Various laws have been enacted by federal and state legislatures for the better protection of producer and consumer. Much of this legislation affects in a very special way the interests of the farmer. Not infrequently, in fact, generally, the state department of agriculture has more or less direct jurisdiction over their enforcement. State departments of agriculture usually publish a collection of the laws of this character. These laws vary greatly in the different states and only the most general outline, as they affect the interests of the farmer, can be given here. Persons can inform themselves as to the details as enforced in a given state by applying to the state secretary of agriculture.
A number of these acts affect interstate commerce, concerning which the United States Constitution says: No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any impost or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws. By a series of judicial decisions it has been determined that a State has a right to enforce laws affecting interstate commerce when traffic in the articles thus modified or prohibited affects the public welfare. When it is necessary to have a police regulation to prevent fraud in the traffic of an article or for the purpose of guarding the public health or morals, police laws, so called, may be enacted and enforced. Around this general question there has waged a bitter controversy which has occupied some of the best legal minds and is one involving some difficulty.
FERTILIZER CONTROL
One of the first of the control measures to be enacted, and the one which has been most universally adopted by the several states, is the law requiring the manufacturer and dealer in commercial fertilizers to guarantee the percentage of the so-called essential fertilizing elements—nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—contained in each bag of fertilizer offered for sale. Subsequent control laws have been modeled more or less closely after this law. Hence a description of the operation and execution of it will serve for all.
The execution of this law is usually under the immediate supervision of the state secretary of agriculture, while the necessary chemical analyses are made by the state experiment station. In some states the enforcement of the law is in charge of the state experiment station, while in others the state department of agriculture has its own laboratories or employs a private chemist. It is, however, becoming a more and more settled policy to place all police regulations in charge of the state department of agriculture, while at the same time the chemical analyses and other scientific and technological inquiries are made at the state experiment station.
In order to facilitate the taking of samples and in order to raise funds for the execution of the law, the manufacturer is required to take out a license and to make a statement of the brands of fertilizers which he will place upon the market in the given state during the given season.
During the spring and fall season agents traverse the state and sample the bags of fertilizers as found on sale by local merchants. The samples are sent by number under seal to the designated chemist, while at the same time the agent transmits to the state officer in charge of the enforcement of the law the necessary information concerning these samples. Upon the receipt of the analysis made by the chemist, who has had no knowledge of the origin of the sample, the state officer compares them with the guarantee of the manufacturer, and if he finds it necessary enters legal complaint. While these laws have been in force for many years in some states and in many states for some years, prosecution has seldom been found necessary. The honest manufacturer is protected from dishonest competition, and the dishonest manufacturer, if there be such, cannot afford the publicity which noncompliance with the law would entail.
It has been customary to publish, with the results of analysis, also an estimate of the commercial value per ton of each brand of fertilizer. This estimated commercial value is obtained by multiplying the pounds of each element or combinations of the element in a ton by a value per pound. To the value of the fertilizer thus obtained is added something for cost of mixing, bagging and freight, and something for profit. The price per pound given to each element or combinations of the elements is based upon the commercial value of the element when purchased in raw materials. The price for each year is usually determined by a conference of those in control of the execution of the law in the several states for certain groups of states. As a matter of fact, the price varies little from year to year.
The published figures, therefore, constitute a table of comparative commercial values as determined by the most expert knowledge. While not constituting a statement of absolute commercial value for any given locality, they do enable the purchaser to determine whether the price quoted on a given brand of fertilizer is within reason. Persons who are unacquainted with the principles controlling the use of commercial fertilizers may, however, be led to believe that the price of the fertilizer is an indication of its value for the production of a given crop. As is well known to all students of the subject, there is no necessary relation between the commercial value of a fertilizer and the fitness of its formula for a given soil and crop. For these and other reasons, the publication of tables of commercial value has been strongly opposed by some manufacturers, and in certain states the custom has been discontinued. While granting that tables of commercial value are subject to misinterpretation, it is perhaps fair to say that such tables have been of most benefit, and, moreover, have been of great value to those who were most likely to misinterpret them.
It has been customary in most states to make analyses only of mixed fertilizers. Thus such raw materials as nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, dried blood, bone meal, rock phosphate, tankage, muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, have not been brought under the operation of the law. If one wishes to purchase nitrate of soda, muriate of potash and tankage with the intention of mixing them according to a formula of his own, he may not find any protection in his state. However, these products can be obtained through reputable dealers who will willingly guarantee the contents. In case of doubt, the purchaser may secure an analysis by his state experiment station at a moderate cost.