March, 1934] Agricultural Research in N. H. 11 



Enough lime to help the clover without causing scab on the potatoes 

 is the need of this land. What this amount may be is one of the 

 things yet to be determined. {Purnell Fund) 



Soy-beans Like Magnesium Limestone, Manure 



Magnesium limestone and manure stimulated soy-bean yields on the 

 Ireland farm where the soil shows a pH of 4.8. Thirty-two plots have 

 been grown during a three-year period. 



Two tons of calcium limestone gave a significant increase over one 

 ton. Magnesium limestone gave noticeably better results than calcium 

 limestone on this particular soil. The continuous effect of 10 tons of 

 manure is apparently more beneficial than 300 pounds of either 10-20- 

 20, or 0-20-20 or 0-20-0 commercial fertilizer. Superphosphate with 

 the manure did not improve the yield. {Purnell Fund) 



Phosphorus May Be Direct Benefit to Apples 



Odds are 20 to one in favor of phosphoiTis as a fertilizer for apple 

 trees from the standpoint of yield alone, but at a cost of $60 per acre 

 it apparently continues to be impractical from a profit point of view. 



Baldwins given a heavy treatment of superphosphate in 1928 yielded 

 an average of 412 pounds per tree in 1933 as compared with 336 

 pounds in control plots. The average for the last four crops is 298 

 pounds, which is 44 pounds more per tree than the control plots pro- 

 duced. 



That phosphorus may directly increase yields has never before been 

 demonstrated even as conclusively as this. What has been shown in 

 the past is that it has a secondary influence, acting through the cover 

 crop. 



In this six-year study by G. F. Potter of the causes and control of 

 fmit-bud formation in the apple, phosphorus has not shown any con- 

 clusive results in setting blossom buds or fruit, although more spurs 

 did form blossom buds in response to this treatment. Extra apples and 

 larger size of the fruit were the principal returns from the use of 

 phosphoiTis. 



In applying the superphosphate in 1928, enough was worked into the 

 top eight inches of the soil to increase its phosphorus content by ap- 

 proximately 50 per cent. Control plots got no phosphorus. Trees in 

 both series of plots received an annual application of nitrate of soda 

 on the surface of the sod. Both series were also seeded downn. 



A companion study during this six-year period concerned the ef- 

 fect of dividing the nitrogen application. The conclusion is that blos- 

 som-bud formation is not influenced by applying half the total amount 

 of nitrogen in early spring and the other half in mid-summer. {Adajns 

 Fund) 



Results Reversed on Flower-Bud Study 



Analytical work was completed on 110 samples of fruit spurs to 

 determine the relationship of their composition to fruit-bud formation. 

 G. F. Potter and T. G. Phillips report that the results so far noted 



