882 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Various distances of planting were tested, and the yields are tabu- 

 lated. " In this dry season tlie yields were practically the same whether 

 the distance between single plants in rows 5 ft. apart was 3 or 4 ft.; a 

 distance of 2 feet in the row greatly reduced the yield.'' 



On ''sandy branch bottom land" 420 lbs. of crushed cotton seed per 

 acre gave an increased yield of 3.1 lbs. over 180 lbs. of cotton-seed meal; 

 and on land of this character which had borne 2 crops of weeds the 

 yield was 2.8 bu. less per acre when the dead weeds were burned than 

 when they were plowed under. 



"The yield of grain was less when the entire stalks were cnt and cured before 

 pulling the ears and also less when topping was practiced than when the plants were 

 not disturbed before gathering the ears. Financially, topping was unprolitable, 

 and the profit in harvesting the entire stalks was doubtful where no shredder was 

 .available to prepare the stalks for feeding and when corn was valued at 45 cts. per 

 bu., and stalks at 25 cts. per 100 lbs." 



The author believes that the loss in grain caused by stripping the 

 blades makes the process unwise unless the price of fodder is high and 

 that of corn low; and that the labor could be more i)rofitably employed 

 in making hay than in pulling fodder. 



Fertilizer experiments -with coi'n on muck land, C. D. Smith 

 {Michigan KSta, lipi. is'Jo, pp. 110-12:2). — Notes and tabulated data are 

 given for two experiments, one at the station and the other on a farm 

 in Van Bureu County. 



In the cooperative experiment 15 plats varying in size from 1 to 2 acres 

 were used, alternate plats being left unfertilized. The fertilizers used 

 were a complete fertilizer, calcined marl, sulphate of potash, nitrate of 

 soda, dissolved bone, unleached ashes, and barnyard manure. At the 

 station 8 eighth-acre j)lats were used, one serving as a check and the 

 others being manured about as in the cooperative experiment. Vari- 

 ous factors — late application of fertilizers, unfavorable distribution of 

 rainfall, inequalities of soil, and frost injuries — operated against the 

 perfect success of the experiments. 



"lu the larger experiment, where the fertilized and unfertilized plats alternated, 

 the yield from each of the fertilized plats was greater than the average yield from the 

 unfertilized plats upon either side of it, showing apparently that all of the ferti- 

 lizers produced beneficial results. The largest yield in the series was obtained from 

 the plat fertilized with sulphate of potash. On this plat of 2 acres, upon which 

 was sown 500 lbs. of the above fertilizer, there was a gain of 2,776 lbs. of ears, an 

 increase in yield of nearly one-third, over the adjoining plats. The superiority of 

 this plat was very evident to the eye while the corn was growing and after it was 

 cut while it stood in the shock. In the trial on the Station farm the plat receiving 

 this fertilizer also did well as compared with the plats immediately adjoining, 

 though some of the other plats on better soil surpassed it in yield. The ashes in the 

 smaller experiment seem to have given better results than in the larger trial. In 

 the latter they were somewhat coarse and himj)y and in the former perfectly dry. 

 The barnyard manure gave poorer results than might have l)een expected, owing 

 perhaps to the dry season and the lateness of application. The good results obtained 

 in each case from the mixture of fertilizers is worth noting." 



