MEADOWS AND PASTURES 53 
them should be applied in any given case with assur- 
ance that the application will be profitable. It is 
fairly certain that fertilizers do not produce much 
effect on soils that are not pretty well supplied with 
decaying vegetable matter, except in the case of cer- 
tain sandy soils that are always in good mechanical 
condition. Dr. E. H. Jenkins, of the Connecticut 
State Experiment Station, after a lifetime spent in con- 
ducting fertilizer experiments, and after reading the 
results of practically all the experiments of this kind 
that have been published, both in Europe and Amer- 
ica, at a recent gathering of agricultural chemists said: 
‘“The only recommendation I can make with confi- 
dence is that barn-yard manure is a good thing to put 
on lJand.’’ 
While we know that many farmers in the older 
sections of the country are using fertilizers with profit 
to themselves, it is necessary for every man to depend 
largely on his own experience in this matter. It re- 
quires long years of experimenting to arrive at reliable 
conclusions regarding the use of fertilizers. Several 
of our experiment stations are doing splendid work in 
this line. In time we may hope that they will be able 
to give us safe rules to follow. Regarding the use of 
barn-yard manure on grass-lands it is possible to 
make positive recommendations; as to the use of com- 
mercial fertilizers, if one will take the trouble to read 
the recommendations of different authorities it will be 
seen that we are quite in the dark. 
The farmer who probably produces the largest 
crops of hay in America makes the following state- 
ment concerning his practice in the use of fresh stable 
