CHAPTER 48.
STATE CHEMIST.
AN ACT to Amend Chapter 22 of the Revised Code of the State 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 be and the same is hereby amended by repealing 698 Section 1, 699 Section 2, 700 Section 3, 701 Section 4, 702 Section 5, 704 Section 7, 705 Section 8, 706 Section 9, 708 Section 11 thereof, and inserting in lieu thereof, and in addition thereto the following Sections to be styled "698 Section 1, 699 Section 2, 700 Section 3, 701 Section 4, 702 Section 5, 704 Section 7, 704A Section 7A, 705 Section 8, 706 Section 9, 708 Section 11, 708A, Section 11A, 708B, Section 11B, 708C, Section 11C, 708D, Section 11D, 708E, Section 11E, 708F, Section 11F, 708G, Section 11G, 708H, Section 11H;"
698 Section 1. The State Board of Agriculture is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint a suitable person to serve as State Chemist.
699 Section 2. Every person who shall sell, offer or expose for sale, or have in his possession with intent to sell, in this State, any commercial fertilizer or manure, 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 fertilizer is sold, the name and address of the manufacturer, the place of manufacture, and stating the minimum percentage of nitrogen in available form, the minimum percentage of potash soluble in distilled water, and the minimum percentage of phosphoric acid in available form, and the minimum percentage only of these ingredients. Any manufacturer or dealer who shall fail to affix conspicuously such statement to every package of fertilizer that he may have for sale, offer, or expose for sale, or in such statement shall misrepresent the proportions of ammonia, phosphoric acid and potash, or either of them contained in such fertilizer, or who shall hell, 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 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.
700 Section 3. Before any commercial fertilizer is sold, offered or exposed for sale in this State, the manufacturer, importer or party who causes it to be sold, exposed or offered for sale, shall file with the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, under oath the statement required to be affixed under Section 699 Section 2, of this Act.
Provided, that when the manufacturer of any brand of fertilizer or manure shall file said sworn statement no agent or dealer shall be required to file such statement. The making of any affidavit required by this Chapter falsely shall be perjury.
701 Section 4. The manufacturer, importer, agent or seller of any brand of commercial fertilizer or material used for manurial purposes, shall pay for each brand at the time he files a sworn statement required by Section 700 Section 3 of this Act, a registration fee of One Dollar per annum.
702 Section 5. The registration fee required to be paid by 701 Section 4 of this Act shall be paid to the State Treasurer of the State of Delaware.
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 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 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 clay of January thereafter.
704A Section 7A. On or before the fifth day of January of each year every manufacturer or vendor of fertilizers shall file under oath with the State Treasurer a statement showing the number of tons of fertilizer or fertilizer material, described in 699 Section 2 of this Act, that he has sold in this State during the preceding year, and shall pay to the said State Treasurer for the use of the State the sum of ten cents for every ton of fertilizer or fertilizer material so sold.
705 Section 8. The State Chemist shall receive such compensation for his services and expenses as may be agreed upon by the State Board of Agriculture, to be paid out of funds of the State Treasury, in the same manner as other necessary expenses of the State are now paid, as provided by law.
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 fertilizer, and take therefrom samples for analysis, upon tendering the value of the said samples; provided that the said Chemist shall, in no event, know the name of the owner of any sample which he is analyzing.
708 Section 11. The term "Commercial Fertilizers," as used in this Act, shall be construed to mean any and every substance imported, manufactured, prepared, or sold for fertilizing or manuring purposes, except barnyard and stable manure, marl, lime and wood ashes.
708A. Section 11A. The State Board of Agriculture shall annually publish' by bulletin and in one newspaper in each County of the State, the brand, name and location of the manufacturer and chemical analysis of every fertilizer or manure analyzed or caused to be analyzed by the State Chemist.
708B. Section 11B. Any manufacturer or vendor of any fertilizer or manure who shall sell or offer or expose for sale any fertilizer or manure without having previously complied with the provisions of this Act, as hereinbefore set forth, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than Fifty Dollars nor more than Five Hundred Dollars.
708C. Section 11C. Any company, firm, corporation or person, who shall willfully remove from or deface or change any label or tag or brand affixed to any package of fertilizer under the provisions of this Act, before such fertilizer has been used for manurial purposes, or who shall sell such fertilizer without a label or tag being affixed thereto at the time of the sale, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than Ten, nor more than Fifty Dollars for each offense.
708D. Section 11D. Any company, firm, or person who shall remove from or cause to be removed from any package of commercial fertilizer or manure, any statement, label or tag affixed thereto under the provisions of this Act, and affix or cause the same to be affixed to any other package of commercial fertilizer or manure, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than Ten, nor more than Fifty Dollars for each offense.
708E. Section 11E. Any company, firm, corporation or person violating any of the provisions of this Act, or who fails to comply with any of the requirements of this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall, when no other penalty is prescribed, be fined not less than Ten nor more than One Hundred Dollars for each offense. But this Act shall not be construed to apply to any one who manufactures fertilizer for his own use and not for sale.
708F. Section 11F. The Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture shall report to the Attorney General all violations of the provisions of this Act.
708G.Section 11G. The State Board of Agriculture shall have power to adopt such means and to make rules and regulations as they may deem necessary to carry into effect the true intent and meaning of this Act, and a violation of these rules and regulations shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed One Hundred Dollars at the discretion of the Court.
Section 2. This amendment shall take effect on the first day of January, A. D. 1918.
Approved April 2, A. D. 1917.