New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 23 



of 850 lbs. of dried blood and 100 lbs. nitrate of soda per acre. 

 The aiiioniit of nitrogen thus applied was approximately the 

 same in each case. 



The use of these commercial fertilizers with no manure was 

 followed by a much better yield of lettuce than that produced 

 by similar soil not fertilized. On the clay loam the use of the 

 nitrate of soda without manure -was followed by a better yield 

 than followed the use of either sulphate of ammonia or dried 

 blood without manure. On the sandy soil without manure dried 

 blood generally gave better results than either the sulphate of 

 ammonia or the nitrate of soda. With sulphate of ammonia 

 and no manure the yields were very variable. These nitrogen- 

 ous fertilizers alone, in the amounts applied, proved inadequate 

 for forcing lettuce in a sufficiently short time to be profitable. 

 Very much better crops were obtained when stable manure was 

 added. 



The higher percentages of manure when combined with the 

 jiitrogenous commercial fertilizers above named obscured the 

 action of the latter so that it was not possible to decide that any 

 advantage was obtained from adding them with the manure. 

 With the smaller percentages of manure (5 per ct. and 10 per 

 ct.) the addition of dried blood gave in the aggregate better 

 results than either nitrate of soda ov sulphate of ammonia simi- 

 larly combined. 



When 5 per ct. of manure was added to the soil with the com- 

 mercial fertilizers referred to, the yields were invariably very 

 much increased over those obtained with the same fertilizers 

 and no manure. Double, triple and quadruple portions of 

 manure increased the yield of the first crop but not to a cor- 

 responding extent. With succeeding crops the cumulative effect 

 of successive heavy applications of manure was seen in the 

 actual decrease of the yield below that obtained with more mod- 

 erate applications of manure. 



In forcing lettuce it is not uncommon for gardeners to use 

 from 5 per ct. to 20 per ct. of manure. The amount which they 

 use doubtless most often approaches the 20 per ct. rate, lu 



