144 



the couference of representatives of experiment stations at the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, of wliich an account was given in Circular 

 No. 7 of this Office. Field notes are given and the results stated in 

 tabular form. The yields of corn on the uu manured plats, and on the 

 manured plats which received no muriate of potash, ranged from 25 to 

 38 bushels per acre. On those which had muriate of potash, alone or 

 in combination, the yield ranged from 77 to 94 bushels. The results of 

 this season, 1889, were very similar to those of 1888. Experiment No. 2. — 

 In this the conditions were the same as in experiment No. 1, except 

 that sulphate of potash was substituted for muriate, and dissolv«^d 

 bone black for plaster. As in experiment No. 1, there was a large in- 

 crease of yield (40 to 47 bushels per acre over the unmanured plats) 

 wherever the potash salt was used, and little or no apparent effect from 

 the other materials. As between the sulphate and muriate the differ- 

 ence, if any, was in favor of the latter. 



Financial results from the use of various fertilizers on corn. — Without 

 taking into account the value of the stover, it appears that there was 

 a profit in every instance where potash fertilizers were used, and a loss 

 where dissolved bone-black and nitrate of soda were used without 

 potash. " The results would indicate that soils of like character in the 

 'Blue-Grass' region would be benefited by fertilizers containing large 

 quantities of potash, but the conclusions reached should not be consid- 

 ered as being applicable to the soils of the other geological formations 

 of the State." 



The permanency of the effect of fertilizers. — In 1888 a field of one acre 

 was divided into ten equal plats, two of which were left unmanured, 

 and eight treated with a mixture of sulnhate of potash, sulphate of 

 ammonia, and dried blood. In 1889, three of the plats manured in 

 1888 were left without manure, and the others received respectively 

 muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, kaiuit, cotton-seed meal, and 

 tobacco stems. The tabulated statement of the results of the second 

 season shows clearly that the fertilizers applied in 1888 were of benefit 

 both in 1888 and in 1889. 



Relation of fertilizers to shrinTcage and proportion of Tiernel to cob. — "'In 

 the previous results given, we have based our calculations on the 

 weights of field corn, because that is the way corn is generally marketed 

 here. It is evident, however, that its true value for feeding purposes 

 depends upon the dry matter it contains and the proportion of corn to 

 cob. 



" For the purpose of studying this question, the corn [from eight ex- 

 perimental plats], after being husked and weighed, was spread over the 

 floor of the barn loft and allowed to cure from November 11 to January 

 24. The loft is well ventilated. January 24 it was again weighed and 

 shelled and samples sent to the laboratory for analysis." A table is 

 given showing, for the eight diff"erently fertilized plats, the number of 

 ears in a bushel of 70 pounds; per cent of shrinkage of the ears, which 



