434 Bulletin 76. 



which has followed the use of potash salts, I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that the ashes were not up to standard quality. 



The second case is that of Mr. F. W. Howard, of Fredonia, 

 N. Y. The experiment which was tried by Mr. Howard is one 

 worthy of being followed by every grape grower in the Chautauqua 

 district. He divided his Concord vineyard, which is practically 

 level and is upon a soil very uniform in character, into several plots 

 and applied fertilizers at the rate of two hundred pounds per acre, 

 as follows : 



16 rows, applied a mixture of equal parts muriate of potash 

 and bone. 



6 rows, muriate of potash. 



6 rows, bone. 



6 rows, tankage. 



64 rows, equal parts tankage, bone, and potash. 



7 rows, potash and bone. 

 4 rows, nothing. 



These applications were made in the spring of 1894, upon land 

 that had shelled in previous years. The results were so plainly 

 marked that there was no room left for doubt as to the require- 

 ment of the land in this vineyard. The first plot of sixteen rows 

 shelled, but not seriously. The next six rows, to which the 

 muriate of potash had been applied, scarcely lost a berry, nor were 

 leaves ' ' blighted ' ' to any greater extent than might be expected 

 so late in the season. In passing to the next plot, the one to 

 which the bone was applied, it was unnecessary to ask where the 

 dividing line between the two plots was situated. The difference 

 could be seen to the row. Where the bone had been applied, the ber- 

 ries shelled to such an extent that the ground was fairly blue in 

 some places. It seemed as if fully one-third of the crop had fallen. 

 The remainder of the plots showed improvements directly in pro- 

 portion to the amount of potash used, the other materials applied 

 being apparently without effect. The land upon which this vine- 

 yard stands was formerly used for farming purposes and was 

 cropped continuously for fifty years or more with scarcely any 

 fertilizers having been applied. The wonder is not that grapes 

 shell, but that they do not all loosen their hold upon life and re- 

 turn to the soil from which they sprang. 



