82 ADDRESSES 



of the table shows the yields of Plots 10, 11, 12 and 13, Nos. 10 and W being 

 unfertilized while Nos. 11 and 12 receive annually a large application of ft com- 

 plete commercial fertilizer, made up of nitrate' of soda, acid phosphate and 

 muriate of potash, the fertilizers being distributed over the three cereal crops, 

 while the clover and timothy follow without any treatment. The total cost of 

 the treatment on Plot 11 is $23.50 for each five-year rotation, and that on Plot 

 12 is $30.50, the increased cost on Plot 12 being due to the use of a larger 

 quantity of nitrate of soda. These applications would be equivalent to an annual 

 expenditure of $4.70 for each of the five years on Plot 11, and $6.10 annually 

 on Plot 12. If we estimate corn at one-half dollar per bushel, oats at one-third 

 of a dollar, wheat at 90 cents and hay at $8.00 per ton, and throw in the extra 

 produce of stover and straw to balance the extra labor of applying the fertilizer 

 and harvesting the additional crops produced, the total annual value of the five 

 crops of the rotation produced on Plot 10 would amount to $11.22 per acre, 

 and that on Plot 13 to $11.33, while the values on Plots 11 and 12 would amount 

 to $20.78 and $20.63 respectively. Deducting from these the cost of the fertilizer, 

 we have a net value of $16.08 on Plot 11, and $14.53 on Plot 12. Subtracting 

 from these the value of the produce grown on the unfertilized plots alongside, 

 we have a net annual gain of $4.88 on Plot 11, and $3.20 on Plot 12. 



The experiment indicates that we have used nitrogen excessively on Plot 

 12, and in order to study this point further we have four more plots, 16, 17, 18 

 and 19. Plots 16 and 19, like 10 and 13, have been left continuously unfertilized, 

 while 17 receives a fertilizer carrying half the quantity of nitrogen given to Plot 

 11 and about 50% more phosphorus, and 18 receives for every 5-year period 16 

 tons of open yard manure 8 tons each on corn and wheat. The outcome is that 

 for the 8 years under consideration the value of the crops grown on Plot 16 

 has amounted to $10.72, and on Plot 13, to $11.62, while those grown on Plot 17 

 have amounted to $20.38, or only 40 cents less than on Plot 11, and the manured 

 plot has yielded an average value of $22.65. The fertilizers applied to Plot 17 

 have cost $3.50 annually, leaving a net value of $16.88, or a net gain over the 

 unfertilized plot of $6.16; that is, this combination of fertilizing materials applied 

 to Plot 17, at a cost of $17.50 for every 5-year period, or $3.50 annually, has been 

 paid for in the increase of crop with an average profit over and above its cost 

 of more than $6.00. Taking the manured plot and deducting $1.60 to balance the 

 extra labor of hauling and distributing the manure over and above the cost of 

 applying the fertilizer, we have a net gain per acre each year of $9.43, or a total 

 net gain of $46.00 for the 5-year period, to pay for 16 tons of manure, which 

 amounts to nearly $3.50 for each ton of manure. 



The yields on the unfertilized plots in this experiment, for the period under 

 review, have been for corn less by about ten bushels per acre, and for wheat 

 less by about five bushels than the yields over Wayne county, thus showing that 

 the land under experiment is not above the average of Wayne county in natural 

 fertility; while the fertilized and manured yields in this test have been about 15 

 bushels per acre for corn and nearly as many bushels for wheat above the average 

 yields of the county. It will be seen therefore that on this very thin land we 

 have been able to bring up the yields of wheat to figures equal to the European 

 yields I have mentioned, and to do this by methods which have left a net gain 

 over and above the cost of treatment sufficient to pay a good rental on the land.- 



As I have stated, the manure used in this experiment has been open-yard 

 manure, which has been exposed to the weather for from 4 to 6 months before 

 applying to the land. We have believed from the start that such manure had 

 lost much of its value, but we wished to see what could be done with the ordi- 

 nary barnyard manure of the average Ohio farm. Another experiment, however, 

 is in progress at the Station, in which we are endeavoring to learn something as 



