TWO FERTILIZERS COMPARED. 65 



The great merit in the statements herewith submitted is, 

 that the details of the experiments are given with unusual 

 clearness and accuracy, and show what the crops actually 

 did cost. Mr. Appleton kept his account of labor with a 

 care we seldom see equalled in like cases. The three ex- 

 periments seem to show that the Stockbridge fertilizer, and 

 perhaps Darling's compound, are worth quite as much for a 

 year as an equal value in animal manure. We know, that, 

 when the latter is applied to the land, an important part 

 remains for future crops. All, or nearly all, commercial fer- 

 tilizers heretofore in general use have failed in this particu- 

 lar, and in most cases their constant and exclusive use has 

 resulted in exhaustion of the land. Whether this is true of 

 the Stockbridge and Darling compounds is a point that can 

 only be settled by protracted trial, and this we conceive to 

 be a point on which our farmers earnestly desire more light. 

 We hope the gentlemen who have given us the results of 

 their experiments this year, as well as others who have made 

 similar trials, will continue their experiments, for the purpose 

 of showing whether these newly-introduced fertilizers can 

 be profitably used, and the fertility of the soil kept undimin- 

 ished, without the use of other manures. 



Jos. S. Howe, Chairman. 



[Statement of Francis H. Appleton.] 



I send in this statement of my experience in raising Indian 

 corn during the season of 1878, as it seems to me quite in- 

 teresting, beyond being an accumulation of carefully made- 

 up facts. As distances from barn, and other circumstances, 

 vary in different fields, so must my figures vary from others 

 of a similar kind. 



I have taken much pains to keep an account in my diary 

 of the time expended in the fields, from which my figures are 

 taken. Both these crops were raised on worn-out sod-land 

 upon which almost no grass could be cut in 1877. The 

 one with stable-manure makes by far the worst showing, 

 even after deducting the cost of one-half of the manure, as 

 being in the land, and still good for next year's crops. In 

 the case of the Stockbridge fertilizer crop it will be seen that 



