be taken to secure a fair average of the goods from which the sample is drawn. A small quantity should be taken from five to eight different parts—top, bottom, center, sides, etc.—of each of several packages of fertilizers, and all these small parcels should be carefully and thoroughly mixed together; then from this take from one-half pint to a pint and put into an

air-tight package-glass or tin-and send by express or mail, charges prepaid.

VALUATIONS OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS.

Great care has been given to the subject of valuations, and the figures given in the following tables are the results of a careful and painstaking study of the market quotations of fertilizer ingredients and the cost of mixing and placing on the markets of the state well-prepared commercial fertilizers.

Of course, it is impossible in any system of commercial valuations to fix absolutely exact prices at which goods are or can be sold, uniformly and under all circumstances and conditions. The two objects sought, however, are, first, to give a uniform scale for commercial comparison; and second, to give, as nearly as possible, a reasonably correct average price at which the farmer should have been able to buy good fertilizers in 1904.

It is always necessary to bear in mind that the values given to these fertilizers are intended to express their commercial values; that is, the cost at which the materials should be put together and sold at a fair profit; and are not necessarily indicative in any way of their agricultural values, which, of course, depend on the nature of the soils on which they are used and the needs of the crops grown.

VALUES FOR 1904.

TABLE NO. 1.-MIXED FERTILIZERS, WITH POTASH.

Ammonia, 134 cents per pound, or $2.65 per unit.

Available phosphoric acid, 5 cents per pound, or $1.00 per unit. Insoluble phosphoric acid, in bone, 21⁄2 cents per pound, or 50 cents per unit.

Insoluble phosphoric acid, in mixed animal and mineral, I cent per pound, or 20 cents per unit.

unit.

Potash (actual) from sulphate, 534 cents per pound, or $1.15 per

Potash (actual) from muriate, 5 cents per pound, or $1.00 per unit.

TABLE NO. 2.-MIXED FERTILIZERS, WITHOUT POTASH.

Ammonia, 134 cents per pound, or $2.65 per unit.

Available phosphoric acid, 5 cents per pound, or $1.00 per unit. Insoluble phosphoric acid, in bone, 21⁄2 cents per pound, or 50 cents per unit.

Insoluble phosphoric acid, in mixed animal and mineral, I cent per pound, or 20 cents per unit.

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