15 



fertilizer. One hundred and twenty pounds of potassium oxide, eighty 

 pounds of available phosphoric acid and forty-five pounds of nitrogen 

 per acre represent the amounts of essential articles of plant food 

 used. Oats, rye, sojabeans, oats and sojabeans were the crops 

 raised during the time of observation. 



The unhealthy appearance of the crop was first noticed upon a 

 plat which for several years in succession had ])een fertilized with a 

 mixture of dissolved bone black, sulphate of ammonia and muriate 

 of potash, and became subsequently noticeable more or less upon all 

 plats which have received their potash supply in form of muriate of 

 potash. 



Being aware of the fact, that common salt and muriate of potash 

 (chloride of sodium and chloride of potassium) under favorable 

 conditions are decomposed by the carbonates of lime and magnesia 

 of the soil, changing the latter from a comparatively insoluble form 

 into a very soluble one (chlorides of calcium and magnesium) and thus 

 becoming in an exceptional degree liable to be carried off l)y percolat- 

 ing waters, it seemed of interest to ascertain whether a deficiency 

 of lime and magnesia was the cause of unsatisfactory crops. To 

 secure this end the following course was adopted : 



The plat which had first shown indications of an unsatisfactory 

 condition of the soil was treated with a direct application of slacked 

 lime, from 500 to 600 pounds per acre. The lime Avas applied broad- 

 cast early in the spring and subsequently ploughed under before 

 preparing the soil for manuring and seeding. The succeeding crops 

 of oats, looked healthy from the beginning to the end of the season. 



The drainage water coming from each plat was collected, at 

 the first running, after a severe rainstorm towards the close of 

 the season. The analyses of the saline residue left by the evapor- 

 ation of the drainage water coming from the different plats, showed 

 in every case where muriate of potash had been used as the 

 source of potash supply, a larger percentage of lime than in the case 

 where sulphate of potash had furnished the potash in the fertilizer 

 used. A special test for chloride of lime proved the presence of a 

 liberal amount of that compound. Farther details are reserved for a 

 future report. 



The conclusions to he drawn from the above described observations 

 are as follows : 



a. The claim of both muriate and sulphate of potash, being 

 economical and efficient forms to supply potash for growing 



