Farm Notes. 13 . 
In both years the application of the fertilizer has 
apparently had a beneficial effect, but the result is not at all 
commensurate to the expense. Considering- the manure 
itself as having no value, the mere hauling and spreading 
on the ground cost at the rate of more than thirty dollars 
per acre. The plots were close to an acre in size, so that 
the figures indicate a gain of about 500 pounds of hay or, at 
present prices, about a dollar’s worth per acre. 
No one could afford to top-dress alfalfa with the 
prospect of gaining only a dollar per acre per year. It 
seems probable that if it is desired to fertilize the land for 
alfalfa, that the land be plowed, the manure being turned to 
the bottom of the furrow, then the land cropped with corn 
and grain for one or two years and then seeded to alfalfa. 
We undertook to make this test, but the experiment was 
never completed. 
In order to ascertain whether this heavy supply of plant 
food had made any difference in the chemical composition 
of the alfalfa, samples were analyzed of each of the cuttings 
of both the fertilized and unfertilized plots. 
COMPOSITION OP DRY MATTER. 
Cutting 
Ash 
Ether 
Extract 
Crude 
Protein 
Crude 
Fiber 
Nitro- 
g’n-free 
Extract 
Total 
Nitrg’n 
Phos¬ 
phoric 
Acid 
Potash 
First, fertilized. 
11.29 
1.54 
13.88 
35.74 
37.55 
2.22 
0.59 
3.09 
Unfertilized. 
9.71 
1.34 
13.14 
39.59 
36.23 
1.98 
0.46 
3.28 
Second, fertilized.. 
9.12 
1.02 
11.14 
43.63 
35.09 
1.78 
0.48 
3.12 
Unfertilized. . 
8.9.1 
1.04 
11.08 
45.22 
33.71 
1.78 
0.36 
2.31 
Third, fertilized. 
10.99 
1.19 
14.58 
36.74 
36.51 
2.33 
0.47 
2.75 
Unfertilized. 
10.61 
1.24 
14.59 
36.75 
36.78 
2.33 
0.42 
2.91 
Average fertilized. 
10.47 
1.25 
13.20 
38.70 
36.38 
2.11 
0.51 
2.99 
Average unfertilized. 
9.77 
1.21 
12.97 
40.52 
35.59 
2.03 
0.41 
2.83 
The third cuttings are essentially duplicates. In the 
first and second cuttings the alfalfa from the fertilized plots 
has a higher feeding value and is richer in plant food. 
These differences are large enough so as to make it 
probable that the results are not accidental, but are due to 
real differences of composition caused by the application of 
the fertilizer. 
