SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land, That the Governor, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, immediately after the passage of this Act,
or as soon thereafter as may be, and biennially thereafter,
shall appoint one person, a citizen of this State, of suitable
character and ability, who shall be styled "Inspector of Fer-
tilizers," who shall discharge the duties prescribed in the
following sections of this Act, and who shall hold his office
for two years, until his successor shall have been appointed
and duly qualified; and in case of a vacancy from death, re-
signation or removal from office or otherwise, occurring
during the recess between the regular sessions of the Legis-
lature, the Governor shall fill such vacancy until the next
regular session of the Legislature.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That the said Inspector, before
entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, shall
take and subscribe to the oath or affirmation prescribed in
the sixth section of Article one, of the Constitution of this
State, and give bond, to be approved by the Comptroller of
the State, in the sum of ton thousand dollars, for the faith-
ful discharge of the duties of his office, which said bond shall
be filed in the office of said Comptroller.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the
said Inspector to have analyzed, in the manner hereinafter
prescribed, all artificially manufactured or manipulated fer-
tilizers, imported or brought into, or manufactured in the
State of Maryland for sale, on and after the first day of.
April, eighteen hundred and seventy ; and to ascertain, by
chemical analysis, the percentage, by weight, of all the valu-
able constituents in said fertilizers, and whether in a soluble
or insoluble form, and also any other constituents, properties
or circumstances which may affect their value as fertilizers
of the soil

SEC. 4. And whereas, it is highly important to the agri-
cultural interests of the State that the inspections and analy-
sis of the aforesaid fertilizers should be accurate and relia-
ble ; therefore,

Be it enacted, That the said Inspector, in drawing or
selecting the samples from which to ascertain by chemical
analysis the per centage of their valuable constituents, shall
select, or draw from any given quantity of such fertilizer,
submitted to him for inspection and analysis, at least ten
samples, and as many more as to him may appear necessary,
for the purposes of this Act, from different parts of the bulk
to be inspected, or from the different bags, barrels, boxes or
other packages, taken promiscuously, and these samples,
thus selected, shall be mixed thoroughly together, and a
sample or samples taken from the mixture, from which the
chemical analysis and inspection shall be made.