204 BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. 



think better potatoes have been raised upon my farm in 

 Barre, Mass., which is a heavy clay soil, on fertilizers, 

 than were ever raised on stable manure. The crop has not 

 always been as hirge as could be desired, but invariably 

 of the best quality for the table. The specific for this crop 

 I believe to be a combination of muriate of potash (not sul- 

 phate, as formerly supposed) and soluble phosphoric acid, 

 with a liberal percentage of ammonia, a portion of which 

 should be in the form of chemicals. Where such a combi- 

 nation has been applied, the crop has usually been of excel- 

 lent quality, free from rot and disease of any kind. To 

 my mind, this favorable action is easy of explanation. It 

 not only contains the plant food in an available condition, 

 but so much of it is in the form of sulphates and chlorides 

 that the immediate and continuous formation of starch is 

 probably induced in the tuber, and hence a healthy growth 

 from beginning to end. The fact, also, that some of the 

 ammonia is in the form of chemicals, and therefore active, 

 aids in the early development of the plant. On the other 

 hand, if animal ammoniates are used entirely, time is re- 

 quired to develop the plant food, which, if conditions of 

 warmth and moisture are not favorable, might be furnished 

 so slowly as to retard growth. Also the presence of too 

 much decaying organic matter favors the generation of para- 

 sitic germs which appear as rot, rust or blight. I believe 

 this, in part, explains the reason why fertilizers are better 

 than manure for potatoes, or in foctfor any crop that matures 

 its product in the ground, like onions, beets and turnips. 

 There is less decaying organic matter present in the fer- 

 tilizer to foster the development of these fungus growths 

 which are becoming more and more destructive. 



Whether the mixture that I have sus^ested is the riojht 

 one for potatoes or not, I feel confident that the fertilizer of 

 the future for this crop will be a special one, and be much 

 different from that used on corn, or grass. I have found that 

 a fertilizer which is prepared for corn, for example, will not 

 give so satisfactory results in every case when used as a top- 

 dressing for grass. 



I spoke a few moments ago of the application of one hun- 

 dred pounds of nitrate of soda to an acre of grass land, that 



