148 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 



1. Are fertilizers used in your region? If so, what fertilizers produce 

 the best results? 



2. How long has the land been cropped? Are the farms as pro- 

 ductive as formerly? 



3. How do the farm practices on the most productive farms differ 

 from those on the least productive? 



4. What care is taken of the barnyard manure to prevent losses 

 from leaching, from fermentation, and from escape of the liquid portion? 



5. On what crops is manure used? Is it needed more than formerly? 

 Will it pay to care for it better than formerly? 



6. If fertilizers are used, what is their composition and cost? Would 

 it pay to buy the separate materials and mix them at home? 



7. What wild legumes are common in the region? 



8. Wheat and oats can be grown in water cultures, yet they turn 

 yellow when grown on wet land. Why? 



9. What are the three leading crops of the region? What is an 

 average yield of each? How much nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 

 would each crop remove from an acre per year (Appendix, Table 6)? 



10. Get the present prices of dried blood, nitrate of soda, acid 

 phosphate and muriate of potash, also the freight rate from the town 

 where you would purchase them. If these cannot be had, use the 

 following prices, which are f. o. b. in New York City, September, 

 1908. Freight rate to Ithaca, less than car-lots, 18 cents per hundred. 



Dried blood (10 per cent) $39 per ton 



Nitrate of soda (15 per cent) 52 per ton 



Acid phosphate (14 per cent) 12 per ton 



Muriate of potash (50 per cent) 41 per ton 



Assuming that it is desirable to apply 1,000 pounds per acre of 

 a 3^, 8, 10 fertilizer on eight acres of potatoes: 



(a) How much nitrate of soda, acid phosphate, and muriate of 

 potash must be purchased? 



(b) How much would it cost, including freight? 



(c) How much of the mixture as made by a farmer would need 

 to be applied per acre? 



(d) On how much material is freight saved? 



11. Assuming that it is desirable to apply 200 pounds per acre 



