717 



The experiineuts included fourteen separate trials iu three counties of 

 the State, six being with corn, three with sweet-potatoes, two with 

 peach trees, two with strawberries, and one with tomatoes. 



Corn. — An acre of land was used for each trial, and was divided into 

 sixteen plats iu three cases, and into ten plats in the three remaining 

 cases. Nitrate of soda, muriate of potash, and acid phosphate, in 

 amounts not reported, were used singly, two by two, and all three 

 combined, a variable number of plats receiving no fertilizer. Unfa- 

 vorable conditions rendered the results of two trials of very little value, 

 "but in no case in any of the six tests was any positive proof gained 

 that the increased corn crop paid for the use of the fertilizer. * * * 

 The experiments demonstrated that a large excess of the highest grade 

 of plant food can be used without results, even on fields which have 

 been prepared, seeded, and cultivated with special care." 



Sweet-potatoes. — In the three trials with sweet-potatoes nitrate of 

 soda IGO pounds, acid phosphate 400 pounds, and muriate of potash 

 IGO pounds were used alone and combined, and several plats remained 

 unfertilized. "In every case very marked profits were secured from 

 fertilizers," but " one plat tells a story which the adjoining plat con- 

 tradicts," and "no clear explanation as to the manner in which the 

 fertilizers work is at hand." Only one of the three trials furnished 

 definite indication as to the soil for this crop. Two trials were also 

 made to determine whether scarlet clover turned under as green 

 manure could take the place of nitrate of soda. Acid phosphate and 

 muriate of potash were used alone and combined. One trial was 

 seriously aftected by insects. In the other trial " the results were 

 favorable to the clover." The plat receiving muriate of potash, acid 

 phosphate, and a green manuring with clover yielded 228 bushels per 

 acre of sweet- potatoes, a gain of 18 bushels over the adjoining plat 

 (belonging to the previous experiment), which received nitrate of soda 

 in place of the green manuring. 



Peach trees. — The two trials were on 144 two-year-old trees, 12 trees 

 in each plat, and "the effects of fertilizers were measured solely by 

 the growth of new wood." The same fertilizers were used as in the 

 previous experiment, with the addition of gypsum; the amounts 

 applied are not stated. In one experiment the largest growth was 

 with nitrogen, and in the other with phosphoric acid or with phosphoric 

 acid and nitrogen combined. 



Htra wherries. — The i)lants were injured by the fertilizers used and by 

 the white grub, and no results were obtained the first year. 



Tomatoes. — The fertilizers used in the single experiment with tomatoes 

 were the same as in the trials with corn. The land used had been in alfalfa 

 and red clover the year before, and "a medium sod was turned under 

 for the tomatoes." The results were inconclusive for any single material. 

 The largest yield was with acid phosphate and muriate of potash com- 

 bined. "Neither alone nor in combination with phosphoric acid and 



