110 



POTATOES AND POTATO CULTURE 



growing, and the experiment was thought of sufficient impor- 

 tance to give it a test. 



In order to make the comparative conditions uniform the 

 basis of the experiment rests upon the analysis of one of the 

 standard kinds, viz., that of the Stockbridge Potato Manure. 

 The analysis of this fertilizer is: nitrogen, 3 per cent,; phos- 

 phoric acid, 6 per cent. ; and potash, 10 per cent. A formula 

 was then made up of our own which contained the same propor- 

 tions of plant food as the above and was composed of the follow- 

 ing ingredients: 



3 per cent, nitrogen 



^ 150 lbs. nitrate of soda. 



/ll2| lbs. sulphate of ammonia. 

 6 per cent, phosphoric acid, 562i lbs. bone black. 

 10 per cent, potash, 300 lbs. muriate of potash. 



In order to give the same bulk some makeweight material 

 was used so that conditions would be the same. 



Fifteen hundred (1,500) pounds per acre of each fertilizer 

 was used upon land that w^as under every other condition the 

 same. The soil was of medium loam and of newly-turned-under 

 sod. The soil was well prepared for receiving the crop. One 

 half the fertilizer was sown broadcast and well harrow^ed; the 

 remainder was drilled in the hills. The distance apart of the 

 rows, culture, spraying, etc., Avere similar in every respect, and 

 conformed to the general principles outlined in potato culture 

 as recommended in previous bulletins of this Station and in 

 Experiment X of this treatise. The season jproved good, and 

 the test was a fair one from every standpoint. 



At harvest time the resulting yields were as follows: 



From the above it will be seen that there was little difference 

 in yield. If anything it was in favor of the standard mixture 

 or ready-made potato manure. 



