HORTICULTURE. 



247 



The ashes were from bituminous coal and were sifted through a screen 

 with 4 meshes to the inch. Two crops of Lorillard tomatoes were 

 grown. The quantities of fertilizers applied per plat, the total yield of 

 fruits, vines, and roots per plat, the average yield of fruit per square 

 foot of bench and per plant, the percentage of perfect-shaped fruits, and 

 the like are given in tables. The growth of the plants and the treat- 

 ment given them during the tests are briefly noted. 



Determinations were made of the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and pot- 

 ash of the crops of all plats. The results for 4 plats of the second crop 

 are reported. Each plat had an area of 13.87 sq. ft. Two plats were 

 of compost, 1 without the addition of fertilizers, the other fertilized 

 with 17 gm. of nitrogen, 8 gm. of phosphoric acid, and 42 gm. of potash. 

 The other 2 plats were of ashes and peat, 1 fertilized with 65 gm. of 

 nitrogen, 24 gm. phosphoric acid, and 60 gm. potash, the other with 85 

 gm. nitrogen, 24 gm. of phosphoric acid, and 170 gm. of potash. The 

 fertilizer constituents removed from the soil by the crops on the differ- 

 ent plats are shown iu the following table: 



Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in tomatoes grown in different culture media. 



The authors give the following summary: 



" The yield of tomatoes from benches filled with a rich compost was on tne aver- 

 age larger when no fertilizer chemicals were added. The addition of chemicals 

 rather depressed the yield of tomatoes from compost. 



"From a mixture of coal ashes and peat with fertilizer chemicals larger crops of 

 tomatoes were produced than from a rich compost of turf and manure iu each of 

 the 3 years covered by our experiments. 



" Tomatoes are much more productive when grown in a mixture of coal ashes and 

 moss peat than when grown in coal ashes without peat. 



" In the tests here reported the plants growing in compost yielded more fruit 

 during the first month than those in ashes and peat. From then on the weekly 

 yield was largest from the plats of ashes and peat. 



