1904.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. Ill 



a view to seeking light as to the manurial needs of the crop, 

 both as regards the selection and amount of materials re- 

 quired and the time of application. One-year-old plants of 

 our own growing were set last spring, and have made a good 

 start. 



Forty-eight new varieties of potatoes have been given a 

 preliminary trial, but will not be reported until after another 

 year. 



Our grass garden , with forty-eight species and seven varie- 

 ties, has been thoroughly cared for, and one-half the plot of 

 each species lawn-mowed throughout the season. 



Exclusive of these plots of grass, our work has involved 

 the care of two hundred and twenty-three plots in the open 

 field and one hundred and fifty closed plots, while our vege- 

 tation experiments have required the care of two hundred 

 and fifty-four plots. 



The work with poultry has been of practically the same 

 amoiuit as in recent years, as we some time ago reached the 

 limit with our present equipment. The study of the rela- 

 tions of feeds to egg production has engaged the greater 

 share of the time devoted to this line of work. 



In this report will be presented a statement of results 

 obtained in a portion only of the plot experiments pertaining 

 to the use of manures and fertilizers. Other results are 

 reserved for discussion in bulletins which it is hoped may be 

 published within the near future. A brief statement only 

 will be made in this report of the general results obtained in 

 our experiments with poultry. 



The nature of the principal subjects of inquiry and the 

 more important conclusions will be made clear by the follow- 

 ing statement : — 



I. — The relative value of barnyard manure, nitrate of 

 soda, sulfate of ammonia and dried blood as sources of nitro- 

 gen. Soy beans, the crop of this year, gave yields on the 

 basis of which the materials rank in the following order : 

 barnyard manure, nitrate of soda, dried blood, sulfate of 

 ammonia. The nitrate of soda ranks relatively lower this 

 year than in most previous years, but the general average to 

 date ranks the materials as follows, on the basis of increases 



