a good degree of legal protection to the buyer, although in
most states they do not demand a clearness and fullness in statements
of analyses that would be helpful to many, and they fail to require
that sources of plant-food be given. Some fertilizers are sold for more
than they are worth, and some are bought for soils and crops that need
other kinds of plant-food, but this is due to lack of knowledge on the
part of the buyer that he can acquire. The law does its part in the
work of protection better than many buyers do their part. It has driven
fraudulent brands off the market, compelled carefulness in
factory-mixing, and given to the intelligent buyer a knowledge of the
kinds and amounts of plant-food in the bag or ton. The sampling is done
by disinterested men, and the analyses are made by competent chemists.
There need be little distrust of the analysis as printed on the bag,
unless a failure of the manufacturer to keep his goods up to the
standard has been made public in the state's fertilizer bulletin.

Brand Names.--Notwithstanding all that has been done by the state to
acquaint the buying public with the composition of fertilizers, many
purchasers are guided in selection by the brand name, and that usually
is fanciful in character, no matter whether it be "Farmers' Friend" or
"Jones' Potato Fertilizer." In either case it may be far from friendly
to soil or pocket-book, and widely at variance with the needs of the
soil for which it is purchased. The pretense of making a fertilizer
peculiarly adapted to the potato, or to wheat, or to corn would not
attract a single buyer if the public would compare the analyses of
these special crop fertilizers offered by manufacturers and note their
dissimilarity of composition. Any kind of a mixture may be given any
kind of a name. It is the composition that counts. The farmer is in the
market for nitrogen and phosphoric acid and potash, singly or combined,
for a certain soil, and all he wants is to know the number of pounds he
is getting, its availability, and its price per pound. Any added detail
not required by law is an impertinence.

Statement of Analysis.--It would be well if the law refused to the
manufacturer the privilege of printing unnecessary detail in the
statement of analysis that must be placed upon the fertilizer bag. It
is added to confuse the buyer and mislead him regarding actual value.
The following statement is an example of this practice: