198 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May : 
The Use of Brains in Farming. 
How Soils and Crops Differ.—Soil-tests for de¬ 
termining the Needs of Plant-food, and the 
best materials for Supplying them. 
BY ritOP. W. O. ATWATER. 
What is the best fertilizer for corn, for potatoes, 
for cotton ? Such questions will always be asked, 
and so long as soils and seasons differ, the true 
answer will be : There is no best fertilizer for any 
crop, what is advisable in one case is not in 
another, and the only way to find out what is 
best for a farm or a field is to study it by careful 
observation and experiments. From last season’s 
experiments I selected (March Agriculturist , p. 94), 
one illustrating what a single farmer learned by his 
own tests. I now give several which exhibit the 
different action of the same materials on different 
soils, with different crops, and in different seasons, 
choosing some that have been repeated year after 
year with the same fertilizers on the same plots. 
Some of the Experimenters are already well known 
to older readers of the American Agriculturist by 
the excellent work they have done and reported 
from season to season. 
Mr. Bartholomew’s Experiments, 
These have now continued five years, have cover¬ 
ed nearly one hundred plots, and are the most 
instructive and valuable field experiments ever 
made, to my knowledge, by a private individual in 
this country. In every trial, each plot receiving 
Phosphoric Acid has given a more or less satisfac¬ 
tory return, and every one without Phosphoric Acid 
has failed. Nitrogen and Potash have each in¬ 
creased the yield, but with corn neither has 
brought enough increase to pay the cost, while 
potatoes have responded profitably to both, except 
in very bad weather. That is to say, with potatoes, 
Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda, in Sulphate of Am¬ 
monia, in dried blood or in Peruvian guano ; Phos¬ 
phoric Acid in “ plain ” Superphosphate (dissolved 
bone-black), and Potash in Muriate of Potash, 
have each and all, both singly and combined, in¬ 
creased the yield enough to much more than pay 
their cost. But with corn, Superphosphate only 
has proved profitable, and the loss with the Nitro¬ 
genous manures and the Potash Salt has been larger 
or smaller in proportion as more or less was used. 
Mr. Newton’s Experiments. 
Here we have, with corn, almost exactly the op¬ 
posite result. Potash, indeed, is as ineffective 
as in Mr. Bartholomew's experiment. But the 
Phosphoric Acid so useful with Mr. Bartholemew, 
has on Mr. Newton’s land scarcely any effect at 
all. The money invested in the Superphosphate 
and in the Potash Salt is thrown away. But 
the Nitrogen, which helped Mr. Bartholemew’s 
com so little, is uniformly efficient on Mr. New¬ 
ton’s soil. The corn responds largely and profit¬ 
ably to Nitrogen in every form and on every plot, 
and rises and falls regularly as more or less is ap¬ 
plied. Even in the very unfavorable season of 
1881, when everything else failed, 72 lbs. of 
Nitrogen in 450 lbs. Nitrate of Soda, brought 54 
bushels of shelled corn per acre. The cases in 
which corn responds decidedly to Nitrogen are so 
rare that when Mr. Newton’s report came in, season 
before last, I—well, asked him to try again, lie 
did so, and with the same result, except that the 
bad weather reduced the crop, and writes : “ So you 
see Nitrogen is king of my hill.” 
Mr. Hicks has a still different experience. His 
soil demands Potash, Nitrogen helps a little, 
Phosphoric Acid more, and Potash most of all. 
Prof. Thorne’s corn suffered from severe 
drouth and shows no very decided results. The 
other plots, not given here, told a very decided 
story, to wit: that Nitrogen positively injured the 
crop. Indeed, there are numerous cases where 
Nitrogen reduces the yield of corn even in the 
most favorable seasons. 
Prof. Sanborn, of the New Hampshire Agri¬ 
cultural College, reports a case in which Sulphate 
of Ammonia has utterly demoralized the corn. 
What the reason is I should be very glad to know. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES, CORN, AND COTTON. 
Yields per Acre with Different Fertilizers. 
Mr. W. J. Bartholemew, Putnam, Conn.— Soil .•—Hill land, dark loam, compact subsoil ; worn out meadow. Ex¬ 
periments all in same field; those of 1879, ’80, and ’81, repeated with same crop and fertilizers on same plots 
each year. Weather 1878, favorable; 1879, cold, unfavorable; 1880, favorable; 1881, cold, wet, very unfavorable. 
