Agricultural Researcli 

 in New Hampshire 



Annual Report 



of the 



New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, 1936 



J. C. KENDALL, Director 



It is sometimes difficult in year-by-year reports of experiments to 

 catch the essential, underlying progress that becomes clear when VvC 

 look back over a longer period. This is noticeably true now of our 

 research work in New Hampshire soils. The soil survey, the labora- 

 tory tests and the field experiments are combining to make possible a 

 picture of New Hampshire soils and soil needs which will be as far 

 superior to that of a decade ago as a modern photograph is to a tintype. 



Within the last few years, our knowledge of this basic field has been 

 greatly extended and our facilities for coping with its problems have 

 multiplied several times. Nearly half the state has now been definitely 

 mapped as to the characteristics of its soil and subsoil in the coopera- 

 tive survey conducted with the U. S. Bureau of Soils. Over a hundred 

 classifications have thus far been used. The practical aspects of this 

 work will become evident as the maps are published and come into gen- 

 eral use. To say that a farm has so many acres of Suffield soil, for 

 example, or so many acres of Agawam throws definite light on its cap- 

 acity for hay and hoed crops. We know that the kame soils, Hinckley 

 and Danby, are rather low in agricultural value because of their sandy 

 nature, lack of water holding capacity and the necessity for heavy fer- 

 tilization. Hadley and Ondawa, on the other hand, are highly produc- 

 tive for com, hay and potatoes; Peru is one of the best pasture soils, 

 though often stony; and so on. 



In respect to the comparative values of some of the soils not much is 

 as yet known, and further refinement of the entire field may be expected 

 in future years; but we shall now have the basic information required 

 for work. 



Moreover, great improvement has been made in the last few years 

 in laboratory technique as to determination of available plant nutrients 

 in soils. Our fertility experiments in various sections of the state pro- 

 vided an opportunity to test these methods satisfactorily on soils whose 

 treatment and response to fertilizers were known. Beginning in 1934 

 the Station has been able to make more definite recommendations as to 

 fertilizer treatment and soil management from the study of submitted 

 samples. As a consequence, the number of requests for such tests has 

 steadily mounted, and this last year was 983, as compared with 150 

 three years ago. 



The improvements in soil technique are not the only important ad- 

 vance. We have during the past year made detailed maps of local and 

 district milksheds which give a more complete picture of milk market- 

 ing in the state than has ever before been possible. Similarly, maps of 



