146 



HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



heaps, to be spread just before ploughing the land in the 

 spring. A full account of the plan of the experiment will 

 be found in the last annual report. The field contains five 

 plots, one-half of each having the manure spread in winter, 

 the other half put into a large heap and spread in spring. 

 "We have, in reality, then, five parallel experiments yearly. 

 In 1901 this field produced a crop of Japanese barnyard 

 millet. After the millet was harvested, the field was 

 ploughed and sown to winter rye, which served as a cover 

 crop. During the past season the field has been in corn for 

 the silo. The soil is naturally cold, and with the cool sum- 

 mer it produced but a small yield. The actual and relative 

 yields of the several plots of rather more than one-fourth 

 acre each are shown in the following table : — 



Actual and Relative Yields of Ensilage Corn. 



Manuring Previous 

 TO 1899. 



Barnyard manure, 



Wood ashes, 



No manure, 



rine-ground bone and muriate of pot- 

 ash. 



Fine-ground bone and sulfate of pot- 

 ash. 



Actual Yields 



(Pounds). 





5,275 



4,780 

 2,600 

 4,480 

 4,905 





cm 



5,480 

 4,650 

 3,900 

 4,105 

 5,325 



Relative Yields 

 (Per Cent.). 





"A 



100 

 100 

 100 

 100 

 100 





103.9 

 97.3 



150.0 

 91.6 



108.6 



In previous years the south half (spring manured) of 

 each plot has without exception given a much superior yield 

 to the north half. This year there are two exceptions : 

 plot 2, where the difference, however, is very small ; and 

 plot 4, where there is a diiference of 375 pounds in favor 

 of the north or winter-manured half. It must be stated, 

 however, that, owing to unavoidable conditions, one load 

 of the corn on the South half of plot 4 lay upon the ground 

 as it was cut from Saturday night until Monday. There 

 can be no doubt that there was a considerable loss of weight, 

 due to drying. We must not, therefore, attach any special 



