1882.] EXPEEIMENTS WITH FEETILIZERS. 363 



work, devoting myself more and more exclusively to my farm, 

 supplementing the labor of my hands with the labor of my brains, 

 and I feel the benefit in my purse, in my home, and in my mind." 



These details of Mr. Fairchild's experiments, and these words 

 as he spoke and wrote them, I have given for a purpose. 



Like thousands of boys brought up on an eastern farm, Mr. Fair- 

 child took Horace Greeley's advice, and went west. But circum- 

 stances called him home again, and he concluded to try to bring 

 up the old farm. It was up-hill work, and he eked out his income 

 by teaming and other outside labor. Some years ago I became 

 acquainted with him as one of the attentive and intelligent par- 

 ticipators in farmers' meetings. One day he took me out to his 

 farm and showed me what he was trying to do. I very well re- 

 member a meadow on which he told me he had applied, a year or 

 two before, nearly a ton of fish-scrap per acre which he had to buy 

 with the proceeds of his outside labor, and haul several miles. So 

 far as appearance showed, it had done no good at all. I naturally 

 inquired if he had tried potash salts. This suggested the experi- 

 menting which he began at once. 



After one or two seasons' experience, in response to an inquiry 

 as to how he was getting on, he told me he thought he was learning 

 something that would be of great use to him, and added that he 

 found himself devoting more attention to his farm. The next 

 season he told me that he was having better success with his farm- 

 ing, and was giving less time to other . enterprises. A year later, 

 calling at our laboratory to make some inquiries he remarked, that 

 he was taking scarcely any contracts for teaming, but was devoting 

 himself almost exclusively to his farm. Last spring he called 

 again and remarked, "My wife tells me I must set up a prescrip- 

 tion-shop, so many of my neighbors are coming to find what fer- 

 tilizers I use for my corn." A few weeks ago he was in again to 

 bring reports of his experiments, and at that time occurred the 

 conversation reported above. 



MR. Newton's expekiments. * 



In 1880, Mr. Newton made a nitrogen experiment with corn, 

 on the same plan of those of Messrs. Bartholomew and Fairchild, 

 but with very different results, in that the corn paid scarcely any 

 heed to either superphosphate or potash salt, but responded to the 

 nitrogen in every case, the yield rising and falling with the amount 

 of nitrogen applied, as appears in the figures of Table I. 



Generally, corn has responded to the mineral fertilizers, and got 



