1903.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 139 



soil tests which have been carried out by this station, whether 

 on tills farm or on farms in other parts of the State, tlie potato 

 crop has always shown a marked dependence upon a liberal 

 supply of potash, which we may safel}^ say, therefore, should 

 be more prominent than it usually is in the special fertilizers 

 made for this crop. It seems worth while to call attention 

 here to the fact that, for the sake of uniformity in soil test- 

 work, the potash salt here employed was the muriate. It 

 will be remembered that it has been shown as a result of 

 numerous experiments here that the sulfate is preferable, 

 giving better results, as indicated both by yield and quality. 



Vin. — Manure Alone v. Manure and Potash. 

 This experiment was begun in 1890, and is intended to 

 illustrate the relative value in crop production of an average 

 application of manure, as compared with a smaller applica- 

 tion of manure in connection with a potash salt. Full 

 accounts will be found in the preceding annual reports, and 

 summaries in the reports for 1895 and 1900. The field is 

 level, and the soil of apparently even quality. It is di- 

 vided into four quarter-acre plots. The crop for the 3^ears 

 1890 to 1896 was corn ; for the years 1897 and 1898, mixed 

 grass and clover ; for the years 1899 and 1900, corn ; for 

 the past two years, mixed grass and clover. The present 

 is therefore the second year that the land has been continu- 

 ously in grass. Plots 1 and 3 received an application of 

 manure at the rate of 6 cords per acre ; plots 2 and 4, ma- 

 nure at the rate of 4 cords per acre, and high-grade sulfate 

 of potash at the rate of 160 pounds per acre. The annual 

 cost of the manure as applied to plots 1 and 3 is estimated 

 to be at the rate of $30 per acre. The annual cost of the 

 manure and the potash salt applied to plots 2 and 4 at the 

 same price per cord for the manure is at the rate of $23.60 

 per acre. The yields for the present season are shown in 

 the table : — 



