320 Fertilizers 



the whole period was not only not reduced, but very materi- 

 ally increased; that is, the crops secured on these after 

 the trees on the unmanured land had practically ceased to 

 bear were greater proportionately than those secured pre- 

 vious to that tune. This was true both for the fertilized 

 and manured land. 



"In the next place, it is shown that the yield was very 

 materially increased by the use of manures, either in the 

 form of artificial or natural supplies, and the differences in 

 yield derived from these two forms are very slight, indicat- 

 ing that very much smaller amounts of actual plant-food 

 in quick-acting forms were quite as useful as larger amounts 

 of the less available forms in which the food exists in 

 natural manure products. 



"For the ten years, the fertilized plot received 250 

 pounds of nitrogen, 560 of phosphoric acid and 750 of 

 potash, while the yard manure plot received assuming 

 the average composition of yard manure 2000 pounds 

 of nitrogen, 2000 of phosphoric acid and 1600 of potash ; 

 yet with eight times as much nitrogen, nearly four times 

 as much phosphoric acid and more than twice as much 

 potash, the yield was but 113 baskets greater, or an 

 average of 11 baskets to the acre. 



"In the third place, it is interesting to observe and 

 it is a point of great importance the effect of an abun- 

 dance of food in overcoming unfavorable weather or sea- 

 sonal conditions. The year 1889 was extremely unfavor- 

 able, and the crop throughout the state was small. In this 

 experiment the unmanured plot yielded at the rate of 10.9 

 baskets to the acre, while the manured and fertilized plots 

 both showed a yield exceeding 150 baskets to the acre. 

 The manure strengthened and stimulated the trees, and 

 enabled them to successfully resist such conditions as were 

 fatal to the crop on the unmanured land. 



