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indicate that the use of these fertilizers is steadily increasing, and that 

 the farmers of the State are now spending not less than 11,000,000 an- 

 nually in their purchase." The object of the experiments described in 

 this bulletin, which are in continuation of work begun by the station in 

 1882, and described in a previous report, is to get light upon the economy 

 of the use of artificial fertilizers in Ohio. Some of the experiments are 

 repetitions of those described in previous reports, the same fertilizers 

 being applied to the same plats year after year. Others were begun 

 this season (1889). The geological characteristics and previous treat- 

 ments of the soils are described in more or less detail. 



Field experiments with fertilizers on corn. — Experiments on the station 

 farm (pp. 27-30). — The soil being of great natural fertility, the object 

 of the experiment became practically to find {D how to maintain eco- 

 nomically the fertility of the soil, and (2) the limit to which the fertility 

 of such a soil may be profitably increased. 



Five sections of ground on the station farm were laid out and subdi- 

 vided into plats of one tenth and one twentieth of an acre each. Four 

 of these sections were devoted to continuous cropping with corn, oats, 

 wheat, and potatoes, respectively, and one to rotation cropping. The 

 plats were separated by alley-ways 2 feet wide ; and a tile drain laid 

 under every alternate alley- way gave to each plat a drain on one side or 

 the other. Every third plat was left unmacurcd, and all the plats were 

 plowed into low ridges, leaving furrows in the alley-ways to keep fertil- 

 izers from affecting adjoining plats, and to prevent water from standing 

 on the laud under experiment. 



Super j)hosph ate at the rate of 320 pounds, muriate of potash 160 

 pounds, and nitrate of soda 160 pounds per acre were applied singly 

 (Nos. 1, 2, and 3), two by two (Nos. 4 to 0), and all three together in a 

 "complete" fertilizer (No. 7), thus making a "soil test." The effects 

 of varying quantities of nitrogen were tested in Nos. 8 and 9, which 

 differed from No. 7 in that twice and three times the quantities of ni- 

 trate were used. In No. 10 the 160 pounds of nitrate of soda of No. 7 

 were replaced by 120 pounds of sulphate of ammonia. The plans were 

 essentially similar to those of the soil tests and special nitrogen experi- 

 ments described in Circular No. 7, of this Office, except that the nitrogen 

 tests were less detailed. To test the action of phosphoric acid in other 

 forms of combination the superphosphate of No. 7 was replaced by 300 

 pounds of South Carolina rock in No. 11 and by 400 pounds of Thomas 

 slag in No. 12. One plat received farm manure, 8 tons, and another 

 linseed-oil meal, 1,800 pounds per acre. The series includes twenty-two 

 plats, eight of which were not manured. The results for 1888 were pre- 

 viously reported. Those for 1889 are here given in tables, which show 

 the quantity and cost per acre of the fertilizers used, the yield of corn 

 per acre as weighed when harvested in November, the per cent of loss 

 of grain in drying until January as determined by drying 100-pound 

 samples, the estimated yield of dried corn (January weights), and the 



