OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 1l 

GROVER ¶ELLERS 

ATlOw4CI GINII1A.L 

oplaloa lo. O-7156 

Dur sir: 

Rw ID tba ulo of 

oplnloa a th l bovo rubjoot. 

rolu to the citrus 

y/E’eut.mlt tuo ~ue8tlon8, viz: 

iie sale of 9Hln-So11 under the clrcxim8t.8~~88 and c~ditioXi8 8Ot fO& in the brief, 8Ubject to ~rLpin81 OT ~1~11 FcMitiO8 wider the Canmercl81 Pertflizer 8UtUte8? 18 thWO, Mder raid Cir- 

-8tanaO8 and aOQditiOCl8, Uir llOCe88itl fOP th. nin901 CCXOpOCJ, Or UIYCTJO e18e OffOrixig nor 8e'lliq 'b!b-lSol', to ccqly vith the Conoerclal Fertilizer Statutes of ttlis Ltete?” 
Honorable A. J. Luckett, pndo 2 

Ye think it necerrary before attemptlng to an8ver the 

@.le8tlOZl8 you have mired to iir8t d8temlno vhether or not the 

8UbtOrhl ~AUVA a8 "blin-sol" meet8 the deilnltlon OS a comorcial 

fortlllter as detlned by Article 1716 

mad8 a8 fO111~8l 

of our Ponal Code, vhlch 

“A ccmmeralal f~rtlllzor 18 

8tanao or mixtun vhlch contains 

any Mterlal, rubor la clalmod to ~~~ a._~ A. . m .-._. - 

uuncaan more cnaa an* par aant or coca1 pnorpnorlc 

acid, Or potslh or altrogen and vhloh 18 uaad for 

D&‘pliWAtiUZ8 to th0 8011 to proPrOte the grovth of 

Cror18~ or uw rubrknoo. EUit4WlAl or mlxturd, vhlah 

18 clnlmed to oxart a beneflatal a&ion up= the 

roll or to wcmoto the nrtnith of arop8. Lime, Time8ton0, marl, un&e rgrouad 0088, rtook pen manure, 

b a r a y a mra a d ur aor , the l xcment8 0r any dOWO8tio 

Mb81 8hDll be OXOBpt frOa th8 plWV181fX38 Of thl8 

chapter, ln oa88 that uld Laura or excrement ha8 

not b6en drlod or mnIpulat8d or OthervlBv trmatod 

or la aot claImed to h8vo a value OS more #WI $4 a 

tua.” (Bmpharli uur8) 

Article 108 Of Our civil StetUtO8 mad8 a8 fOiiOV8t 

"The temm ~aanmera~l fertlllzor,' 'misbranded,' 

and 'adulterated,' a8 ured in this chapter, rhall 

hV8 tha 8aW RIUA~ a8 18 $iVOA thosa tomis in 

Article 1716 OS the Penal Cc lo.’ 

Proc the above tvo Articlor, therefore, vo umbt obtain 

the detinition ot cszmercial fertllltcr. Particular emyh~818 18 

placed here upon tke vords “Or EKiy 8Ub8taCe, D&terinl or ti?Xtuw, 

vhich Is claimed to exert a $enoflclal action upon the soil or to 

pranote tke growth of crcqs. Us think it clear tkzt the ir.ter.tix 

of the Legislature in defining coaaerclal t’crtllizer er, it did UKder Article 1716 va3 to trlr< uncler the prov?s?ms of tkc Article: 

nily n~tcrb31 offt-red for sale as an anendrzent to 8~11 Oscar e rut.- 

stance vhich uw~ld bc beneflclal to tk:E grovln~ of c?o;lr. ‘t+.lle 

it nay be true the material you nentlonod frills to neet the ckcr-- 

ical deflnitlon of conuzerclal fertilizer because it hns E lesz 

a&ount of phosphorus than 18 required by the 8tatute, ue do thir.:: 

that the rubstance 18 clelrsed by the Cotx~ng to be of benefit to 

soil and that it doer prmote the grovth of crops; therefore, it 

vould appear to u8 that it 18 a aCUUerCia1 fertilizer vithlo the 

meanin& of Article 1716 of the r’enal Code. 
. 

lfonorable A. J. Luckett, page 3 

The 

of ccalmerol.al 

identlo81. 

clvll an& penal articles relbting to the marketing 

fertlllter are l lallar; in iaet, acme of thorn are 

Unquoetlonablyr it war the lntontlon of tho bglrlaturo 

ln pawing tho Camerckl Portillcor Statutes to prohibit fraud 

upon tho publlo, 1. l . tho malo OS IpatOrial by fal80 8dvortlrlng. 

Phie lr vlthln tho polloo powor of our Stat.0 Oovommont. Uo do 

not aontond that tho stato Chomlat8 or any other agoaoy OS the 

Oovornmont could provont a oorporatlon or a pormon from rolling 

the matorlalr you nentlonod, but ve do oontond, and vo horo hold, 

that l uoh corpomtlon or perron offorlng for ma10 tho matorlal 

wet oompl~ with both the 01~11 am3 crlmlnal rktutor govomlzig 

the marketlag and ralo of occmom~l fartllircor. 

Truatlng the above eatlrfaatoril~ 6mawofe your lnqulrJ, 

vo are 

Your8 vow truly 

AlTORl'iEY OEERAL OF TWS 

E. M. DeGeurln 

Aa8lBtfmt 

SDeO/JCP