82 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



FIELD PLOTS OF POTATOES. 



The following fourteen plots of potatoes were grown in one field, the land was 

 simOar throughout, and the preparation and treatment was the same for all. The soil 

 was a light sandy loam, which was manured in the spring of 1893, with about 18 tons of 

 barn-yard manure per acre. No fertilizer has been applied since. The pi-evious crop 

 was oats. The land was ploughed in the spring of 1897, about 6 inches deep, and disc- 

 harrowed once, and harrowed with the smoothing harrow once, then made into drills 2^ 

 feet apart for planting. In the following table the particulars are given of the results 

 obtained : — 



Name of Variety. 



Early Rose 



Burpee's Extra Early 

 Wonder of the World 



Dakota Red . 



May Queen Early 



American Wonder . . . 



Early Harvest 



Cai-man No. 1 



Bumaby Seedling. . . . 

 Queen of the Valley . 



Late Puritan 



Everett 



Rochester Rose 



I. X. L 



Yield per 

 Acre. 



Bu.sh. Lbs. 



228 

 202 

 191 

 191 

 1S7 

 107 

 167 

 103 

 lOr. 

 1.52 

 149 

 141 

 137 

 108 



32 

 47 

 51 

 32 

 42 

 32 

 18 

 18 

 59 

 53 

 57 

 11 

 19 

 20 



EXPERIMENTS WITH CLOVER. 



To maintain the fertility of his land is the aim of every good farmer. A judicious 

 rotation of crops, will economize the stores of plant food in the soil, but, where additions 

 require to be made, of these elements of fertility, there are only two methods by which 

 this can be accomplished — one is by applying to the land barn-yard manure, or artificial 

 fertilizers, the other is the ploughing under of green crops, among which there are none 

 so generally useful and valuable as clover. The great value of clover for ploughing 

 under, to enrich the land has long been known, but it is only within the past few years, 

 that the reason has been discovered why it is better for this purpose, than many other 

 plants. The reason is that clover, in common with most other leguminous plants, has 

 the power of taking nitrogen from the air, and laying up the store thus gathered in its 

 roots and leaves, and when turned under, the added fertility becomesimmediately avail- 

 able for subsequent crops. If a clover plant is dug, it will be found to have a mass of 

 fine branching roots, which spread in every direction, and penetrate deeply in the eoil. 

 If these roots are carefully examined, there will be found attached to them, many little 

 nodules or swellings, each of which contains a colony of microbes, and these microscopic 

 organisms are the active agents employed in taking nitrogen from the air, and convert- 

 ing it into plant food. 



Further, the extensive root system which clover has, enables it to penetrate to 

 depths in the soil and subsoil, which few other plants can reach and to bring from 

 these lower strata, supplies of the mineral elements which growing plants require, and 

 when the clover is turned under the decay of its roots and leaves, places within reach 

 of subsequent crops, the additional stores of plant food gathered in the most readily 

 available forms. 



