Miscellaneous Products, 



236 



[September, 1908. 



been made to sections F. and K. this 

 year, the plots appearing not to need 

 further lime at present. 



Notes Kept on the Progress of the 



Experiment. 



Notes were taken on the growth' 

 general progress and appearance of the 

 plants at several different times during 

 the past four years, and while it will 

 not be advisable to incorporate all of 

 these notes in a bulletin, still it is pos- 

 sible to give a brief general summary of 

 the records. These records, taken in 

 connection with the results from the 

 crops, will form the basis of conclusions 

 to be drawn and recommendations to be 

 made. 



Sections A. and B. were treated alike, 

 except that A. received high grade 

 sulphate and B. muriate- As already 

 noted, both received acid phosphate, 

 and as shown by the notes, ther e has 

 been a tendency to "spike," and the 

 plants have lacked that healthy appear- 

 ance which a normal plant should 

 have. This condition has been attri- 

 buted to the acid phosphate, and when 

 we compare these sections with others 

 treated in the same way except as regards 

 source of phosphoric acid, and also with 

 section K. which received acid phosphate 

 but in addition 750 pounds of lime to 

 the acre, and when we further con- 

 sider the general experience of many 

 of the growers, we are forced to accept 

 this as the explanation of the poor 

 showing which these sections have made, 

 Of the two sections A. has given better 

 results than B. which emphasizes the 

 superiority of the sulphate over the 

 muriate. 



Sections O. and D. were treated alike 

 except in source of potash, C receiving 

 high grade sulphate and D. muriate. 

 They have both made good progress and 

 have been reported from time to time 

 as i( good" sections, the term " fair," 

 however, having been applied to some of 

 the polts of D. occasionally. In general 

 appearance and for the most part in 

 crop returns, C. has given the best 

 results ; again indicating the superi- 

 ority of the sulphate over the muriate. 



Sections E., F. and G. received bone 

 and dried blood, and low grade sul- 

 phate, high grade sulphate and kainit 

 respectively as the source of potash. 

 Section E. has made good progress and 

 has been reported as " good" and even 

 sometimes as " excellent," and if we 

 compare the number of fruits taken from 

 this section with the number taken 

 from other sections we also find that 

 the results are good, Section F. received 



the same as section 0., and in addition 

 750 pounds of lime per acre. It has made 

 good progress and has been reported as 

 "good," and sometimes as very good," 

 but if we judge by the fruit produced C. 

 has given better results than F., which 

 would indicate that lime is not required 

 with these ingredients. The injurious 

 effects of the kainit on section G. have 

 been very apparent all the while. This 

 is even more clearly emphasized by a 

 study of the tables giving the results of 

 the crops. It seems reasonable to attri- 

 bute the injurious effects to the chlorides 

 in the kainit, inasmuch as muriate also 

 does not seem to be a suitable form in 

 which to apply potash. 



Sections H., I. and J. received slag 

 and dried blood and muriate, high 

 grade sulphate, and kainit respectively 

 as the source of potash. They are all 

 good sections, and the plants have, dur- 

 ing the greater part of the experiment, 

 had a strong, healthy appearance, with 

 little or no tendency to " spike." Section 

 I., however, is and has been better 

 than the other two, and has been re- 

 ported from time to time as the best 

 section in the entire plot. A careful 

 study of the tables in Diagram III. will 

 emphasize this fact. The number of 

 pines obtained from this section has 

 not always been the largest, but when 

 total numbers, number of the larger sizes 

 and general progress are all taken into 

 consideration, we are, safe in saying that 

 this has been the best section. It should 

 be observed that this section received 

 the standard formula, with the phos- 

 phoric acid supplied from slag (odourless 

 slag phosphate, or Thomas slag) instead 

 of bone. Other sections in the experi- 

 ment received slag, but no others receiv- 

 ed both dried blood and high grade sul- 

 phate in addition. The section receiving 

 muriate did better than the one receiv- 

 ing kainit, but not so well as the one 

 receiving high grade sulphate. 



Section K. as mentioned under the 

 head of special sections, was designed 

 to determine whether lime would have 

 a tendency to correct the injurious 

 effects of acid phosphate. So far, the 

 results decidedly indicate an affirmative 

 answer. The plants have maintained a 

 splendid condition and have given 

 good results as compared with other 

 sections from the very beginning. At 

 times it has been difficult to detect much 

 difference between this section and 

 section I., which has been regarded as 

 the best. It is not an easy matter to say 

 why the acid phosphate has an injuri- 

 ous effect upon pineapples, nor to say 

 in what way the lime prevents or cor- 

 rects this. The most satisfactory ex- 

 planation we can offer is that ordinary 



