50 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



ing experiment, not carried out with so much exactness, but 

 showing important results : — 



On one-half acre of good strong land that had been well 

 manured for two years, and upon which onions were sown 

 last 3'ear, the crop was a failure, owing to an unfavorable 

 season. Upon four-sixths of this lot I spread, after plough- 

 ing, four bags of Stockbridge's Onion Fertilizer prepared by 

 W. H. Bowker & Co., of whom I purchased it for six dollars 

 per bag, costing at the rate of seventy-two dollars per acre ; 

 and on the rest of the lot I applied good compost manure, 

 such as I thought would be suitalile for onions, at the rate of 

 eight cords per acre, costing, I judge, Avhen applied, nine dol- 

 lars per cord, or seventy-two dollars per acre. I called upon 

 several disinterested gentlemen to examine the crop when 

 growing, and pass judgment upon the different parts of the 

 piece : and all agreed with me, that, without measurement, 

 the crop where the Stockbridge Fertilizer was applied was 

 considerably better than where the manure was used, the 

 cost being the same. 



In submitting the statements of these experiments on the 

 application of manures, I desire to call your attention to the 

 importance, at the present time, of carefully conducting such 

 experiments, that we, as practical farmers who have a living 

 to get by our farming-operations, may be able to decide, first, 

 Can we afford to buy the chemical fertilizers at the prices 

 demanded for them ? and, if so, are they an economical substi- 

 tute for animal or barn manure ? Or, if used, will our lands 

 retain their present fertility, or increase it, by their use? 

 These are vital questions, that can only be decided by care- 

 ful experiments and for several years. And I trust the mem- 

 bers of our society may take an active part in solving these 

 questions to our benefit. 



[Statement of James P. King.] 



The crop of Indian corn which I offer for premium as an 

 experiment grew on one acre of land. The land is of a 

 black soil, with somewhat of a clay bottom. The land was 

 first ploughed in 1875, eight inches deep, and bore a crop of 

 cabbage the same year, with about five cords of manure of 



