6. That reports U|)ou such expei-imonts should contain as full in- 

 fonnatioii as can be furnished respecting the geological origin and 

 history of the soil on which Ihey may be made, its physical and chem- 

 ical condition, and its fauna and flora, and also as full meteorologi- 

 cal data as can be obtained. 



Some of the more important details settled upon by the conference 

 will be of interest. 



1. Shape and Size of Plots. It was the sense of the conference 

 that plots should be long and narrow in order to avoid as far as pos- 

 sible, the disturbing influence of the inequalities in the natural fertil- 

 ity of the soil in different parts of the field. Evidently a long and 

 narrow plot, extending wholly across a field, is less likely to lie wholly 

 within an area naturally either richer or poorer than the average soil 

 of the field than is a square plot which might, for example, chance 

 to fall where sometime in the past a pile of manure had stood. In 

 width these plots should be adapted to accommodate an even number 

 of rows of the crop to be cultivated. Thus for corn or potatoes, 

 (the distance between the rows being quite commonly 3| feet) some 

 multiple of this number such as 10 feet 6 inches would be suitable. 

 To prevent the roots of one pUt feeding upon materials in an ad- 

 joining one, it was decided to recommend that the plots be sepa- 

 rated by alley-ways not less than three feet wide ; and the majority 

 were in favor of planting a row iu the middle of this strip which 

 should be cultivated precisely like the plots but should not be 

 included in the harvest. This row should be harvested and carried 

 off before the harvest of the plots proper be commenced. The size 

 of plot recommended was one-twentieth of an acre. 



2. Methods op Applying Fertilizers. It was the general sense 

 of the conference that the larger portion, at least, of the fertilizers 

 used should be applied broadcast and that the nitrate of soda be 

 used in the spring rather than in the fall. It was thought best not 

 to make specific recommendations as to the time and manner of 

 applying fertilizers ; that these points had better be left to the judg- 

 ment and discretion of the officers of the several stations. 



3. Kinds and Quantities of Fertilizers. The following quan- 

 tities of fertilizeis were recommended for general adoption : 



As a source of nitrogen, nitrate of soda, 160 pounds per aci-e, 

 containing 16 per cent, nitrogen. 



As a source of phosphoric acid, dissolved bone-black, 320 pounds 

 per acre, containing 16 percent, soluble phosphoric acid. 



