294 STATE COLLEGE, 



Experiment No. 2. 



Field Experiments toith Artificial Manures. 



Five years ago Prof. W. O. Atwater, then director of the Conn. 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, instituted a variety of field experi- 

 ments which have been carried out by a large number of parties in 

 the United States and Canada, that have added much valuable 

 information to our knowledge on the economical use of commercial 

 fertilizers. 



One set of these experiments was designed to study the feeding 

 capacities of some of our more common agricultural plants with 

 special reference to the nitrogen suppl}'. This set of experiments 

 has brought to light some ver}' interesting facts in connection with 

 the ability of the corn crop to obtain its nitrogen from other sources 

 than that supplied in the manure. It has been shown that the 

 majority of our farmers have supplied to this crop a much larger 

 quantity of costlj- nitrogen than is necessar}' for its production. 



The college has taken part in these experiments from the begin- 

 ning, and has done its share of the work, which in the future is to 

 enable us to grow corn at a much reduced cost. 



The soil on the college farm is not ada[)ted to successful corn 

 culture, and the nitrogen experiment with that crop w^as in conse- 

 quence abandoned this year. It was our intention to continue the 

 nitrogen experiment on potatoes, but owing to the heavy rains in the 

 first part of the season the land devoted to experimental purposes 

 was rendered unfit for planting till the season was so far advanced 

 that we were obliged to make our field experiments on beans. 



The ground selected for experimental crops was a level field of 

 uniform cla3' loam, with heavy cla}- subsoil. It had been in mowing 

 for several years without manure. For the nitrogen experiment one 

 acre 435.6 feet in length by 100 feet in width, was taken, and 

 divided into twent}- equal plots running lengthwise of the field, 

 making the plots five feet wide. The beans were planted in rows 

 2^ feet apart, giving two rows to each plot. The fertilizers were 

 applied in the drill in the proportion given in the following table. 



The questions to be studied under the experiment are : First — 

 To what extent is it necessary to supply nitrogen in manures to 

 produce a crop of beans? Second — What substances furnish nitro- 

 gen in forms best adapted to the crop ? 



