62 



Tliere were last yeai' lepilly (Jii sale in this State 4."! different brands of fertili- 

 zers, containing less than l' per cent of potash : if we had applied any one of 

 these to our soil for eorn no marked Increased yield would have been apparent, 

 not beeanse the fertilizers wei-e woi-lhless (as they undoubtedly would have 

 produc-ed p)od i-esnlts on soils delicient in phosphoric acid and nitro,gen), liut 

 because they did not contain the |(otasli necessar.v for the corn crop on oiu" soil. 



Effect of Jxu'injard manure as compared xcith that of the lea<1hi(/ 

 ingredk'jit.s of commercial fertilizers in various comhbiatiojt.s. — "Barn- 

 3'ard maiuire produced an increase in yield slightly greater than was 

 obtained on the ])l<>.ts which received 100 pounds of sid])hate of potash 

 per acre."' 



Ejfectx of copperas {sulphate of iron) ox com. — Xo noteworthy 

 benefit was ajjparent. 



Tohacco stems as a fertiliser for corn. — Tliis is an important matter 

 in Kentucky, where thousands of tons of tobacco stems are annually 

 wasted. The experiment was vitiated by accidental circtimstances. 



The relation of fertilizers to shrinkage of corn in earing and to 

 proportion of col) to kernel. — The per cent of shrinkage in weight 

 varied from 7.4 to 18.3, being very much the greatest when barnyard 

 mantire was used. The proportion of cob to kernel v^aried only 

 slightly. 



Relation of crmovnts of phosphoric aeid., nitrogen., and potash in the 

 fertilizers to amovnts of the same ingredients taken up hy the crop. — 

 Analyses- of corn, including stalk, kernel, and cob, showed that in no 

 case where potash was used was as much potash contained in the crop 

 T/s was applied in the fertilizer. In some of the cases in which phos- 

 phoric acid was applied the quantity in the crop was larger than that 

 in the fertilizer, in others not. In every case Avhere i)otasli was 

 applied there Avas more nitrogen in the crop than was applied in the 

 fertilizer. 



BULLETIN No. 18. APRIL. 1880. 



Hemp EXPEr.i.MKNTS (pp. 3-8). — This is a preliminary study of the 

 question as to the practicability of the successful growth of hem]) on 

 old ground by means of commercial fertilizers. Experience in Ken- 

 tucky is unfavorable to the growing of hemp on worn-out land, or 

 even on land which is comparatively rich but has been in cultivation 

 with other cro])s. A rank growth of hemp may be obtained on old 

 land by apj^lying fresh barnyard manure, but the quality of the 

 product is generally inferior. 



The fertilizers, which sup])lied nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and 

 potash in ditl'ei'ent combinations, were similar to those used in the 

 corn experiments I'eported above. The ai)parent benefit from phos- 

 phoric acid and nitrogen was veiy small. As in the case of corn, the 

 fertilizing ingredient most needed was evidently potash. The yield 

 of hemp was unsatisfactory both in (juantity and (juality. This was 

 iqjpai'ently due, to a great extent, to the unfavorable season. Engrav- 

 ings from ])h()togra])hs illustrate very clearly the effects of the 

 different fertilizers on the hemp. 



