80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



tilizer until you can tell what the three elements that are in 

 the bag are worth." I want to say that I think the results 

 of the experiments on my farm have made the difference 

 between failure and success in running it. Although the 

 farmers grumble about the last year, — and it was a hard 

 year, I will admit, — my farm, by direction, by hiring all 

 the labor, and by buying all the materials, brought in a 

 handsome income on the amount of capital invested. This 

 I attribute to the fact that I have been able to feed my 

 crops better than I could by guesswork ; and yet I feel 

 sensible of the fact that I have but just crept up over the 

 elevation which shows me the l)road field of investigation 

 which opens before me. We are l)ut just starting out on 

 this work, we are just beginning to learn, and yet the very 

 little which I have learned has saved me hundreds of dol- 

 lars. I beg of you to test your soils and use your com- 

 mercial fertilizers to better advantage than by guesswork, 

 and by what other people, who have never seen your land, 

 tell you that you want. 



I have a piece of land that has been fertilized for eigh- 

 teen years in succession with nothing but commercial fer- 

 tilizers, not one particle of barn manure. Everji;hing has 

 been bought that has been put on it for eighteen years, 

 and yet the cost to me for fertilizer has not been more 

 than two-thirds what it would have been had I relied on 

 guesswork. 



Question. What crop was grown on the land ? 



Mr. Heesey. I have grown asparagus on it. Asparagus 

 is not considered a very good crop to-day. Prices are low. 

 Yet, with the amount of fertilizer that I put on, with some 

 knowledge of what the soil will furnish, my crops increase 

 every year, the soil grows richer and a fair profit is secured. 

 I hope that this lecture will stir you all up to try to make a 

 little progress in regard to this matter, so that, if you come 

 to this meeting next year, you will feel that you know a 

 little more about what your crops need to be fed with tlian 

 you do to-day. I think that I shall. 



Secretary SEgsiONS. I noticed the speaker referred to 

 some difficulty which chemists have in determining the 

 quality of nitrogen. I wish he would explain to us what 



