Proceedings of Seventeenth Xokmal Institute 105 



peat3^ loams require added potassium. (4) That complete fer- 

 tilizers, if used at all, should be purchased in the form of high- 

 grade brands. (5) That limestone should be used freely on acid 

 soils to promote the growth of legumes ; but that where soils lack 

 phosphorus the use of limestone alone is not profitable, though 

 of great profit when used with phosphorus-supplying materials. 



CULTIVATION AND FIELD CROPS 



Effect of liming on clover production. (Mass. 101.) Bio- 

 logical notes and chemical analyses were made of clover grown on 

 limed and unlimed plats, the history of which was known for many 

 years. 



Liming increased the size of the clover plants and increased the 

 percentage of nitrogen in them when the clover was grown on soils 

 without an application of nitrogen, or when supplied with sulphate 

 of ammonia. This effect was apparently due to the action of lime 

 on the soil, making it more suitable for the plants, rather than to 

 any effect within the plants themselves. 



StalJcs per hill and yield of corn. (Minn. 149.) From a can- 

 vass of a large number of growers, the author found that the 

 great majority desired 3 stalks per hill and secured an average 

 of 2.93 stalks, while only a very few fixed their choice on either 

 fewer or more stalks in the hill. To ascertain whether this pref- 

 erence was justified, tests were made at the station for five years 

 with one stalk in hills 18 inches apart in drilled rows 3 ft. 8 in. 

 apart, and 2 to 6 stalks in check row hills 3 ft. 8 in. apart. Extra 

 kernels were planted to secure the desired number of stalks, the 

 unnecessary ones being removed when the plants were about 

 6 inches high. Very full data were secured of the yields, in- 

 cluding barren stalks, percentage of stand at harvest, height of 

 stalks, height of ears, weight of ears and of stover, and total and 

 acre yields. The number and the percentage of barren stalks in- 

 creased with the number of stalks in the hill, but the differences 

 in percentage stands at harvest were not significant. The largest 

 yield of bushels of corn came from 4-stalk hills, followed closely 

 by the 5-stalk hills, but the percentage of marketable ears de- 

 creased regularly Avith the increase of the number of stalks, so 

 that the 3-stalk hills gave the highest yield of marketable ears, 



