1912.1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 37 



REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 



WM. P. BROOKS, 



As has been the case for many years, the problems which 

 have chiefly engaged the attention of tlie department of agri- 

 culture during the past year are such as are connected with the 

 selection, adaptations, and methods of application of manures 

 and fertilizers. In most cases a definite and uniform })lan of 

 experiment has been followed for a considerable number of 

 years. The work will not be reported in detail, but attention is 

 called to a few of the more striking results. 



I. Comparison of Different Materials as a Source of 

 Nitrogen (Field A). 



The different materials under comparison are manure, one 

 plot; nitrate of soda, two plots; dried blood, two plots; and sul- 

 fate of ammonia, three plots. In the case of both nitrate of 

 soda and dried blood one of the two plots receives muriate as a 

 source of potash ; the other, high-grade sulfate. The sulfate of 

 ammonia is used on two plots in connection with muriate, and 

 on one in connection with sulfate of ]iotash. The field contains 

 three no-nitrogen plots, on two of which muriate is used as a 

 source of potash; on the other, high-grade sulfate. All the 

 plots in the field receive an equal liberal application of dis- 

 solved bone black as a source of phos]ihoric acid, while all the 

 different materials furnishing either nitrogen or potash are 

 used on the different ])lots in such amounts as to furnish, rc;- 

 spcctively, equal quantities per plot of nitrogen and of potash. 



The cro])s grown in this experiment in the order of their suc- 

 cession have been: oats, rye, soy beans, oats, soy beans, oats, 



