54 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The average for the entire area this year was 4,002 pounds. 

 The average yield of the entire area from 1893 to 1905, in- 

 clusive, was 6,572 pounds. Including the crop of the past 

 season, the average for the entire period, 1893 to the present 

 time, is 6,389 pounds. The average yields to date under the 

 different systems of top-dressing have been as follows : — 



Pounds per Acre. 



When top-dressed with manure, .... 6,658 

 When top-dressed with wood ashes, . . . 6,059 



When top-dressed with bone and potash, . . . 6,331 



IX. — Experiment in the Application of Manure. 



This experiment was planned to be continued through a 

 series of years, with a view to throwing light upon the ques- 

 tion as to the best method of handling farm manures. The 

 field in use has an area of a little less than three acres, and 

 slopes moderately to the west. It had been divided into five 

 plots a number of years previous to the beginning of this 

 experiment, for the comparison of different fertilizers. Each 

 of these five plots was subdivided into two sub-plots. To one 

 of these sub-plots in each of the five pairs the manure is ap- 

 plied during the winter, being spread upon the surface as it 

 is hauled to the field ; to the other sub-plot in each of the five 

 pairs the manure as it is hauled is put into a large, compact 

 heap. The manure used is carefully preserved, from well- 

 fed dairy cows on four of the pairs of plots (1, 2, 3 and 4), 

 and purchased stable manure from horses on one pair of plots 

 (5). The experiment is so managed that all the manure is 

 hauled for a single pair of plots at one time, usually during 

 a single day, or at most within two days. To insure even 

 quality of the manure on the two sub-plots, loads are placed 

 alternately on the north half, where it is spread as hauled ; 

 and on the south half, where, as has been stated, it is put into a 

 large heap. The land has usually been plowed late in the fall. 

 The manure has usually been applied to the two sub-plots 1 

 early in the winter; to the sub-plots 2, 3 and 4 respectively 

 at intervals each about one month later than the preceding. 

 The manure which is placed in the heaps remains there until 

 it is time to prepare the soil for planting in the sjjring. It 



