Department of Horticulture. 531 



The chemical action of the humus in rendering available for immediate 

 use the plant materials already in the soil is well known, (j) The actual 

 plant food added by leguminous cover-crops is large. 



Crimson clover, mammoth clover, vetch, and perhaps cowpeas seem 

 to be the most successful of the leguminous crops for the green-manuring. 

 They should, if possible, be planted early enough to gain a good growth 

 before being turned under, and should not be started so- late as merely 

 to form a scanty covering of the soil, as do so many of the cover-crops 

 now grown. Where late potatoes make early-cover crops impossible, rye, 

 rape, aiid oats will probably do best. 



Stable manure. The use of stable manure has declined to a large 

 extent with the excessive planting of trucking crops. The number of 

 farm animals has been decreased in order to give greater area for the 

 trucking crops. When the live stock kept is merely enough to do the 

 farm work and supply a little milk, the total amount of stable manure 

 produced is small. In such cases it will usually prove profitable to buy 

 stable manure if it may be had reasonably, and at a time when it can 

 be hauled in the less busy winter season. For eastern Long Island con- 

 ditions the application to the soil of organic matter in the form of stable 

 manures, green crops, and other available coarse materials can hardly 

 be advocated too strongly. Striking examples of greately increased yields 

 following such practices could be cited. 



Commercial fertilizers, (a) Applications — The applications of com- 

 mercial fertilizers to potatoes, as determined by the survey, range from 

 one-half a ton to one ton and a half per acre. One ton per acre was 

 applied by 84 farmers. The typical yield obtained by these men last 

 year was 100 bushels per acre, this amount being reported by 24 persons. 

 Three-quarters of a ton per acre was applied by 38 farmers. The average 

 yield obtained by these men was also 100 bushels per acre, which was 

 reported by 13 of them. From this it seems that the larger applications 

 of fertilizer were not warranted by an increased yield over the smaller 

 applications, for the most of the farmers who last year applied 1500 

 pounds of fertilizer to the acre realized as large a yield as those who 

 applied 2000 or 2500 pounds to the acre. Better yields will result from 

 more humus and less commercial fertilizer. 



(h) Home Mixing — Many farmers in the neighborhood of River- 

 head mix their own fertilizers. According to statements made by them 

 they save four to seven dollars a ton by so doing. The materials to 

 furnish the necessary nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash are bought 

 in large lots, several men clubbing together in the purchase. The ma- 



