1898.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 27 



by Dr. Goessmann in our last annual report, and full direc- 

 tions for its use are quoted l)y him. 



The nitragin has been tried in accordance with directions, 

 as stated elsewhere in this report, upon crimson clover and 

 alfalfa, without apparent benefit. It has also been tried 

 upon common red clover. On this crop, as with the others, 

 no difference in o-rowth attril)utable to the nitrasfin has been 

 noticed ; and, so far as can be judged at the present time, 

 the use of this germ fertilizer for our common clovers is not 

 to be advised. Nitragin undoubtedly contains the germs of 

 the appropriate nodular bacteria, — the name of Professor 

 Nobbe is sufficient guarantee of this. The failure of the 

 material to benefit the crop appears to be due to the fact 

 that our soils contain the nodular bacteria of the common 

 leguminous crops in sufficient numbers so that the addition 

 of a few more by the use of nitragin counts for nothing. 

 Experience in the open field in most parts of Germany and 

 England has been similar to our own, and I believe that we 

 may safely conclude that only when we are about to begin 

 the culture of a leguminous crop new to a particular local- 

 ity will it be found advantageous to employ nitragin. In 

 such cases the soil lacks the appropriate nodular bacteria ; 

 nitragin furnishes these, and the result is a better growth, 

 because the crop is enabled to make use of the free nitrogen 

 of the air from the first, w^hich it could not do in the absence 

 of the proper bacteria. 



Sulphate of Iron as a Fertilizer. 



Sulphate of iron has been tried during the past season 

 upon the same plots as in 1896, but this year with corn as a 

 crop. The sulphate of iron is used at the rate of 80 pounds 

 per acre. The crop where it was employed was a little 

 inferior to that on the plots where it was not used. With- 

 out sulphate of iron the average yield of the plots was 58^ 

 pounds of corn and 163| pounds of stover; with sulphate 

 of iron, 50|^ pounds of corn and 160 pounds of stover. 



