24 Diuector's Rri'ort of tub 



tlicso experiments repeated applieatious at tlie rate of 15 per ct. 

 to 20 per ct. of manure proved not only wasteful of manure but 

 also lessened the yield. 



As in the previous experimentfi reported in Bulletin 14G tli(^ 

 clay loam gave better crojis of lettuce than the sandy loam when 

 both were given equal amounts of stable manure. 



The amount of manure which it is economical to use in forcing 

 letfuce necessarily varies with the character of the manure and 

 of the soil. It a'. so would vary to some extent with the differ- 

 ence between the prices received for fancy lettuce and those 

 received for the ordinary grades. For these rasons definite 

 amounts cannot be recommended. 



CROP PRODUCTION. 



Commercuil fertUkcrs in onion ^roirt^^r.— Experiments in the 

 use of diff(_'reut quantities of a complete fertilizer in growing 

 onions were conducted at Florida, Orange Co., N. Y., for four 

 years on the same field and for one year on a field of another 

 farm. • 



The quantities of fertilizer used per acre were none, 500 lbs., 

 1000 lbs., 1500 lbs. and 2000 lbs. 



On the Purdy field (4 years), when only 500 lbs. of fertilizer 

 was used the manure cost of the increase of crop was 16.6 cts. 

 per barrel; with 1000 lbs., 79.3 cts., with 1500 lbs., 80.4 cts., and 

 with 2000 lbs., 227.8 cts. 



The profit from using the fertilizer came mostly from the first 

 500 lbs. applied, averaging |35.84 per acre. With onions at 

 11.25 per barrel the profit was slightly larger (about |3 per 

 acre), with both the 1000 lbs. and 1500 lbs. of fertilizer per acre; 

 but 2000 lbs. was used at a loss. 



On the Mars field one experiment was conducted which showed 

 no increase of yield from applying commercial fertilizer even in 

 the larger quantities. 



The results of these ex[)eriment8 show clearly that the crops 

 were limited more by other condilions than by the extent of the 

 plant food supply. With the best conditions of season and water 



