THE EFFECT OF FERTILIZERS APPLIED TO TIMOTHY ON THE 



CORN CROP FOLLOWING IT * 



The primary purpose of this bulletin is to consider the effect of 

 fertilizers on corn grown in a rotation with oats, wheat and timothy 

 three years, the fertilizers being applied in the spring as a top-dressing 

 to the timothy. 



One of the objects of the experiment was to test the practice of fer- 

 tilizing the timothy crop and not applying any fertilizer to the grain 

 in a rotation involving three years of timothy and three of grain. As 

 is well known, the customary practice is to apply farm manure or com- 

 mercial fertilizers to certain of the grain crops, and allow the grass to 

 make its growth on the available plant food remaining. There are 

 several reasons why there would appear to be an advantage in applying 

 fertilizers to grass rather than to grain crops in a rotation : 



( 1 ) Fertilizers applied to grass increase not only the growth of that j 

 part of the crop cut for hay, but also the roots and sod which are plowed 

 under the soil and in decomposing add to the soil productiveness. It 

 seems, therefore, that anything that aids the growth of timothy would 

 help the grain, while the reverse is not true in the same sense. 



(2) The hay crop is generally the crop which in a rotation with grain 

 brings the largest financial returns in New York State. If a certain 

 application of manures increases in the same ratio the yields of hay 

 and grain, the value of the increase in the former crop would be greater 

 than that of the latter. It should pay best to increase the crop that 

 is worth the most, provided the cost of the increase is the same in both 

 cases. 



(3) Grass is peculiarly sensitive to readily available nitrogen in fertil- 

 izers. Grain crops are not benefited to the same extent by this form of 

 nutrient. As most commercial fertilizers contain some more or less 

 readily available nitrogen, much of which may be carried off in the 

 drainage water and thus be lost to crops after the year it is applied, it 

 would seem to be advisable to add this to the crop that it will benefit 

 most. On the other hand, the phosphorus and potassium contained 

 in the fertilizer are not removed in large amounts by the drainage water 

 and the unused parts remain in the soil to benefit the succeeding grain 

 crops. 



* Note : This experiment was started and the plats laid out under direc- 

 tion of Prof. T. F. Hunt, who was at the time agronomist of this Station. 



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