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FERTILISERS BILL.
■Mr, Denham on Tuesday introduced
to the Legislative Assembly u bill to
amend the law relating to the sale of
fertilisers.
The bill provides that every dealer
(manufacturer, importer, or seller), in
fertilisers shall, before the 31st January
nest, notify the Minister in writing of
his name and place of business and the
names and brands of fertilisers dealt in.
An annual fee of 2s. Gd. will bo charge
able for each fertiliser hearing a dis
tinctive brand, but with a maximum of
6b, The seller of the fertiliser must pro
vide the buyer with an invoice certifi
cate setting forth the proportions of
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash
it contains. Packages of fertilisers must
similarly bo labelled with the not
weight and the proportions of the in
gredients mentioned. In bonedusts and
bonemcals the percentages of coarse and
fine material must be specified, fine ma
terial being that which passes through,
a sieve of fifty meshes to the linear foot.
In the case of basic slag or Thomas
phosphate the mesh is finer—100 to the
linear foot—while the percentages of
total phosphoric acid and citrate soluble
phosphoric acid have also to be stated.
When the fertiliser is found upon analy
sis to contain a certain scheduled per
centage less of nitrogen, phosphoric
acid, or potash than the proportions
warranted, the dealer i9 guilty of an
offence. Ait analyst or officer may at
any time demand or take samples of fer
tilisers for analysis. Every buyer shall
’be entitled to submit a sample of fer
tiliser to tho'analyst for analysis, and
the cost shall be recoverable in the case
of an offence against the Act. Provi
sions are also made to prevent tamper
ing with samples and to regulate prose
cutions. The penalty for offences
against the ^ie. are fixed at not ex
ceding A*20 in tho first instance, and not
exceeding A’5U for each subsequent of
$