336 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 260 



of previous years. The animal husbandry rotation consisting of corn, 

 hay, and tobacco (the tobacco following hay) again produced a very 

 poor crop of tobacco. The first four years timothy alone was seeded in 

 the corn for hay, but during the last two years the plots have been divided, 

 with timothy on the west and clover on the east halves of the plots. It 

 was thought that the clover might improve the growth of tobacco in this 

 rotation, but on the contrary the tobacco has been poorer after clover 

 than after timothy two years in succession, 1928 and 1929. The tobacco 

 was fertilized with 3500 pounds per acre of a 5-4-5 fertilizer mixture and 

 approximately 10 tons of manure, — a more liberal treatment than was 

 given the continuous tobacco plots which yielded satisfactorily. Corn in 

 this rotation has generally grown well; but the timothy hay, although 

 adequately top-dressed with fertilizer, has always been more or less of a 

 failure. Clover, on the other hand, has grown vigorously, yielding in some 

 instances dovible the amount of hay obtained from timothy. 



In the cash crop rotation consisting of potatoes, onions and tobacco 

 (tobacco following onions), the tobacco has always been superior to that 

 produced in the animal husbandry rotation but not usually comparable to 

 that grown in continuous culture. In 1928 the tobacco in this rotation 

 yielded about as well as that on the continuous no-cover plots, but in 

 1929 the comparison was less favorable. The onions have never been 

 especially successful, while the potatoes have been good in some years and 

 poor in others. In 1929 a low yield of both onions and potatoes was 

 obtained. 



The comparison of timothy, redtop and rye as cover crops for tobacco 

 was made again in 1929. The results for the past year showed timothy to 

 be as satisfactory as either redtop or rye, and the yield of tobacco to be 

 about as high as that on the plots without a cover crop. During the four 

 years tested, redtop and rye have both given as good yields of tobacco as 

 the no-cover plots. Timothy, on the contrary, has depressed the yield of 

 tobacco three years out of six, but during the last three years it has 

 given results just about as good as the no-cover plots. 



The plots treated with manure in addition to the commercial fertilizer 

 produced a very satisfactory crop during the season of 1929. Taking the 

 six-year records available from these plots, very slight superiority can 

 be claimed for the manure in comparison with a regular tobacco fertilizer. 

 It has, however, been possible to reduce the fertilizer about 25 per cent 

 without impairing the yield or quality of the tobacco. In response to re- 

 quests from growers, the plots were divided in halves in 1929 and a 

 sawdust stable manure was compared with the well rotted manure from 

 the Station stables. The sawdust manure was obtained from the Quon- 

 quot stables where sawdust is used exclusively and liberally for bedding. 

 This manure when in a pile looked more like sawdust than manure. The 

 tobacco grew about equally well on the two types of manure. No in- 

 jurious effect was noted from the sawdust. One year's results are not 

 sufficient, however, to make any claims about the use of this manure 

 year after year. 



Tobacco after corn grew quite vigorously in the season of 1929 but 

 yielded only 1692 pounds per acre in comparison with 1785 pounds after 

 hay and 1890 pounds after tobacco. After onions and potatoes the yields 



