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fed cows at the Agricultural College, which is materially 

 above the specimens found in the average barn cellar, of 

 which he had examined many. Prof. Brooks believed in 

 applying manure to the land fresh. Many elements of 

 value in it are otherwise lost in the course of a year, the 

 action of the frost, snow and rain on it in the field is ben- 

 eficial. It should be spread as soon as hauled on to the 

 ground and not left in piles during the winter. He be- 

 lieves it pays to use commercial fertilizers with manure, 

 and did not believe it true that fertilizers ruin the land 

 if their use is persisted in intelligently. 



One ton of English hay contains $6 worth of plant food. 

 One ton of Clover hay contains $9 worth of plant food. 

 Fifty bushels of corn with stover contains -$15 worth. One 

 hundred bushels of potatoes contains -fS worth, but we 

 have to use very much more than those values to obtain 

 the crops named. As a rule only a very small per cent, 

 of the plant food supplied is shown in the crops. Where 

 does the surplus go to ? That is the question. Here the 

 speaker explained the charts that showed the results of his 

 experiments. He said that fertilizers for corn should 

 be far richer in potash than that generally used. Too 

 much Superphosphates have been used. 



Dry ground fish and muriate of potash make the best 

 top dressing for grass land. Potash by all means is the 

 best fertilizer for clover. Experiments with potatoes 

 showed that potash increased the crops much more than 

 phosphoric acid or nitrogen. Commercial fertilizers con- 

 tain a much smaller percentage of potash than is needed. 

 He was not prepared to give a formula for potatoes. 



In answer to a question about scab potatoes, Prof. Brooks 

 quoted Prof. Bonner of Colorado, as having decided as a 

 result of experiments that the scab was the result of a para- 

 site growth in the cells which formed the scab and spread. 



For Oats with mixed grass and clover seeds, experiments 

 seemed to indicate that it would pay to use a little nitrate 

 of soda, but not phosphoric acid nor muriate of Potash. 



