I20 



AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



TABLE XIII.— RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL METHODS AND FERTI- 

 LIZATION ON YIELD. 



(Annual j-ield per acre, during four years, 1909-12, in Experiment 338.) 



In the present table, it will be noted that sod alone has given 

 a four-year average yield of 190 bushels per acre. The addition 

 of the mulch has raised this average by 76 bushels, and the sub- 

 stitution of tillage and cover crops has raised it still further to 

 a gain of nearly 123 bushels per acre, which is the maximum 

 gain obtained thus far in our experiments, from the latter treat- 

 ment. 



In the latter half of the table, however, we find that the addi- 

 tion of phosphate and potash to sod, without any cultivation, 

 has resulted in an average gain of 87 bushels per acre, while 

 the addition of nitrogen and phosphates has given an increase 

 of about 352 bushels, and manure now shows the enormous gain 

 over sod alone of more than 446 bushels per acre annually. 

 These latter increases are thus about 3 or 4 times as great as 

 the best of those obtained from modifications in cultural meth- 

 ods alone. 



These and other results already given indicate that in many 

 cases the character of the fertilization is of greater importance 

 than the particular cultural method followed. This is not 

 always true, however, and before doing any extensive fertiliz- 

 ing of orchards, a preliminary local test on the general plan 

 described in the accompanying report on this subject is always 

 recommended. Similarly, before making any radical changes 

 in a cultural method, it is always advisable to give the proposed 

 change a careful trial on a typical portion of the orchard, unless 

 one already has undoubted evidence of the value of the change 

 for his particular conditions. 



