112 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



for the onion crop. Its effects far exceed those of either of 

 the other elements. 



Our results niake it equally evident that the continuous use 

 of muriate of potash makes the employment of lime an abso- 

 lute necessity. The combined cost of the muriate of potash 

 and the lime necessarily used with it is likely to be greater 

 (lian would be the cost of some other source of potash. 



TlKit the nitrate of soda as well as the muriate of potash 

 has proven in some degree iiijarious when used without lime 

 is made equally evident hi/ our results, for the yield on the 

 combined nitrate of soda and muriate of potash without lime 

 is much inferior to the yield on the muriate alone loithout 

 lime. It is, indeed, almost the poorest in the field. 



Especial attention is called to the fact, tvhich was very evi- 

 dent on all tJie 2>lots lohere it 7oas used, that dissolved bone- 

 black greatly iwomoted the perfect ripening of the crop. By 

 far the best ripened croj) on the nnlimed jwrtion of the field 

 was the crop produced by nitrate of soda and dissolved bone- 

 black. -Any other dissolved p)hosphaie tvould undoubtedly 

 have a si7nilar effect. 



Attention is called, further, to the fact that the dissolved 

 bone-l^lack in large measure corrects the injurious effects fol- 

 lowing the use of muriate of potash. This is made espe- 

 cially evident by the comparison between the yields where 

 dissolved bone-black was used together with nitrate of soda 

 and muriate of potash and where the last two fertilizers were 

 used alone. Where they were used alone, the crop, as has 

 already been pointed out, was almost the poorest in the field, 

 a large share of the plants dying at a very early stage in 

 their growth ; while where the dissolved l)one-black was used 

 together with these fertilizers a moderate crop was the re- 

 sult. It becomes evident, therefore, that where fertilizers 

 containing a liberal amount of some dissolved phosphate are 

 employed, liming is less necessary than where such phos- 

 phates are not employed. That this should be so is not 

 strange, since all dissolved phosphates contain a large amount 

 of sulfate of lime (land plaster), which, if used in large 

 quantities, produces many of the effects ordinarily following 

 the use of lime. 