Mr. W. C. Newton, Durham, Conn.— Soil :—Hill land, dark loam, loam subsoil, moist; old grass land. Experi¬ 
ment of 1881 on adjoining portion of same field as 1880. Weat.her /—1880, favorable; 1881, unfavorable. 
Mr. Edward Hicks, Old Westbury, L. I.-—Soil .-—Sandy loam, loam subsoil. Experiment of 1880 on worn out 
pasture; experiment of 1881, after fodder corn, manured with a “complete fertilizer.” Weather: — 1880, very 
favorable; 1881, dry, very unfavorable. 
Mr. C. E. Thorne, Farm Manager, State University, Columbus, Ohio .—Soil /—Upland, clayey loam; naturally wet, 
but drained. Weather :—Severe drouth. 
Prof. W. C. Stubbs, State Agricultural and Mechanical College, Auburn, Alabama.— Soil:— Upland, sandy, clay 
subsoil; very dry; worn out grass land. Weather /—Unfavorable. 
No. of Fertilizer. 
Fertilizers per Acre. 
0 
§ 
i 
i 
A 
S3 
*8 
B 
1§ 
?i 
■S* 
|| 
Muriate of Potash . 
150 lbs. 
D I E 
§* 11^ 
’I'e'S 
Kl gg oo-jj-S 
mci 
F 
III 
IIS 
G 
fill 
SM 
jy 
in 
H 
l 
| 
1 
•&jwwdk wjmji 
No Manure , g 
Valuable Ingredients per Acre. 
P 
s 
£ 
1 
^I>"1 
tjl 
”4 
If.! 
r 
c 
§ . 
SI 
|l|. 
feiSS 
s. 
^ § 
fl 
ll 
<? 
it 
■§! 
Cost per Acre. 
$5.63 
$5.25 
$3.38 
$10.88 
$9.00 
$8.63 
$14.25 
$0.80 
var’ble 
Mr. Bartholemew.. 
Mr. Newton. 
Mr. Hicks. 
Mr. Thorne .,-j 
Prof. Stubbs. 
Potatoes, 1878, bushels 
Potatoes, 1879, “ 
Potatoes, 1880, “ 
Potatoes, 1881, “ 
Corn, 1878, “ 
Corn, 1879, “ 
Corn, 1880, “ 
Corn, 1881, “ 
Corn, 1880, “ 
Corn, 1881, “ 
Corn, 1880, “ 
Corn, 1881, “ 
Corn, 1881, “ 
Cotton, 1881, pounds 
130 
46 
78 
30 
17.7 
7.7 
22.2 
4.5 
22.5 
13.8 
46.8 
14.8 
40.0 
587 
162 
42 
' 90 
37 
15.1 
7.4 
20.1 
5.5 
42.5 
22.5 
50.3 
24.6 
44.3 
805 
200 
78 
112 
46 
39.9 
36.5 
43.2 
10.2 
27.5 
13.8 
60.4 
20.8 
46.6 
1,162 
125 
46 
116 
37 
19.1 
7.7 
24.7 
7.5 
25.0 
15.0 
67.8 
32.3 
48.6 
564 
210 
114 
112 
45 
41.9 
41.4 
45.1 
13.1 
42.5 
23.8 
60.3 
21.4 
50.3 
1,599 
"52 
112 
39 
21.1 
7.1 
24.0 
3.5 
45.0 
23.8 
72.0 
26.9 
44.9 
932 
220 
115 
114 
64 
43.1 
42.0 
52.8 
21.2 
ill 
71.0 
26.8 
52.0 
1,219 
250 
130 
152 
88 
51.7 
45.7 
50.0 
24.9 
52.8 
23.3 
70.0 
26.3 
49.1 
1,541 
150 
49^8 
86.0 
48*o 7 
56, 
62. 
44. 
's.i 
'b.b 
25.0 
12.5 
46.9 
15.0 
35.4 
345. 
Explanations.— The fertilizers supplied Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash, singly in A, JB, and C; two 
by two in D, E, and F; and all three together as a “ complete fertilizer” in G. Nearly all the experiments included 
several plots with other fertilizers besides those given here. The plots were one-tenth or one-twentieth acre each. 
