FIELD CEOPS. 227 



Corn was grown on plats used continuously for 11 years in soil tests 

 with ditierent fertilizers, alone and combined. The experiments of 

 1808 with corn on the same plats had shown a decrease in yield on the 

 plat which had received annual applications of muriate of potash at 

 the rate of 160 lbs. per acre. It was thought that the continued use 

 of the muriate form of potash had resulted in depleting the soil of 

 lime, and hence lime at the rate of 1 ton per acre was added to the 

 ])lats in 18iM). The results were very beneficial on the muriate plat, 

 the jdeld of shelled corn being at the rate of 49,75 bu. per acre. 

 Other experiments, not recorded in detail, show '' that the benefit from 

 the lime was not due to the fact that it corrected soil acidity." The 

 yield of shelled corn on the plat which received barnyard manure at 

 the rate of 5 cords per acre for each of the 11 years of the test was at 

 the rate of 75.88 bu. per acre, while the yield on the plat receiving 

 complete commercial fertilizers was at the rate of 72.88 bu. per acre. 

 Five cords of liarn3^ard manure would cost if purchased about |25, 

 while the complete fertilizers cost about $10. The financial profits 

 for the whole 11 years with the difl'erent crops grown are in favor of 

 the complete commercial fertilizers. 



A soil test similar in character to the above was made on another 

 series of plats which have been 10 years under trial. Onions were 

 grown in 1899 and one-half of each plat limed at the rate of 1 ton per 

 acre. The yields on the limed and unlimed portions of each plat are 

 tabulated and the results obtained in the3^ears 1898 and 1899 discussed. 

 Beneficial efi'ects of the lime on the muriate of potash plats were again 

 shown, and it is concluded from the experiment that the muriate oi* 

 potash is an undesirable form of potash for onions. 



In a comparison of the relative value of 8,825 lbs, of barnyard 

 manure alone vs. 5,880 lbs. of barnyard manure and -lO lbs. of high-grade 

 sulphate of potash for corn, the best and cheapest yields were made 

 l)y the combination of the lesser amount of barn^nard manure with the 

 potash. The results of a comparison for 9 years of a special corn fer- 

 tilizer with a fertilizer containing a larger amount of potash for corn 

 were slightly in favor of the special corn fertilizer, but it is believed 

 "by the frequent introduction of clover the fertilizer richer in pot- 

 ash will prove superior to the other," 



Tests have been under way for a number of years with muriate vs. 

 sulphate of potash for a number of crops. In 1899 the largest yield 

 of sugar beets was obtained on the muriate plats, but the sugar con- 

 tent and the degree of purity of the juice were higher in beets grown 

 on the plats fertilized with sulphate of potash. The results obtained 

 with the 2 fertilizers as regards yield and composition of both sweet 

 and field corn were practically identical. With cabbage the greater 

 number of hard heads and the greater total yield was afforded by the 

 plats fertilized with the sulphate of potash. 



