Chap. 141.—An ACT to protect and advance agriculture by regulating the
sale and purity of agricultural lime and the guarantee and condition
upon which it is to be sold, and fixing the penalty incurred for violation
of the same.

; Approved March 11, 1910.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall be
the duty of every manufacturer or dealer of agricultural lime to apply
annually to and obtain a certificate from the commissioner of agriculture,
who shall issue a certificate to him upon application, and the presentation
of a printed or written statement of the guarantee offered to consumers
by said manufacturer or dealer giving the minimum guarantee of the
oxide of calcium the said lime contains, or, if unburnt lime, giving the
minimum carbonate of lime. Each manufacturer shall state the place of
manufacture, the name of his brand or brands, and the size and weight
of each bag, barrel or package. Such statement shall be regarded as
constituting a guarantee to the purchaser that each package contains not
less than the per centum of oxide of calcium of carbonate of lime made
from rock or oyster shells in its natural condition. In other words, all
preparations of lime that are not classed and taxed as fertilizers by act
approved February twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and eight, are to
come under the provisions of this special act for the regulation of the
sale of agricultural lime.

2. Every person prosposing to manufacture and sell agricultural lime
shall annually pay to the commissioner of agriculture a registration fee
of ten dollars for each brand of lime he proposes to offer for sale in the
State; said fees shall be paid into the State treasury, to be used as other
funds of the department of agriculture are used, and the said commis-
sioner of agriculture shall issue a certificate stating that he has complied
with the foregoing section. The said certificate, when furnished, shall
authorize the party receiving same to manufacture for sale in this State,
or sell in this State, directly or through dealers or agents, the brands
named in said certificate. Any person who has failed to file the statement
aforesaid and received the certificate aforesaid from year to year, an-
nually, except dealers and agents selling or offering for sale agricultural
lime on which the certificate issued to the manufacturers, as hereinbefore
provided in this act, shall be liable, for each violation, to a fine not
exceeding one hundred ($100.00) dollars, and fines are to be paid to the
department of agriculture.

3. In the case of bulk lime the manufacturer shall attach to his in-
voice the guarantee he is required by this act to put on package, and
Inspector or inspectors, justice, or notary, who inspects agricultural lime
in bulk may draw samples from various places in the car, so as to get an
average, and then seal the samples in glass or tin, as hereinafter pro-
vided.

4. Every person who sells agricultural lime, upon the request of the
purchaser, shall draw from the same at the time of its delivery to the
purchaser, and in the presence of the purchaser or agent, or, if the seller
is not present when the lime is delivered to the purchaser, then any duly
qualified justice of the county or corporation, who shall be paid by the
purchaser twenty-five cents for each service shall, in the presence of the
purchaser, draw from the same a fair and correct sample, and, in the
presence of both seller and buyer, or justice and buyer, as the case may
be, the sample shall then be put in a glass or tin vessel and securely
sealed, and there shall then be placed on said vessel a label, and on said
Jabel shall be inscribed a certificate signed by both parties, setting forth
that the enclosed sample is a fair and correct sample, and the vessel shall
then be packed and forwarded to the commissioner of agriculture, and
the commissioner of agriculture, on the analysis of said sample, shall for-
ward one copy to the seller and one copy to the purchaser of said agri-
cultural lime.

If the analysis of any agricultural lime, ebtained through an inspec
tion, or in the manner above provided, shall fall ten per centum in value
below the value of the manufacturer’s guarantee, the commissioner of
agriculture shall forbid the further sale in this State of that lot of agri-
cultural lime, but an appeal may be taken from the decision of the com-
missioner of agriculture, to the board of agriculture, who shall give due
notice to the manufacturer or seller, and a hearing with full oppor-
tunity to produce evidence before them. The decision of the board of
agriculture shall be final.

5. The commissioner of agriculture shall have full control of the in-
spection and analysis of agricultural lime, he shall, by and with the con-
sent of the board of agriculture, require the inspectors of fertilizers to
perform a like service for the farmers who purchase agricultural lime
under similar rules and regulations without any additional compensation
to said inspector. )

A copy of the State chemist’s analysis of agricultural lime, when
certified to by him, shall be admissible as prima facie evidence in any
court of this State on the trial of any proceeding involving the merits
of such agricultural lime.