132 



object has been to test the wants of ditferent soils in regard to nitro- 

 gen, phosphoric acid, and potash. The resuks, some of which have 

 been very vahiable, have been published in the annual reports of the 

 Station. This bulletin is important as a summary of the results of 

 co-operative wor-k by the Station and farmers under its direction in 

 different j^^rts of the State during nine years. Its objects are 

 " firstly, to siinnnarize the results of the Station's experiments, to 

 present the experience of individual farmers, and to give the conclu- 

 sions reached by the Station in regard to the use of potash ; and, sec- 

 ondly, to indicate lines of experiment with this material capable of 

 being cui'ried out by the farmers themselves.'' Five experiments here 

 reported are essentially soil tests involving the use of nitrate of soda, 

 superphosphate and nuu'iate of ])otash, singly, two by two, and all 

 three together. Plaster, kainit, and fine barn-yard manure were also 

 used, and for sorghum other fertilizers and combinations were added. 



Corn. — Experiments by Messrs. Thompson and J. Voorhees for five 

 years on all parts of their farms confirm the conservative conclusions 

 reached in 1882 and 1883, that while all the fertilizing elements are 

 effective, potash is by far the most profitable for corn. The experi- 

 ence of Mr. Thompson also indicates that kainit is more economical 

 than muriate of potash. 



Sorghum. — The following is a summary of results of experiments 

 on sod ground in different parts of the college farm from 1881 to 1885, 

 inclusive, republished from the annual report of the Station for 1885 : 

 Yield of sorglium.- — (1) Without exception, muriate of jjotash has 

 increased the weight of the crop. (2) This increase has annually 

 exceeded that caused by phosphoric acid and- nitrogen, used singly 

 and in combination, and, w^ith one exception that caused by a combi- 

 nation of phosphoric acid and potash. (3) With two exceptions, this 

 increase has exceeded that caused by nitrogen and potash, by nitro- 

 gen, phosphoric acid, and potash, and by 20 tons per acre of barn- 

 yard manure. Yield of Kitgar. — Without exception, muriate of pot- 

 ash has increased the total yield of sugar per acre, and this increase 

 in every case exceeded combinations of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, 

 or of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, and, Avitli a single excep- 

 tion, combinations of phosjjhoric acid and potash. 



The results secured from siuiilar experiments on sorghum at Rio Grande, 

 Cape May County, during 1885, 1886, and 1887, corroborate the above state- 

 ments in nearly every particular, and admit of the conclusion that potash is the 

 element which exerts the most marked effect u/ioii the jii-Ut of sorfjhmn. 



Sweet 'potatoes. — An experiment with fertilizers on croj^s in a four 

 years' rotation, begun in 1882 by Mr. A. P. Arnold, has shown the 

 favorable effect of potash on sweet potatoes, as indicated by the crop 

 of 1883, and its effect in improving the crop-producing power of the 

 soil, as indicated by the second crop of sweet potatoes in 1887. The 

 soil of this farm is a very sandy loam, easily tilled, responsive to 

 fertilizers, and especially suitable for sweet potatoes, berries, and 



