- 7 8- 



These figures bear out all the results of last year, and seem 

 clearly to prove that excessive manuring on garden loam does 

 not lessen productiveness. It is extremely doubtful, however, if 

 this very heavy manuring pays its cost, especially in gross pro- 

 ductiveness ; but it is worth while to observe that the individual 

 fruits on the heavily manured plants averaged more than a half 

 heavier than those on liberally manured garden suil. If tomatoes 

 are profitable in proportion to their size and weight, it would ap- 

 pear that the heavy manuring in this case might be commercially 

 profitable. The results obtained with liberal manuring under 

 commercial conditions (Plat V), as compared with the figures ob- 

 tained from no fertilizing and from nitrate and potash treatments, 

 certainly show that good stable manure in abundance can be used 

 profitably. Figures i and 2 show the external differences be- 

 tween plats I and II. Figure 2 is also a good illustration of the 

 appearance of plats III and IV. 



It has been said, in discussions of our tests of last year, that 

 the results would have been reversed if the tests had been made 

 upon clayey soils. We have consequently applied the investiga- 

 tion to very heavy clay this year, as follows : 



Plat VI, 50x45 ft., stiff and heavy clay, was given a dressing 

 of 3,640 lbs. of rotted stable manure, and 96 Ignotum plants 

 were set upon it. Previous to frost, the average yield per plant 

 was only 1.5 lbs., as compared with 11.3 lbs. upon the garden 

 plantation (Plat V), and the average weight per fruit was only 

 5.8 oz., against 8.4 oz. upon the other plat. This shows that the 

 clay plat gave a crop of no commercial value whatever. It is not 

 so clear, however, that this result was due to the manure. In the 

 first place, heavy clay is not fit for tomato growing and there is 

 really no occasion — other than the suggestion of critics — for at- 

 tempting this experiment. Fully a month elapsed before the 

 plants obtained sufficient hold upon the soil to begin to grow. 

 Heavy rains followed frequently during June and Jul}" and 

 packed the soil, and allowed of no adequate cultivation. If the 

 manure had any important influence upon the crop, it was un- 

 doubtedly a beneficial one in loosening the soil. 



These experiments were not undertaken to determine the rela- 

 tive values of different fertilizers for the tomato, and we hope 

 that no one will draw any such conclusions from them. They 

 show, however, that neither nitrogen nor potash alone, upon 

 rather poor soils, give profitable results. 



