A CHEMICAL STUDY OF THE ASPARAGUS PLANT. 289 



Plot 1 lacked nitrogen, plot 5 lacked phosphoric acid and plot 9 lacked 

 potash. Plots il and 34 received the complete fertilizer in medium 

 amount. Plots 34 and 35 received one and one-half times the amount 

 of nitrogen that was applied to 31 and 32. Plots 31 and 34 received their 

 nitrogen in the early spring, while 32 and 35 had their portions applied in 

 late June. 



The high ash occurring in both seasons in the tops from plot 1 was 

 apparently due to fine earth which adhered to them, as there was much 

 insoluble residue after testing the ash with strong acid. On the other 

 hand, the samples from plot 9 showed a low ash, which was without doubt 

 due to the lack of potash. 



The development of protein and sugar was not perceptibly affected by 

 the lack of fertilizers, since there is no consistent relation between the 

 percentages and the amounts. 



A comparison of the two pairs of plots which received nitrogen at 

 different seasons shows that the tops from the plots dressed with nitrates 

 in summer contained slightly less protein than those from the plots dressed 

 in the spring. This was also the result on the single pair of plots (37 and 

 38) from which the young stalks were sampled in 1910. With the two pairs 

 of plots under comparison there was a sUght advantage in the amounts 

 of protein found in the tops from the larger quantities of nitrogen. 



The effect of fertihzers on the proportions of inorganic constituents in 

 the different stages of tops was not studied because the slight effects pro- 

 duced on the roots did not warrant such a laborious comparison. 



Effect of Fertilizers on Asparagus Roots at the End of the 

 Cutting Season. 



The summer samples of roots were dug from plots receiving two differ- 

 ent quantities of nitrogen at two different seasons for the purpose of 

 measuring whether the exhaustion of the roots during the growth of the 

 crop was influenced by amount or season of apphcation of nitrate of soda. 

 Plots 34 and 35 received one and one-half times as much nitrogen as 31 

 and 32, while 31 and 34 received it in the spring and 32 and 35 in the 

 summer. 



Total nitrogen and sugar showed consistent variations relative to the 

 different treatments, but none of the other constituents could be corre- 

 lated and are not tabulated. 



The roots dressed with the larger amount of nitrogen contained higher 

 percentages of nitrogen and sugar than those which received the smaller 

 amount. Roots receiving their nitrogen in summer after the cropping 

 season still contained a little more nitrogen than the others. Sugar, 

 however, was more exhausted than in the roots which had received their 

 nitrogen in spring. 



