FERTILIZER TESTS ON PASTURES 9 



Further, an interesting observation was made in both the Amherst and Worces- 

 ter experiments regarding another moss, a small yellowish green species known as 

 Funaria hygrotnetrica (L.) Sibth. It was observed that this species grew in spots 

 not covered with other vegetation, on plots which had received moderate applica- 

 tions of ground limestone or heavy applications of superphosphate. It appears, 

 therefore, to be indicative of available calcium. Since this moss is very small it 

 is not expected that it can successfully compete with higher forms of plant life, 

 and its presence has no practical bearing except as an indicator of available 

 calcium. 



The Question of Phosphate for Pastures 



The work on fertilizers for upland pastures, either at Amherst or in Worcester 

 County, has not indicated as strong a response to phosphorus as has been reported 

 from some other states. More response has been indicated from the Amherst 

 experiments than from those of Worcester County. For both these sections, the 

 case for lime, nitrogen, and potash appears to be fairly well established, at least 

 for the type of soil and duration studied. Field work of this nature is subject to a 

 considerable experimental error and, therefore, the tests should be continued and 

 amplified before final conclusions are drawn. Other soil types should be studied. 



The question of the importance of phosphorus for our upland pastures is one 

 about which considerable discussion revolves. Therefore, special attention was 

 given this question in this study. As shown in Table 4 a marked difference in 

 response to phosphorus was obtained in the results from certain fields in W'orcester 

 County. An attempt was made to correlate the difference in response with certain 

 physical and chemical characteristics listed in Tables 1, 2, and 7. It was sus- 

 pected, for example, that phosphorus response might be best on soils of high sand 

 and low colloidal content because of the low absorptive capacity of such soils. 

 This appears to hold for experiments W-1 and W-9 but breaks down in a measure 

 for the other fields. There is even less correlation between phosphorus response 

 and loss on ignition or organic matter. 



Table 7. — Phosphorus Relations of Pasture Soils 



, (Calculated on air-dry basis) 



*Using Truog's method. 

 **Solub!e in N/5 H.SO4. 

 ***By a method of A. V. Heck, University of Wisconsin. 



An attempt was then made to correlate phosphorus response with extractable 

 phosphates and fixing capacity of the soil for phosphates. These data are given 

 in Table 7. Phosphates assumed to be readily available to plants were determined 

 by a method recommended by Truog (6). In this method a bufi"ered solution of 



