June, 1921] DIGGING UP FACTS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE FARMS 7 



One of these questions is: 



CAN WE AFFORD TO BUY FERTILIZER? 



The farmers of the state buy an average of 17,000 tons of com- 

 mercial fertilizers annuall3^ Last year their fertilizer bill 

 amounted to S600,000. They need to know: 



On what crops they can use fertilizer with profit. 

 What amounts and what kinds they require for the dif- 

 ferent crops. 



Whether they can mix their own fertilizers with a con- 

 siderable saving. 



What protection can be given them against fertilizers of 

 poor quality or even of no value. 



It is worth while noting that most of these problems have to be 

 solved from the standpoint of New Hampshire conditions. Soils, 

 freight costs, and kinds of crops vary greatly in different parts 

 of the country. Helpful as the work of experiment stations in 

 other states may be, New Hampshire has got to work out her own 

 salvation in the last analysis. 



Results of the top-dressing experiments are shown on the pre- 

 ceding page. 



In similar fashion important experiments that have already 

 been in process for over ten years at the Experiment Station 

 orchards have demonstrated beyond question certain fertilizer' 

 facts which spell money to the commercial apple growers of New 

 Hampshire. 



One of these facts is that it does not pay to grow apples in 

 sod unless the trees are mulched and fertilized with nitrate 

 of soda. If this practice is not followed, the land should not 

 be used for orchard purposes. 



Another fact is that where the trees are cultivated^ the 

 yield in a run-down orchard may be increased nearly 100 

 per cent, without the use of any fertilizer at all. 



Fertilizer does not pay for itself in a mature orchardj at 

 least during the first ten years, if a system of clean cultivation 

 is pursued. 



