AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 67 



FIELD EXPERIMENTS WITH FERTILIZERS. 



In 1886 the station instituted a series of field experiments with 

 the object of gaining information on the following points, viz. : 



(1) The comparative value of phosphoric acid in its various forms 

 available for use. 



(2) The use of a partial as compared with a complete fertilizer. 



(3) The relative profits resulting from the use of different 

 quantities of fertilizers. 



(4) The comparative results from the use of stable manure and 

 commercial fertilizers. 



The field selected for these experiments is a cla3'e3' loam adapted 

 to grass and grain. Previous to 1885 it had been three years in 

 grass, having been well manured with ashes and stable manure 

 when seeded down. In 1885 a crop of barley was taken off 

 without the addition of fertilizers of any kind. 



The field was divided into thirty-six plots, arranged in two tiers 

 of eighteen plots each. The plots extended east and west, and 

 were eight rods long by one rod wide. The plots were separated by 

 a strip of land eight feet wide, in which was a ditch deep enough 

 to remove all surface water. 



To diminish the errors due to inequalities in the field, three plots 

 in diflTerent portions of the field receive the same treatment. In 

 1886 the land was sown to oats. In 1887 oats were sown again, 

 and the ground seeded to grass, and in 1888 a crop of hay was 

 taken off. 



During the years 1886 and 1887 the field received fertilizers in 

 the proportions indicated in the following tables. There was no 

 application of manure of any kind in 1888. 



The tables below give the average yield in grain and hay of three 

 plots receiving the same treatment. 



For further information see Station Report, 1886-7. 



