REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



29 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Record of Sunshine at the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, for the year 1905. 



SPECIAL EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 



In the Annual Report of the Experimental Farms for 1893, details were given on 

 pages 8 to 24 of the results of a series of tests which had then been carried on for some 

 years with the object of gaining information regarding the effects which follow the 

 application of certain fertilizers and combinations of fertilizers on the more important 

 farm crops. 



These experiments have been continued, and a summary of the results obtained 

 has been given each year, taking the average yield of crops from the beginning, adding 

 the results for the current year, and then giving the average yield for the full time. 

 These tests were undertaken on virgin soil, on a piece of land which was cleared for 

 the purpose. For particulars regarding the clearing and preparing of the land for 

 crop in 188Y-88 and its subsequent treatment, the reader is referred to the earlier issues 

 of this report. 



VALUABLE INFORMATION GAINED. 



From this long conducted series of tests some useful information has been gained. 



These trials have shown that barn-yard manure can be most economically used in 

 the fresh or unrotted condition; that fresh manure is equal, ton for ton, in croi)-pro- 

 ducing power to rotted manure, which, other experiments have shown, loses during the 

 process of rotting about 60 per cent of its weight. In view of the vast importance of 

 making the best possible Mse of barn-yard manure, it is difficult to estimate the value 

 of this one item of information. 



When these experiments were planned, the opinion was very generally held that 

 untreated mineral phosphate, if very finely grovmd, was a valuable fertilizer, which 

 gradually gave up its phosphoric acid for the promotion of plant growth. Ten years' 

 experience has shown that mineral phosphate, untreated, is of no value as a fertilizer. 



The use of stJphate of iron, which at the time these tests were begun, was highly 

 recommended, as a means of producing increased crops, has also been proven to be of 

 very little value for this purpose. 



