1882.] EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 355 



experimental work he has done has been of actual benefit to him 

 as a farmer. He answered as follows: 



. " In reply to your question I will say that I have learned to 

 place great confidence in commercial fertilizers when properly 

 used, as furnishing the most reliable and economical materials for 

 increasing my crops." 



" I have learned that the effects of the different substances used, 

 although varying much from each other, are nearly identical in 

 different fields and in different years on my farm, always showing 

 a tendency to the same characteristics." 



" I have learned that these fertilizers are much superior in quality 

 to those we obtained before the establishment of the Experi- 

 ment Station." 



" I have learned that this farm, which my father, after fifty 

 years of acquaintance and cultivation, pronounced ill-adapted to 

 the raising of corn, gives me, under similar treatment, with the 

 use of phosphate of lime in addition, in corn one of my most 

 profitable crops." 



" I think I have learned that by the proper use of commercial 

 fertihzers as indicated in the different trials, I can obtain, at fair 

 profit, finer potatoes, free from disease and blemish, than by any 

 other means known to me." 



" I have learned that by the use of one or more of these substances 

 as adjuncts to farm manures, I have been enabled to obtain at 

 small expense, superior crops of corn, oats, and potatoes with less 

 manure, while the remainder of the manure applied as top- 

 dressing to grass lands, has materially increased my crops of hay." 



" And finally, to include the whole matter, I find that I am 

 keeping much more stock, getting better crops, and better satis- 

 faction from my farm than before." 



MR. FAIECHILD's EXPERIMENTS. 



Mr. Fairchild has made some computations of the increase of 

 yield and pecuniary outcome of his experiments the last season, 

 which seems to me very interesting, and are given, with other 

 details, in Table II herewith. 



