38 U. OF X. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 227 



seeded in August and September, 1925, to timothy. A i^ortion of the 

 old sod, comprising 12 plots, was left for comparison. Half of these 

 plots were toi)-dressed in the spring of 1926 with nitrate of soda. The 

 remainder of the experiment, 51 twentieth-acre jilots, was seeded wdth 

 different treatments of lime and manure in 1925 and toji-dressed with 

 nitrate and acid ithosjihate in the sjiring of 1926, so that a complete 

 series of i)lots with no lime, two tons lime, four tons lime, no manure, 

 10 tons manure, nitrate of soda and acid phosphate was laid out. 

 Samples of the surface soil of each plot were taken as well as com- 

 posite surface and subsoil samples of the series. 



Owing to drought or lack of nitrate, or both, no stand was secured 

 on those plots which did not receive manure. The yields in Table 

 XIX, therefore, are for the unplowcd and the manured ])lots. 



Table XIX — Yields of hay in pounds, per aere in 1926 on soil jcrtility 



plots 



Treatment Yield 



No treatment 379 lbs. 



Top-dressed, 100 lbs. nitrate of soda ' 466 lbs. 



Manure, 10 tons - 410 lbs. 



Manure and acid phosphate, 250 lbs 402 lbs. 



Manure and nitrate of soda, 100 lbs 772 lbs. 



Manure, acid })hosphate and nitrate of soda 835 lbs. 



No lime 479 lbs. 



Lime, 2 tons 637 lbs. 



Lime, 4 tons 698 lbs. 



The variations in the yields of plots having the same treatment (the 

 experiments are in triplicate) were so wide that it is doubtful if the 

 1926 figures arc of much significance, except that those plots receiving 

 nitrate of soda resix)nded to that chemical and that there is a con- 

 sistent gain for the use of lime. It is interesting to note that the re- 

 sponse for nitrate is much greater on newdy seeded plots than on the 

 run-out sod. 



The unmanured plots on which no stand was secured were reseeded 

 in August, 1926, and nitrate was applied to those plots which should 

 ordinarily receive an api^lication next spring, to see whether the lack 

 of nitrates or some other factor was the cause of no catch of grass. 



2. Legume Growing on Worn-Out Land 



An experiment with alfalfa and sweet clover on neglected hay lands 

 is also in progress on the Whenal Farm . It involves the seeding of 

 alfalfa directly after ])lowing with various treatments of manure, 

 lime, nitrate of soda, acid jihosphate and i^otash, and of sweet clover 

 with manure, lime, acid phosphate and jiotash. As with the hay experi- 

 ment, samples of the soil of each plot and comi)osite samples of the 

 surface and subsoil of the series were taken for chemical analysis. 



The seed was sown foi- this experiment in June, 1926, and good 

 stands of both crops were secured. There are 48 one-twentieth acre 

 plots in the alfalfa experiment and 32 in sweet clover. 



