154 EXrEllBlE.NT bTATlON. [Jan. 



SOME EFFECTS OF FERTILIZERS ON THE 

 GROWTH AND COMPOSITION OF ASPAR- 

 AGUS ROOTS. 



FRED W. MORSE. 



A series of fertilizer experiments on asparagus was planned 

 in 1906 bj Director Brooks, to ascertain the efficiency of differ- 

 ent methods of manuring this crop. The field is located on the 

 farm of ]\lr. C. W. Prescott in Concord, and its soil is like that 

 of most asparagus fields, a sandy loam of little natural fertility. 



In January, 1910, the writer was assigned the task of ascer- 

 taining the specific* effects of the three principal chemical fer- 

 tilizers used in the experiment — nitrate of soda, acid phosphate 

 and muriate of potash — on the chemical composition of the 

 crop, as such effects Avould be important factors in determining 

 the relative efficiency of the fertilizers. 



This paper will deal with the effects of the fertilizers upon 

 the roots of the asparagus plants, a matter about which little 

 has been reported by other workers. 



Ixousscaux and Brioux made a partial analysis of the roots as 

 a minor part of an elaborate research on the asparagus crop pub- 

 lished in 1906.^ 



Tanret has made an extended study of the properties of the 

 carbohydrates contained in the roots.^ 



Wichers and Tollens have reported very complete analyses 

 of roots collected before and after the cropping season.^ 



The material studied by the writer consisted of the entire 

 underground portion of the asparagus plant, except the fine, 

 fibrous feeding-rootlets which were removed, as it was impos- 

 sible to collect any reasonable proportion of them. 



N^o effort was made to separate the croAvn or center of the 



> Annales de la Science A!;ronomif|ue, 3d Series, I., pp. 1S9-326 (lOOf.). 



a Bulletin de Soc. Chim. (4) V., pp. 8S9-893 (1909); Compt. Rend. 149, p. 48 (1909). 



3 Jour, fur Landwirthschaft 58, pp. 101-112 (1910). 



