EXTENSION DIVISION. 219 



Joseph county last j'ear were presented at the institutes, extension 

 schools and other community meetings; these results have been helpful 

 in planning demonstrations and have led to an increased use of lime and 

 fertilizer. 



Use of Fertilizers: Through tests and demonstrations in the use of 

 fertilizers on the different soil types of the counties attention is being 

 called to the plant foods needed and to the most economical methods of 

 maintaining soil fertilit}'. Perhaps at this stage in the use of fertilizers 

 the largest service the agents are able to perform is through well con- 

 ducted demonstrations showing the most economical methods of securing 

 the necessary plant food for the different soils. 



Twenty counties report fertilizer demonstrations. Particularly good 

 results have been obtained from the demonstrations in the use of phos- 

 phates. As a result of these demonstrations there has been a big increase 

 in the use of acid phosphate. In Muskegon county last year one car of 

 acid phosphate was used in demonstrations on wheat, alfalfa and oats 

 and as a result of these demonstrations and explanations of them made 

 at meetings, seven cars of acid phosphate were used by the farmers this 

 year on spring seeding; in Ottawa county several different communities 

 have been purchasing acid phosphate in car lots this season, one com- 

 munity alone using 200 tons ; in Mason county 38 demonstrations in the 

 use of acid phosphate are being carried on. Among the other counties 

 reporting excellent results from the use of acid phosphate, particularly 

 on wheat, are Allegan, Berrien, Branch, Kalamazoo, Kent, Mason and 

 Newaygo. In cooperation with the Soils department tests conducted on 

 the Van Buren County Farm showed excellent results from both acid and 

 rock phosphate, doubling the yield of oats. At the Kent County Farm 

 similar cooperative experiments showed that 400 pounds of acid phos- 

 phate increased the yield of potatoes GO bushels per acre over the un- 

 treated plots. 



Correcting Acidity: Samples of soil from more than a thousand farms 

 have been tested for acidity, marl beds have been located, a marl pump- 

 ing demonstration was given in Van Buren county in cooperation with 

 the Farm Mechanics department, lime campaigns have been conducted 

 and the use of lime and marl is rapidly increasing. The practice has 

 now become so extensive that it is difficult to get complete data on the 

 number of tons used in each county. An estimate based upon the figures 

 available would indicate that more than 50,000 tons of lime were applied 

 on the counties this year. 



Use of Legumes: The increase in the use of lime and marl is in close 

 relation to the increase in the use of legumes for soil building demonstra- 

 tions of the value of the diffierent legumes and of the best methods of 

 growing and using them, are carried on extensively in nearly all of the 

 counties. 



Alfalfa: Twenty-one counties report a large amount of work on al- 

 falfa, including tests for acidity; helping to secure the best and most 

 economical forms of lime for the different localities; testing the value of 

 fertilizers; finding sources of the best seed and particularly of the hard- 

 ier strains; distributing cultures; conducting inoculating demonstra- 

 tions; advising on the preparation, of the soil and on the time and 

 methods of making hay; on removing June grass; and on the value of 

 alfalfa for pasture or for hay. In some of the counties the successful 



