ILLINOIS FIELD EXPERIMENTS 



467 



salt acts in large part at least, if not entirely, as a soil stimulant 

 rather than as plant food. As already shown by the results from 

 Rothamsted, other soluble salts may produce the same effect. 



In Table 89 are given the results of seven years' work on the An- 

 tioch soil experiment field. 



TABLE 



CROP YIELDS IN SOIL EXPERIMENTS: ANTIOCH FIELD 



Plot No. i is naturally better land than the others, and both i 

 and 10 serve only as checks against the lime treatment. They are 

 not used in studying the effects of plant food applied. 



The oats crop in 1904 and the 1907 corn crop were almost fail- 

 ures. The low yields of wheat from plots 3, 6, 7, and 9, in 1905, 

 were due to the fact that the wheat on these nitrogen plots grew 

 very rank and lodged badly before it ripened. The straw on these 

 plots also rusted badly, resulting in shriveled and light grain. The 

 oats also lodged badly on the nitrogen plots in 1908. 



The total gains for seven years show very markedly the effects 

 of soil treatment. After the first year the best treated plots pro- 

 duced about twice as much as plot 2, which serves properly as a 

 check plot, to which no nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium is 

 applied. 



Sand soil is found in considerable areas in Wisconsin and Michi- 



