32 



Financial considerations. — " Properly used, the nitrate of soda is a 

 profitable fertilizer for tomatoes." The uet value (total value less cost 

 of the fertilizers) of the crop ou the uuuianured plats in 18'J0 is given at 

 $366.04 per acre. The highest net value per acre, $492.90, an increase 

 of 8126.80, was secured with the u&e of 160 pounds of nitrate of soda 

 alone, applied in two separate portions. 



The smallest net gaius were secured from the use of baniyanl manure ; the largest 

 from nitrate of soda alone. In three oases ont«)f four, not giiins were increased by two 

 apjiiications of nitrate of soda. In three eases out of fonr the :W() pounds of nitrate 

 of soda per acre ])rodnce greater n(^t gains than H>() j)onnds. 



Tiiese conclusions are sniistantially identical with those secured from the studj- 

 of yiehls, and show that financial profits from the use of nitrate of soda are also 

 governed l)y the (luantity ai»plied, tlio method of application, and a full supply of 

 mineral elements in the soil. 



New Jersey Stations, Bulletin No. 80, March 14, 1891 (pp. 31). 



ExrEKIMKNT.S WITH KF-K II LIZHII.S ON POTATOKS, K. 1). VoORUEES, 



M. A. (i)p. 3-24), — 111 Older to ascertain the general practice followed 

 In potato culture, the station sent out circulars "to about one hundred 

 of the leading growers in tlu' Stat(\" in<iiiiriiig as to the crop and fer- 

 tilizers usually lut'ceding potatoes, the inetliod of planting jiotatoea, 

 variety used, kinds and amounts of fertilizers u.sed, method of cultiva- 

 tion, average yield, and the average cost of labor exjiended on the 

 crop. 



The replies show a marked uniformity of practice, except in the anmnnt of the plant 

 food furnished by the manures used. The general practice may be stated a« follows: 

 Precede with a crop of corn treated with IC or I'i tons of barnyard manure broatlc.ost; 

 prepare the ground thoroughly ; cut the potatoes with one or two eyes anil plant 4 to 

 5 inches deep in rows furrowed ;{ feet apart, jdiicing the pieces I'i to Ifi inches apart 

 in the row ; broadcast bariiyaid manure at the rate of 10 to I'd loatls per a<"re, and add 

 chenucal m.'vnnres in the row .at the rate of :?nO to (iOO jiounds jier acre ; harrow before 

 potatoes come up, and continue once or twice .a week until jilants are 3 indies high ; 

 then cultivate I? or 4 tiincs, or iis often as jiossiblc until the vines have their growth. 

 The leading varieties rejiortcd were, in their order. Early Hose, Silv«T Lake, Mam- 

 moth Pearl, Hcauty of Hebron, and White Star. The yield n-ported r.mged from 100 

 to 4r)0 bushels per acre, "20 per cent of the number re]»ortiiig more than '200 bushels, 

 and but •) per ciiut less than ir>0 bushels per acre. The cost of tlu' crop, not incliul- 

 iug the mamiro or fertili/er, .averaged $l{0 pt>r acre. 



A report is given of the first year's experiment carried on in IS'.Kt nt the 

 college farm and two private farms, to compare the elieets on potat<»es 

 of barnyard manure, "chemical manures," and a mixture of the two; 

 of potash in the forms of sulphate, muriate, and kainit: and of nitrate 

 of soda when applied all at once and in two portions at dilVen'iit times. 



The soil of the college farm is described as "a gravelly, clay loam, 

 with tight, red clay subsoil, and not especially adapted to potatoes. It 

 had been in alfalfa since 1887, for which it was well manured. The soil 

 of one of the private farms consisted of a medium sandy loam, with dry, 



