IIG 



HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



raised upon it, our attention had been directed chiefly to 

 the question, To what extent does the cultivation of soja 

 bean, a clover-like plant, benefit the resources of availal)le 

 nitrogen plant food of the soil after the removal of the crop 

 at the close of the season (for ensilage) ? 



It seemed of interest in our case to ascertain whether the 

 raising of the soja bean upon Field A had increased the 

 amount of available nitrogen stored up in the soil to such 

 an extent as to affect the yield of succeeding crops upon 

 those plats (4, 7, 9) which, as a rule, did not receive at any 

 time for eight successive years an addition of available ni- 

 trogen from any other manurial source but the atmospheric 

 air and the roots left in the soil after harvesting the crops 

 raised. 



A grain crop (oats) was selected as the crop suital)le to 

 serve for that purpose. The general management of the 

 experiment, as far as the preparation of the soil, manuring 

 and seeding-down are concerned, was the same as in pre- 

 ceding years (see tenth annual report). 



An examination of the yield of the crop in 1893, secured 

 upon the different plats, showed that the total crop per acre 

 on those plats to which no nitrogen was applied (4, 7, 9) 

 averaged 800 pounds less than in case of the plats which 

 received their regular supply of nitrogen in some form or 

 other. 



The best results in relation of total yield to yield of grain 

 were obtained in case of those plats receiving organic nitro- 

 gen (dried blood and barn-yard manure) or nitrogen in the 

 form of nitrate of soda ; while in the case of sulphate of 

 ammonia the ratio of grain to straw was too wide to be 

 satisfactory. 



The total yield of crops on the plats receiving no nitro- 



