Experiment Station Report. 17 



[Exhibit B.] 



COEN EXPERIMENTS AND DRAINAGE 



Experiments with Indian Corn. 



lu accordance with the plan of experiments, approved by 

 the Board of Control in January, corn was grown on the 

 east series of plats (designated on the plan by odd numbers) , 

 without manure, and under the same conditions as to man- 

 agement, for the purpose of testing the relative fertility of 

 the plats. 



The arrangement of the plats and an outline of the drains 

 are given on the accompanying plan. The plats, of one-tenth 

 of an acre each, are two rods wide and eight rods long, 

 and they are separated by a space four feet wide, on which 

 no crop is grown. 



The soil is a friable loam, with a retentive subsoil of clay that 

 is nearly filled with gravel and small stones in the lower strata. 



There is a remarkable uniformity in the soil and subsoil of 

 the different plats, both as to apparent fertility and physical 

 condition, with the exception of plat 0, where a largo 

 manure pile had formerly been made. 



When the plats were laid out, it was readily seen, from the 

 luxuriant growth of grass on plat 0, that it would not be 

 comparable with the other plats under any conditions, but it 

 was finally staked out, and added to the series as an extra 

 plat, as it furnished the opportunity for studying the drain- 

 age waters of a soil highly manured. 



In all operations of ploughing, cultivating, planting, hoe- 

 ing and harvesting, the work was done lengthwise of the 

 field, and consequently across the plats, so that each plat 

 received the same treatment, as far as possible, both as to 

 the amount of labor expended and the time in which it was 

 performed. 



