BULLETIIvT l^o. 104. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



A Fertilizer Experiment with Asparagus. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPERIMENT. 



F. W. MORSE. 



The fertilizer experiment with asparagus reported in the following 

 pages was planned and supervised by Dr. Wm. P. Brooks, then director 

 of the Experiment Station. The experiment was conducted in the town 

 of Concord, on land owned by C. W. Prescott, and arrangements were 

 made with him to act as superintendent of the substation. The plans 

 prepared by Dr. Brooks for the experiment were executed by Mr. Prescott 

 throughout the entire period from 1906 to 1915. His interest in the work 

 and his careful attention to all its details permitted the successful conduct 

 of the substation and the satisfactory completion of the fertilizer com- 

 parisons. Valuable assistance was given each year by Prof. J. B. Norton 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, who was stationed at 

 the field for the purpose of developing a rust-resistant type of asparagus, 

 and who took an active interest in the fertilizer experiment. This descrip- 

 tion of the experiment has been prepared by the writer, who was engaged 

 on chemical studies of the asparagus plant which gave opportunity for 

 famiharity with the fertilizer comparisons, although he had no part in 

 the planning and supervision of the experiment which were sold}' the 

 work of Dr. Brooks. 



The land selected for the experiment lies on Bedford Street in the town 

 of Concord. ^ For a number of years prior to its selection the field had 

 lain fallow, and was overgrown with weeds, blackberry vines and small 

 birches. It was considered to be typical of the fields used for asparagus 

 culture in the vicinity, where the crop is largely grown, and the soil was 

 deemed to contain only the natural store of fertility. 



' Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta., 20th Ann. Kept., p. 16. 



