New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 35 
_ The practical lessons to be drawn from the above tables are very 
forcible and can not fail to carry conviction to anyone who will 
_ carefully consider them. It appears that upon an average the 
cereals contain an amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and 
potassium, which, at the current market price for these materials 
is worth almost exactly one-fourth the market value of the grain 
(24.1 per cent). : 
Potatoes contain somewhat more, 28.6 per cent of their average 
market value, while the hay crop contains nearly two-thirds (63.7 
per cent) of its average market value. In other words, the farmer 
would have to pay for the potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen in 
ten dollars worth of hay, six dollars and thirty-seven cents. 
It will be seen also that milk contains of these fertilizing con- 
stituents only 10.5 per cent of its value, less than one-half the 
value contained in the cereals and less than one-sixth the value of 
these in the hay. 
The practical conclusions are obvious: 
First. Increase the area and production of grass and hay, and 
feed it. 
Second. Increase and improve the several products of the dairy 
by careful selection and feeding of the animals, and by improve- 
ment in the methods of production of butter and cheese. 
SorRGHUM FOR FORAGE AND SYRUP. 
Attention is directed to the reports of the assistant and superin- 
tendent of the farm of experiments made with many varieties of 
sorghum, some of which were quite new to this country, for the 
purpose of learning which would prove most. valuable to our 
farmers for forage and for use as ensilage. 
There was grown upén nine one-twentieth acre plats in hills, of 
one of the lightest varieties, an average crop of 20,933 pounds per 
acre, the minimum being 17,040 and the maximum 26,960 pounds. 
In drills this same variety gave an average on nine plats of 34,755 
pounds, with a minimum of 24,440 and a maximum of 44,080 
pounds per acre. | 
An average bundle of canes from these eighteen plats gave with 
a hand miil 66.07 per cent of their weight in juice, having a 
specific gravity of 1.068. This juice contained 10.95 per cent of 
sucrose and 3.78 per cent of glucose, although owing to the cold 
