CORNEJOL UNIVERSITY EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 271 



1891, when one-fortieth-acre plots were used. Last year, however, the trial 

 was made upon very poor and intractable soil, and nitrate of soda gave the 

 smallest yields of the single treatments, and the best yield was obtained 

 from a combination of all three materials, but even then the crop averaged 

 to frost only 8.3 lbs. per plant, against 9.5 lbs. in the best yield this year, 

 in a shorter season. The experiments of 1891 seem to show, therefore, 

 that on very poor land nitrate of soda alone gives very little result, all the 

 three elements being needed to produce even a small yield; the experi- 

 ments of 1892 seem to show that upon tolerably good soil nitrate of soda 

 alone may give profitable results, and this conclusion is strengthened by 

 the other evidence which as been presented in this paper. 



3. Relation of variety to fertilizing. — Last year we raised the question 

 as to whether there is any difference between varieties in the readiness 

 with which they respond to fertilizers. Are some types of varieties more 

 likely to give good results from manuring than others? The small test 

 made upon this point last season showed a decidedly greater tendency on 

 the part of improved or highly developed varieties, like the Ignotum, to 

 produce more fruits to the plant, but the total weight of crop did not 

 appear to follow this course. This year, five varieties were submitted to 

 this test, Ignotum representing the more improved types, Ithaca and Peach 

 the intermediate types, and Yellow Plum and Eed Cherry the least 

 improved ones. On June 20, nearly three weeks after the plants were set 

 in the field, each plot, containing six plants, received a liberal dressing of 

 equal parts of nitrate of soda, muriate pf potash, bone black, and Bradley's 

 vegetable fertilizer. The yields to frost are displayed in the following 

 table : 



Table VI. — Relation of variety to influence of fertilizer. 



These results agree with those of 1891 in the fact that the least im- 

 proved variety — red cherry, in this instance — gave the least increase in 

 number of fruits, but beyond this there appears to be no uniformity in 

 the outcomes. It is remarkable that in the red cherry there was somewhat 

 less total yield in the fertilized plot than in the other; yet the yellow plum, 

 which is very little superior to it in degree of amelioration, gives a greater 

 increase, both in number of fruits and in total weight of crop, than the 

 Ignotum. Last year, the Ithaca gave the most remarkable response to the 

 fertilizer, but this year it gave comparatively little response. It should 

 be said, however, that the experiments of last year were made upon very 

 poor soil, and the effect of the fertilizers was therefore undisguised; but 

 this year the plots were upon good soil, somewhat variable in character, 

 upon which the fertilizers produced comparatively small effect. We shall 

 attempt to repeat this study upon a uniform poor soil. 



