Food for Plants. 97 



dition, it is practicable to properly prepare the land and 

 to maintain the meadow so as to secure profitable crops 

 for a period of years by the use of commercial fertilizers 

 alone. 



Location of the Experiments and Condition of the Land. 



The land upon which the experiments were made is 

 located on the eastern central grazing and dairy plateau 

 of New York, at Highlands experimental farms. Both 

 river flatland and upland soils were used, making it pos- 

 sible to study both kinds of soil where climatic and sea- 

 sonal conditions were the same. The character of the 

 flatland is made up of silt, which is of considerable depth 

 and which is still being deposited by means of overflows 

 each spring. It was badly infested with wild sedge grass, 

 and one portion of the meadow had not been harvested 

 for several years. The uplands are more or less rolling, 

 of light loam, not excessively rich in humus, and some- 

 times affected by droughts. 



Preparation of Soil and Seeding-. 



Preparation for the experiments was begun in 1904; 

 and typical areas were laid off and the land prepared in 

 the best manner. 



A method of seeding in this part of the State is to 

 sow timothy in corn at the last cultivation, usually the 

 latter part of July. The corn is planted as early as pos- 

 sible, and just before the last cultivation 20 quarts of 

 timothy seed are used per acre. 



In this experiment the flatland crop of wild sedge grass 

 was cut early in June, the fleld plowed, and was then fre- 

 quently cultivated until about the flrst of September, 

 when it was carefully seeded at the rate of 20 quarts of 

 timothy per acre. 



Two methods of seeding were practiced on the upland ; 

 in one case the pasture was plowed early, seeded to oats, 

 and as soon as the crop was harvested, the stubble was 

 plowed, then frequently cultivated, and seeded with 20 

 quarts of timothy per acre about the 15th of September. 

 4 



