1897.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 13 



3. A combination of potash and phosphoric acid ap- 

 pears to be necessary to materially increase either the 

 cabbage or the turnip crops in Amherst. 



4. Potash proves much the most useful single element 

 for the soy-bean crop in Amherst. 



1. Soil Tests with Corn. 



In Montague the experiment was carried out upon land 

 belonging to Mr. H. M. Lyman, and is the first year this 

 land has been used in such work. The field selected is 

 level, and it was thought it would be suited for the pur- 

 pose, though it had l)een more recently manured than we 

 would have liked. The results show that it was not as 

 even in fertility as is desirable. The yields of the five 

 scattered nothing plats were respectively at the rates of 

 12, 10.5, 19, 32 and 19.9 bushels per acre. Under such 

 conditions, we are not justified in attempting to draw gen- 

 eral conclusions. The nitrate of soda appears to have 

 produced an average increase at the rate of : grain, 11 

 bushels ; stover, 158.5 pounds per acre. The average ef- 

 fect of the phosphate appears to have been a decrease in 

 both grain and stover, while the potash appears to have 

 increased the stover slightly but not the grain. 



In jVorwell the experiment was carried out upon land 

 belonging to the writer, and is the first year this land has 

 been used in such work. The field was in grass in 1895, 

 and is in rather a low state of fertility. Throughout the 

 season potash seemed to be the controlling element. At 

 the time of harvesting, plat 5, receiving muriate of potash 

 alone at the rate of 160 pounds per acre, appeared to be 

 as heavy as either plats 10 or 13, receiving respectively 

 complete fertilizer and stable manure. Owing to a slight 

 accident at the time of harvesting, figures cannot l)e pub- 

 lished at this time. 



2. Soil Test with Cabbages. 

 This test occupied one-half of the land which has been 

 designated the " north acre" in previous reports, the other 

 half being occupied with Swedish turnips. The acre was 



