No. 4.] CORN AS A GRAIN CROP. 349 



excess in cost. It is the writer's belief, based upon further experience 

 with other fields, that the products on that part of this field receiving 

 the lesser amount of manure and potash would have been materially 

 increased by the annual or at least occasional application of basic slag 

 meal, which would supply both phosphoric acid and a considerable 

 excess of lime, which would have proved of value in maintaining the 

 soil in that sweet condition which is essential for the best results with 

 the clover crop. It is the writer's conviction, therefore, based upon 

 extended experience, that it will prove the wiser policy on most farms 

 to use manure in raising the corn crop in rather moderate amounts, 

 supplementing it as above indicated by annual applications of basic 

 slag meal and a potash salt. It seems probable that manure at the 

 rate of about 4 cords, slag meal at the rate of 300 or 400 pounds, and 

 high-grade sulfate of potash at the rate of about 125 to 150 pounds, 

 will give results highly satisfactory both in the product of corn and 

 in the product of hay rich in clover on seeding. 



That corn can be profitably produced on fertilizers alone is fortu- 

 nately thoroughly established by experiments in progress in the experi- 

 ment station. A field containing an acre of land was laid out for an 

 experiment in raising corn on fertilizers in 1891. Since that date ten 

 corn crops have been produced on one half of the field and eight upon 

 the other. The land has been seeded three times, and each time has 

 remained in mixed grass and clover two years. Two combinations of 

 fertilizers have been under comparison: one of these has given an 

 average yield of 5G bushels of shelled grain and 4,484 pounds of stover 

 per acre; the other, 52^ bushels of shelled grain and 4,615 pounds of 

 stover per acre. The hay crops have' averaged on the first system of 

 manuring 3,557 pounds per acre for the first crop and 993 pounds for 

 the second. Under the other system of manuring, the average yields 

 have been 3,696 pounds for the first crop and 1,152 for the second crop. 

 It will be seen, therefore, that the fertilizer combination which gave the 

 larger corn crop proved inferior to the other for the production of hay. 

 The principal differences between the two systems are as follows: the 

 first combination of fertilizer materials furnished materially less potash 

 and more phosphoric acid and slightly less nitrogen than the second. 

 The second combination was made very rich in potash and light in 

 phosphoric acid. The superiority of the combination richer in potash 

 for the hay crop is without doubt connected with the fact that the 

 supply of potash was so much more liberal. The writer believes, in 

 the light of his extensive experience, that the amount of phosphoric 

 acid in the second combination might with distinct advantage have 

 been increased. It has been noticed especially that the corn crop 

 starts very slowly on the combination of fertilizers containing so small 

 an amount of phosphoric acid. It is now very generally understood 

 that a rather free use of highly available phosphates goes a long way 

 in insuring the rapid progress of the crop. It is the writer's belief that 



