1889.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 513 



II. Ikfluence of Fertilizers on the Quantity and 

 Quality -'OF Prominent Fodder Crops. 



[Field " B."] 



The field assigned to the above-stated inquiry is located 

 west of field "A," and has been used, like the latter, for 

 several years previous to the establishment of the Experi- 

 ment Station, for the production of hay. The land is nearly 

 on a level, and runs from north to south ; it occupies at the 

 present time an area of 1.7 acres. The soil consists of a 

 somewhat sandy loam. During the spring of 1883 it was 

 ploughed and prepared for raising corn fodder. This crop 

 was raised for one year in drills, and without the aid of any 

 manurial matter. The previous thorough mechanical treat- 

 ment of the soil, as well as its impoverished condition, was 

 considered favorable for the contemplated work. In 1884 

 the entire field was subdivided into eleven plats of equal 

 size, with five feet of space between them. Every alternate 

 plat has received from that date annually the same kind and 

 same amount of fertilizer, — six hundred pounds of ground 

 bones and two hundred pounds of muriate of potash per 

 acre. The fertilizer has been applied at an early date each 

 spring, either broadcast or between the rows, as circum- 

 stances admitted. It was in each case subsequently slightly 

 harrowed under. Since 1885, all crops on that field have 

 been raised in rows ; this system of cultivation became a 

 necessitj^ in the case of grasses, clovers, etc., to secure a 

 clean crop for observation. The rows, in the case of corn 

 and leguminous plants, were three feet and three inches 

 apart ; and in the case of grasses, two feet. The space 

 between the different plats measured five feet ; it has received 

 thus far no manurial substance of any description, and is 

 kept clean from vegetation by a proper use of the cultivator. 

 Plats 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21 are fertilized annually; 

 plats 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 have received thus far no fer- 

 tilizer. The single plats are either occupied by one variety 

 of plants or by two ; in some instances several plats are used 

 for one and the same crop. Corn and various prominent 

 varieties of meadow grasses and of leguminous plants have 

 thus far been selected for observation. 