Remarks.— In Mr. Bartholemew’s experiments, Phosphoric Acid was uniformly efficient. Nitrogen and Potash 
had but little effect on corn, but were both profitable for potatoes whenever the weather was not too unfavorable. 
-In Mr. Newton's experiment, nothing had much effect except Nitrogen, which was very efficient. On plots not 
included here, the complete fertilizer, with 450 lbs. of Nitrate of Soda per acre, brought over eighty bushels of corn 
per acre in 1880, and even in the very bad season of 1881, 450 lbs. of Nitrate of Soda alone brought the yield up to 
nearly 60 bushels.-In Mr. Hick’s experiment, on the other hand, Potash is the most effective ingredient. 
Fertilizers for Cotton.—Nitrogen in the Southern 
States. 
Mr. Stubbs’ experiment with cotton, is very in¬ 
teresting. The figures cover only part of the experi¬ 
ment, and this is only one of a considerable number 
made by him during several years. His conclusions 
alone would make a long article. He finds that: 
(1) “ Our soils which result from disintegration 
of metamorphic rocks (principally hornblendic and 
feldspathic), need a little Nitrogen, much soluble 
Phosphoric Acid, and no Potash for cotton.” 
(2) “Our great want, and it seems to prevail 
through the older Cotton States (unless it be on the 
black cretaceous prairie cotton belt of Alabama, 
which has not been thoroughly tested), is soluble 
Phosphoric Acid. On worn out soils a small 
amouut of Nitrogen is required.”—A fertilizer with 
three per cent of Nitrogen, and ten per cent of 
soluble Phosphoric Acid he finds to the purpose. 
(3) Phosphoric Acid hastens, and Nitrogen re¬ 
tards the maturing of the crops. 
(4) Cotton seed and cotton seed meal are as 
effective as any of the other nitrogenous fertil¬ 
izers, such as dried blood, Sulphate of Ammonia, 
or Nitrate of Soda, and far cheaper and more 
economical. 
The Cotton States import from the North, the 
East, and the West, from England, from South 
America, and from the Islands of the Sea, millions 
of dollars’ worth of Nitrogen. If they will use a 
home product instead of ransacking the world and 
paying their money for far costlier and no better 
articles, if they will practice the doctrine that Prof. 
Stubbs and others are practising so forcibly, the 
saving will be incalculable. 
Commercial Fertilizers and Farm Manures. 
One thing that impresses me more and more every 
year as I look over the results of each season’s ex¬ 
periments, is that the proper use of commercial 
fertilizers in most cases, is to supplement the ma¬ 
nures of the farm. Thus, Mr. Fairchild, whose ex¬ 
periment was quoted in March, and who has 
excellent success with commercial fertilizers, finds 
that a small quantity of stable manure with a 
dressing of bone and potash salts, does better than 
any thing else he has used. He uses for corn, per 
acre, twelve loads (on a wagon that carries about 
30 bushels), or one-third of what he would ordinar¬ 
ily call a fair dressing of stable manure, with 200 
lbs. of fine bone and 150 lbs. of Muriate of Potash 
per acre, the two latter costing seven dollars. Tills 
has brought, during each of the past three seasons, 
on very poor land, about 65 bushels of shelled corn 
per acre and a nice growth of stalks, and has left 
the land in very gobd condition for the next crop. 
For example, in one case, oats the next season with 
no further manuring yielded 40 bushels per acre. 
Mr. Bartholemew likewise gets far better results 
from a light dressing of stable manure with a little 
Superphosphate, than with a large dressing of either 
farm manure or of commercial fertilizers alone. 
If there is one thing above another that is 
taught by the testimony of the experimenters, and 
by the hundreds of reports of their work sent me 
during the past five years, it is that, as I have so 
often said, the'only way to find what fertilizers may 
be used with profit, is by careful observation and 
experiment. I gladly second the advice repeated 
once more by the editor of the American Agincul - 
turist to its readers, to experiment for themselves. 
House Plants Out of Doors.—It is too often 
the case that plants from the window, when brought 
out, are put in a place where they are seldom seen, 
and either grow up out of shape, or are so dried, 
that they dwindle. If the plants are to go back in 
autumn, place them where they will be seen, and 
kept in shape by pinchings; set the pots on a layer of 
coal ashes, to keep worms from entering them. 
Give them partial shade, and do not let them suffer 
for lack of water, or allow insects to damage them. 
