Food for time. The investigation has been carried out as part of 



^^^"^^ the work of the Botanical Department of the Station and 



^^ under the supervision of Dr. Arthur, the Station Botanist, 



to whom the writer is much indebted for assistance. 



The initial experiments on lettuce were reported in 



Bulletin 66 of this Station, and a brief account of some 



later ones is contained in an article by the writer, entitled 



" Plant Growing with Chemical Fertilizers,"* which was 



read before the State Horticultural Society in December, 



1898. Subsequent experiments to the ones already reported 



as mentioned, confirm the results previously obtained and 



contain much additional information concerning the effects 



of various forms of fertilizers. 



r^ . Among some of the more important 



Questions . ° . • 11 ^ j • ^u- 



. . . questions investigated and reported in this 



Investigated. ^ ,, • l r n • 



bulletin are the roUowing : 



I. The determination of the relative effects of phosphoric 

 acid. Nitrogen and potash upon the plants, either when used 

 separately or in combination with each other. 



1. The relative efficiency of phosphoric acid. Nitrogen 

 and potash when derived from different sources. 



3. The comparative efficiency of chemical fertilizers and 

 stable manure. 



4. Relative availability of liquid chemicals when applied 

 to the surface of the soil or from below. 



5. A comparison of surface versus sub-watering. 



Page 134. 



. ., , ... p In the first crop the Nitrate of Soda, 

 Availability of , ^, , ,• • 1 . • j 



wherever comparable conditions obtained, 



nitrogen. ^^^^ slightly better results than the dried 



blood, the increase varying from 4.5 to 15 per cent. The 

 results of the second crop showed a slight gain in favor of 

 Nitrate of Soda in one instance, and in two others a gain 

 in favor of the dried blood. In one of these, VIII (a), the 

 gain over VIII was large on account of the fact that the 

 product from the latter was much less than it should have 

 been, and owing to this, no definite conclusion can be 

 derived from the second crop. It is safe to infer, however, 

 from the results of the first harvest, that for any quick 



* Transactions of the Indiana Horticultural Society, 105-114, December, 1898. 



