78 Vermont Agricultural Report. 



upon to keep up the fertility. After the second year from seeding, 

 grass lands need some fertilizer either in the form of commer- 

 cial materials, or stable manure. Where the latter is available 

 it should always be used, and preferably in the fall. On farms 

 where quite an area of cultivated crops is grown such crops 

 usually require most of the stable manure, so that the use of 

 commercial fertilizers is necessary if the productiyeness of the 

 grass lands is to be retained. 



Numerous experiments have shown that the chief fertilizing 

 ingredients required by the grasses are nitrogen and potash, with 

 relatively smaller quantities of phosphoric acid. For the past 

 ten years the writer has been experimenting with fertilizers on 

 grass lands, and is fully satisfied that where hay is worth ten 

 to twelve dollars per ton they are a profitable investment. The 

 nitrogen should be present in a quick acting form, such as nitrate 

 of soda, sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of potash, while the best 

 and cheapest form of potash is doubtless the muriate. If com- 

 mercial mixtures are used, care should be taken only to use those 

 with a liberal percentage of nitrogen and of potash. A mixture 

 with four percent nitrogen, ten to eleven percent of actual potash, 

 and six to seven percent of available phosphoric acid will give 

 good results. During quite a period of years I have mixed fer- 

 tilizers on the farm and where five or more tons are used, find 

 quite a saving over the commercial mixtures. The homemade 

 mixtures are in all respects as good or better than those cost- 

 ing several dollars per ton more in the form of commercial mix- 

 tures. A valuable and easily prepared mixture for grass may be 

 made from looo lbs of acid phosphate, 400 lbs. of muriate of 

 potash, and 600 lbs. of nitrate of soda. This mixture will con- 

 tain 4y^ percent of nitrogen, 6^^ percent of soluble phosphoric 

 acid and 10 percent of actual potash, and at prices for the spring 

 of 1905 the materials would cost, at most Newi England points, 

 $30.00 to $32.00. Four hundred pounds of this mixture per acre., 

 costing not to exceed $6.50, will often give an increase of one to 

 two tons per acre. I have used essentially this mixture for a 

 number of years, but on account of the high cost of nitrate of 

 soda in the spring of 1905 I substituted nitrate of potash and 

 made quite a saving thereby. 



CAN THE I^EEDING VALUE; OF GRASSES BE) IMPROVED? 



In discussing the composition of grasses I stated that they 

 were too low in protein for the best results in feeding. This leads 

 to the question. Is it possible to improve the feeding value of the 

 common grasses? This question has been studied by several of 

 the experiment stations and especially by the Storrs Expt. Sta- 



