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Six years ago I planted a piece of my hill land to 

 onions. It was located on the top of what is known as 

 Bear Hill, in the town of Middleton. The land was 

 naturally strong and without being springy, like most 

 land deposited during the ancient glacier period, never 

 suffers from drought even in the driest season. The 

 land, which had been in onions two or three years, re- 

 ceived a fair coating of barn manure, about eight cords, 

 and about 800 lbs. of onion fertilizer, composed of a 

 combination which yielded, (in each case soluble), 

 nitrogen 5, potash 9, and phosphoric 8 per cent. As the 

 season advanced they did about as well as Hhe average 

 of seasons up to the time they had attained about half 

 their growth of top, when it became gradually evident 

 that they were losing their vigor. The thrift had gone 

 out of them and I agreed with visiting friends, who were 

 expert onion growers, the crop looked badly and a fail- 

 ure seemed probable. I had been in the habit for the 

 last year or two of applying nitrate of soda, that most 

 stimulating of fertilizers to my onion crop, just as it had 

 begun to bottom, and with excellent results, but in this 

 instance the crop had not advanced to that stage. Ni- 

 trate of soda supplies but one of the three elements need- 

 ed for the onion, and here was a case where the plant was 

 in a state of general starvation, caused, as I had reason to 

 expect, by a deficiencj' of potash and nitrogen in the 

 stable manure. I inferred this because of the fact that the 

 crop started off well at first, which would be the effect of 

 the soluble elements contained in the fertilizer and when 

 these were exhausted any defect in the food element of the 

 stable manure would be sure to make itself manifest. 

 In accordance with this reasoning, instead of making mj 

 usual application of nitrate of soda only, I compounded 

 a complete fertilizer, containing the three elements in 

 their proper proportion, the same as I had used in the be- 

 ginning of the season. This I applied at the rate of 

 about eight hundred pounds to the acre, scattering it 



