AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 23 



So far, the two-year rotation has been the most assuring. Crimson 

 clover, rye grass, and oats have been used as cover crops. Crimson'clover 

 does well in the area, and good crops have been plowed under. The land 

 which grew crimson clover in 1942 produced the largest yields of potatoes 

 in 1943. However, it was found, upon examination of the tubers, that the 

 potatoes from this area were seriously affected with net necrosis and stem- 

 end browning, while very little of these troubles appeared on any other 

 treatments. The cause of this difference is not certain ; and, unfortunately, 

 as such a difference was not anticipated, only one small bag of tubers was 

 saved from the area. Work is currently under way to determine the causes. 



P. T. Blood, F. S. Prince, L. T. Kardos 



A Dairy Farm Rotation Experiment in Southern 

 New Hampshire v^^ith Sweet Corn as a Cash Crop 



In 1943, sweet corn was again grown with varying amounts of fer- 

 tilizer. Xew strains of timothy which have been developed in the plant- 

 breeding program were seeded on the plots that had been in corn during 

 1942. Erban and Vanguard oats were used as nurse crops. These high- 

 yielding Canadian varieties are difficuU to obtain, and the seed produced is 

 being distributed to farmers who will again multiply them. The timothies 

 seeded in 1942 will be harvested for seed in 1943. This procedure is re- 

 peated for the 1944 seedings. 



Yield in tons of ears per acre 

 Treatment Not side dressed Side dressed 



4-12-4 (1000 lbs.) 6.8 6.17 



3-12-6 (1000 lbs.) . 5.99 6.79 



4-9-7 (1000 lbs.) 5.72 6.01 



4-10-10 (1000 lbs.) 5.73 6.28 



Average. 6.01 6.31 



The data give the yields resulting from the use of four grades of fer- 

 tilizer which farmers used in 1943 under limitations due to war condi- 

 tions. There were no significant differences. xAn increase in yield of ap- 

 proximately 0.3 tons of ears per acre was effected by the application of 200 

 pounds of Chilean nitrate of potash at the last cultivation. The amount of 

 this increase depends on the previous fertilizer treatment and on subse- 

 quent weather. Whether or not the application is economical depends up- 

 on the cost of the fertilizer and the farm price of the corn. 



F. S. Prince, P. T. Blood 



Producing the Full Roughage Requirements on New Hampshire 

 Dairy Farms with Special Reference to Pastures 



This project was started in 1942 and involved, among other things, 

 the reseeding of old pastures and seeding field land with the intention of 

 utilizing it as pasture. Some areas were plowed, some were fitted with a 

 bush-and-bog harrow, and others were plowed and harrowed. A seed bed 

 can be prepared with a bush-and-bog harrow in about 60 per cent of the 

 time required for plowing. The bush-and-bog harrow has a further ad- 



