2010 Volume 76 Issue 3 Pages 427-442
The purpose of this paper is to show that the analysis service offered by a governmental agricultural experimental station contributed to order in the fertilizer market in the latter half of Meiji era. In around 1900, new participants entered the fertilizer market in Japan. Some of them made or dealt in new kinds of fertilizers, such as chemical fertilizer and bone meal. Because of the lack of the information on the new participants and fertilizers, the market was in disorder. The agricultural experiment station of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce therefore launched an analysis service. Through this service, people were able to obtain such vital information as the ingredients of the fertilizers. Many requests for the service were made by the manufacturers and dealers themselves. They needed testimonies for the ingredients of their fertilizers. The results of the analyses were made public not only by the station, which published its reports for a nominal fee, but also by the manufacturers and dealers who had requested the analysis. They used the information in their sales promotion brochures and in advertisements in agricultural magazines for farmers. Thus knowledge of the usefulness of the new fertilizers was imparted to the people.
