Field Experiments with Fertilizers. 



323 



Experiments by Mr. H. H. Jones, Homer, N. Y. — Mr. Jones 

 wlio made the experiments and sent in tliis completed report states 

 that each plat was ^ rod wide and 10 rods long, making an area of 

 Tjig- of an acre. Three rows of potatoes were grown on each plat. 

 In harvesting the crop, the outside rows being discarded according 

 to the directions, the yield of the middle row only of each plat was 

 weighed. Thjs row represented ^V ^^ ^'^^ acre. The weight of 

 potatoes harvested from the central row of plat K (muriate of pot- 

 ash) was 267 lbs. This yield on -^^ of an acre multiplied by 60 gives 

 the yield of pounds per acre, which was 16,020 lbs. ; tliis is equiva- 

 lent to 267 bushels per acre. It so happens that in this experiment 

 the weight per plat multiplied by 60 gives the. yield in pounds per 

 acre and that this product divided by 60 gives the number of bush- 

 els per acre. Therefore the number of pounds per plat represents 

 the number of bushels per acre. 



Plat (KN) 



Potash 



Nitrogeji. 



Plat (KP) 



Potash 

 Phos. Acid. 



Plat (NP) Plat (NPK) Plat (S) 



Nitrogen Nitrogen Stable 



Phos. Add. Phos. Acid Potash. Manure. 



60. — Mr. Jones harvesting and weighing the experi7nehta.l plats of potatoes. 



What lessons can he drawn from this set of experiments f We 

 will first consider wliether it was a prolltable investment to use 

 nitrate of soda. (See page 322.) The blank plat gave 211 lbs. of 

 potatoes ; the nitrate of soda plat yielded only 209 lbs. ; this would 

 indicate that when used alone the nitrate of soda was injurious rather 

 than beneficial. Muriate of potash used alone gave 267 lbs. per 

 plat, an increase of 56 lbs. over no fertihzers, or 56 bushels to the 



