93 



character of the soil and the treatments the plats had ^^^^ ^^r 

 received were uniform, any differences must be ascribed to ^"^^ 

 the influence of the varying quantities of Nitrate of Soda. 

 These differences, so far as they are shown by the weights 

 of the crops for four years are given in brief below : 



Yield of Cured Hay Under Different Rates 

 of Nitrogenous Fertilization. 



Yield ot" Cured Hay. 



Nitrate of Soda aooUed '^99- 1900. 1901- 1902- Average 



Nitrate ot ^oda appued. ^^^^ j^^^ j^^^ jj^^ ,j^^ 



None 5>o75 4,000 3,290 2,950 3.830 



I 50 lbs. per acre* ... .6,300 5,600 5>55o 4,850 5.575 



450 lbs. per acre *.... 6,91 3 8,200 9>390 8,200 8,175 

 * Amount slightly reduced in 1901 and 1902. 



These figures show a uniform, consistent ,v/u . .u 

 J 1 J J r 1 r w hat the 



and marked advantage rrom the use or c- cu 



^T- J 1 n- r • 1 • Figures Show. 



Nitrogen; and the errect or its absence is 



shown by the steady decline of the yields on the no-Nitrate 



plat from year to year. In each year the use of i 50 pounds 



of Nitrate gave increased yields over the plat without 



Nitrogen, the gain varying from 1,200 to almost 2,300 



pounds, an average gain of about seven-eighths of a ton of 



hay. Three times this amount of Nitrate did not, of 



course, give three times as much hay, but it so materially 



increased the yield as to show that it was all used to good 



advantage except, perhaps, in the second year. This was 



an exceptionally dry year and but one crop could be cut. 



The advantage from the Nitrate showed strikingly in the 



production of a rapid and luxurious early growth while 



moisture was still available. This supply of readily soluble 



food comes just when it is most needed, since the natural 



change of unavailable forms of Nitrogen in the soil to the 



soluble Nitrates proceeds very slowly during the cool, moist 



weather of spring. The full ration of Nitrogen, 450 pounds 



of Nitrate, more than doubled the yield of hay over that 



produced on the no-Nitrate plat in 1900 and in the next 



two years it nearly tripled the yield. The average increase 



over the i 50 pound plat was one and three-tenths tons and 



over the plat without Nitrogen was two and five-eighths tons. 



