CHAPTER 94 - STATE CHEMIST
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 22 OF THE REVISED CODE OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, AS AMENDED IN CHAPTER 48, VOLUME 29, AND CHAPTER 49, VOLUME 35, LAWS OF DELAWARE, IN RELATION TO COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 22 of the Revised 'Code of the State of Delaware as amended by Chapter 48, Volume 29 and Chapter 49, Volume 35, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby further amended by repealing 699 Section 2, 703 Section 6, 704 Section 7, 706 Section 9, thereof, and inserting in lieu thereof the following sections, to be styled 699 Section 2, 703 Section 6, 704 Section 7, 706 Section 9.
699 Section 2. Every Company, firm, corporation or person who shall sell, offer or expose for sale, or have in his possession with intent to sell, in this state, any commercial fertilizer, shall affix conspicuously to every package thereof a plainly printed statement, clearly and truly certifying the number of net pounds of fertilizer in the package, the name, brand or trademark under which the commercial fertilizer is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer, the place of manufacture, and stating the minimum percentage of nitrogen, the minimum percentage of phosphoric acid in available form, and the minimum percentage of potash soluble in distillated water. If numerals are used in, or in connection with the name, brand, or trade mark under which any commercial fertilizer is sold, offered or exposed for sale, such numerals must conform to the guaranteed percentages of nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and potash in the order named. Any manufacturer or dealer who shall fail to affix conspicuously such statement to every package of commercial fertilizer that he may have for sale, offer or expose for sale, or in such statement shall misrepresent the proportions of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, or either of them contained in such commercial fertilizer, or who shall sell, offer or expose for sale in this State any pulverized leather, hair, ground hoofs, horns or wool waste in any form as a fertilizer or as an ingredient of a fertilizer or manure without an explicit statement of the fact conspicuously affixed to every package of such fertilizer or manure, or who shall manufacture, sell or offer for sale, mixed brands of commercial fertilizer which contain less than sixteen (16) per cent, or units, of total plant food, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined Two Hundred Dollars for the first offense and Three Hundred Dollars for each subsequent offense; provided that nothing in this Act shall prevent any person from having mixed any combination of ingredients, or from buying fertilizer materials for his own use without subjecting the dealer to the registration tax for such brands.
703 Section 6. Analyses for Purchasers of Fertilizers; Samples How Obtained and Forwarded; Certificate of Analysis; to Show What, Record Kept; Evidence When:--Any person or persons purchasing any fertilizers from any manufacturers or venders in this State for their own use, and who, themselves, the purchasers, are citizens of the State may, if they desire, submit fair samples of fertilizers to the State Chemist; but in order to protect the manufacturer or venders from the submission for analysis of spurious samples, the person or persons selecting the same shall do so in the presence of one or more disinterested persons which samples shall be taken from one or more packages (said sample shall be taken from at least five packages if there are that number in the lot), and bottled, corked, and sealed in presence of said witnesses, and this sample package or bottle shall be placed in the hands of a disinterested person, who is to forward the same at the expense of the purchaser to the State Chemist when the purchaser so desires; and upon the receipt by him of any such sample package the State Chemist is authorized to return to such purchaser or purchasers a certificate or certificates of analysis; the certificate shall in all cases set forth the percentages of nitrogen, available phosphoric acid and potash soluble in distilled water contained in such sample or samples, date of analysis and the name or names of persons submitting the samples, and be signed by the State Chemist, who is required to keep an accurate account of the same; and the said certificates or records, when verified by the affidavit, of the State Chemist, shall be competent evidence in any court of law or equity in this State.
704 Section 7. Immediately after the filing of the statements required by 700 Section 3 of this Act, with the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, said Secretary shall issue a certificate to the party making such statement giving the name, brand or trade-mark under which the commercial fertilizer is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer or importer, the place of manufacture and that the applicant for said certificate is authorized to sell said brand of commercial fertilizer within the State of Delaware for the period of one year from the first day of January to the thirty-first day of December, inclusive. Said certificates may be issued at any time for and during the current year, and may be issued during the month of December for the year commencing on the first day of January thereafter. The Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture shall have the power and authority to refuse to issue a certificate for more than one commercial fertilizer under the same name, brand or trade-mark, or to issue a certificate for any commercial fertilizer under a name, brand or trade-mark previously certified if such commercial fertilizer has been reduced in grade or value. Should a certificate be issued for any commercial fertilizer to be sold or offered for sale in this State and it should afterwards be discovered that such commercial fertilizer or such certificate is in violation of any of the provisions of this Ad the said Secretary shall have the power and authority to cancel such certificate.
706 Section 9. The Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture or other agent or officer of the said Board, is hereby empowered to collect samples of commercial fertilizers offered for sale in this State, and to submit them by number to the State Chemist for analysis, and for this purpose, the said Secretary, or other agent of the State Board of Agriculture, shall have full access, ingress and egress to and from all places of business, factories, barns, buildings, cars and vessels used in the manufacture and transportation or sale of any commercial fertilizers. They shall also have power to open any package or vessel containing any commercial fertilizer, and take therefrom samples for analysis, paying therefor the value of the samples taken if such payment is requested.
Approved March 11, 1935.