Guy's Selling A Vintage Soil Testing Kit From Sudbury Company

SUDBURY, MA—A man in Scituate is selling on Craigslist a vintage Sudbury Soil Test Kit.

It's in the original wooden box, and it was manufactured by the Sudbury Soil Testing Laboratory of South Sudbury.

This is what comes in the kit:

2 Bottles Soil Test Solutions - Formerly Called Lime Test
No. 2 and No. 3 Bottles Nitrogen
No. 4 and No. 5 Bottles Phosphorus
No. 6 and No. 7 Bottles Potash
2 Bottles Clean Water
Filter Paper
Original Packing Slip No. 107-1068-A4
Original Color Coded Test Results
Color Guides
1 Original Pure Tin Stirring Rod in Original Envelope
15 Test Tubes with Color Coded Caps
3 Glass Funnels

One of the bottles has label damage, but it is otherwise in very good condition. "Mike" told Patch that his dad gave us this kit a while ago, and we know little else about it.

The Sudbury Foundation was established in 1952 by Herbert and Esther Atkinson, and the Atkinsons were the people who ran the Sudbury Laboratory, which produced these soil testing kits. The company did very well, and the Foundation still gives $1.2 million annually in grants and scholarships.

According to this articlepublished by the Sudbury Chronicle, the Atkinsons came back to Sudbury in 1928, when they bought a home on Dutton Road that once was the home of Babe Ruth's. Shortly after, Herbert wanted to grow beans but was told the soil in which he wished to plant wasn't good. That's when he developed the soil test kits.

Photos submitted