1911.1 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 



43 



rve ])lowo(l under), onions, onions, cabbages, corn, mixed grass 

 ami clover three years, cabbages and soy beans. The crop this 

 year was jwtatoes. The results are shown iu the following 

 table : — 



Comparison of Phosphates. 



The yield, as will l)e seen, was good on all plots. The aver- 

 age on the three check plots is 244:. 8 bushels of merchantable 

 potatoes per acre. It will be noticed that the only one of the 

 phosphates used which has given any very considerable increase 

 in merchantable potatoes is the Arkansas rock phosphate, but I 

 am convinced that the superiority of this phosphate is more 

 apparent than real. The field declines somewhat in fertility 

 from Plot 1 to Plot 13. It will be noticed that Plot 1 without 

 phosphate gives a yield of merchantable tubers larger than any 

 of the phosphate plots, with the exception of tw^o, and that the 

 crop on two is practically the same in amount as on one. The 

 superior yield on these two plots is in my judgment merely a 

 consequence of the fact that the soil texture in that part of the 

 field is more favorable to the cro]!. The conclusions to which 

 I would call particular attention may be stated as follows: — 

 (1) The potato would appear to be a crop relatively inde- 



