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To illustrate his experiments Mr. Hersey used two col- 

 ored charts, in which stripes of red, blue, yellow and white 

 represented stable manure, nitrogen, potasli and phosphoric 

 acid respectively. With great care in the application, Mr. 

 Hersey used each fertilizer separately, and each in combi- 

 nation with others in different portions. Those experi- 

 ments in which the potash predominated showed the poor- 

 est results, and those in which phosphoric acid predominated 

 the best; thus showing conclusively that phosphoric acid 

 was what was needed on his farm. But the result would 

 very likely be different on other soils. 



Those who are unfamiliar with commercial fertilizers 

 should take what comes nearest to barnyard manures, and 

 no one should use fertilizers until familiar with their 

 nature. When using barnyard manure, the old practice of 

 rotation of crops should be pursued. For his supply of 

 phosphoric acid he used ground bone and South Carolina 

 rock, manufacturing the former and reckoning the expense 

 at $27 per ton and valuing the latter at $20 or less. He 

 had good success with the rock, but didn't know how it. 

 would work in a dry year. His soil was a sandy loam. 



An old wood lot on which the stumps have decomposed 

 makes a rich soil, the acid from the decaying wood appar- 

 ently decomposing the mineral elements and releasing the 

 plant food from them. A great need on the farms today is 

 to save the wastes, particularly the liquids of manures. He 

 advocated farmers buying the material for and mixing 

 their own fertilizers. 



For raising asparagus on his land he had found nothing- 

 better than dry bone — a ton to the acre. For potatoes he 

 made a compost of dry muck and superphosphates. For a 

 compost to experiment with he reduced ground bone with 

 acid, and while hot put in unleached ashes to dry it, com- 

 posting with dry muck. With this fertilizer and at a cost 

 of half a cent a hill, he had produced 667 bushels to the 

 acre. A common mistake is to call all fertilizers super- 

 phosphates; swperphosphate is simply a phosphate that has 



