l6 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I905. 



100 pounds nitrate of soda, 500 pounds bone tankage, 400 pounds 

 acid phosphate, 200 pounds sulphate of potash, 200 pounds 

 cottonseed meal. I planted four barrels of potatoes, and when 

 I hoed them I estimated that nearly one-third of the seed did not 

 come on account of the wet. I used 1,200 pounds of the mix- 

 ture on the piece and I got 80 barrels of good ones, and 10 bar- 

 rels of small ones. I used no barn dressing. I broke up the 

 piece late last fall. It has been down to grass about eight years, 

 and cut about ^ ton to the acre last year. I did not use it in 

 comparison with any other fertilizer, but I think it gave me bet- 

 ter results than any other fertilizer I ever used. Several of my 

 neighbors will use it next year." 



Several others who used the formula made more or less com- 

 plete reports to the Station. None of them seemed to have 

 experienced any difficulty in the preparation and application 

 of the home mixed goods. The nearest to a complaint as to the 

 effect of the fertilizer was from a man who called the writer up 

 by telephone at the time of digging and said "the potatoes are so 

 large and the yield so great that the work of digging is greatly 

 increased because of the fertilizer." 



These cases are typical of the results obtained outside of 

 Aroostook county. While the formula gave satisfaction, the 

 writer believes that the modifications suggested on pages 140 to 

 143 of Bulletin 107 would in most instances be found advan- 

 tageous. 



The materials for the home mixed goods used at Houlton and 

 Fort Fairfield were bought at one time and were all mixed at 

 Houlton. The formula was : Portland Rendering Company's 

 (rescreened) tankage 420 pounds; acid phosphate 400 pounds; 

 cottonseed meal 200 pounds ; sulphate of potash 200 pounds ; and 

 nitrate of soda 100 pounds. Analysis showed the mixed goods 

 to have the following composition : Water soluble nitrogen 1.37 

 per cent ; available nitrogen 2.72 per cent ; total nitrogen 4.09 per 

 cent; available phosphoric acid 7.01 per cent; total phosphoric 

 acid 9.87 per cent; and potash 7.61 per cent. 



It was designed to apply this at the rate of the 1,320 pounds 

 per acre, but it was actually used quite differently by the differ- 

 ent co-operative experimenters. One acre or more was grown 

 upon this formula by John Watson, Houlton, W. S. Blake, Houl- 



