Food for ] s a t its highest period of development. It is also a 

 deep rooting crop and capable of drawing its food and 

 142 water from great depths. It needs vast quantities of 

 water, and the tillage must be very thorough that an 

 even earth mulch may be practically continuous. In 

 the early spring it frequently starts off slowly, and on 

 this account should have some help in the form of hill 

 applications of highly available plant food. 



Sweet corn is quite a different crop from field corn; 

 it has a much shorter period of growth and should be 

 fertilized much more heavily. The object in this case 

 is not a matured grain, and Nitrate of Soda should be 

 used very liberally in the shape of top-dressings. 



Hops. 

 A Record of Four Years' Experiments with Hops. 



The experiments were conducted at Golden Green, 

 Hadlow, near Tunbridge, England, and under the 

 supervision of Dr. Bernard Dyer. Seven plots were 

 arranged, all except No. 7 receiving equal and ample 

 quantities of phosphoric acid and potash, but varying 

 amounts of Nitrate of Soda, and (plot 7) thirty loads 

 of stable manure. The fertilizing of the plots, and 

 the average crop, kiln dried hops per acre, with the 

 percentage of gain over the plot not treated with 

 Nitrate, are shown in the following table. 



Plot and Fertilizer. Kiln dried Hops. Gain Per Cent* 



1 No Nitrate 9 . 75 cwt. 



2 2 cwt. Nitrate 12.00 " 23 



3 4 " " 13.67 " 39 



4 6 " " 13.75 " 41 



5 8 " " 14.58 " 49 



G 10 " " 14.58 " 49 



7 30 loads manure 10.25 " 5 



The results show a material gain in the crop from 

 the use of Nitrate of Soda, but the applications on 

 plots 5 and 6 are perhaps greater than will prove 

 economical. The quality of the crop was given ex- 

 haustive examination, with the results that plots 2, 3, 

 4 and 7 graded all the same, and the highest. The 



