418 Report ofr THE DEPARTMENT OF FrrLp Crops OF THE 
A detailed statement may be found in that bulletin of the rea- 
sons for taking up that line of work, the conditions involved and 
the arrangement of the experiments as planned and executed in 
1897. The situation, briefly summarized, was as follows: 
(1) Farmers on Long Island were found to be quite generally 
using 2,000 pounds of, high grade commercial fertilizers per acre 
in growing potatoes, an amount largely in excess of the needs of a 
single crop. 
(2) Experiments for two years by Dr. Van Slyke indicated that 
1,000 pounds per acre was the maximum profitable quantity, but 
his experiments did not show what would follow during a series 
of years. : 
(3) A general opinion appeared to prevail that the sulphate of 
potash was preferable to the muriate in potato growing chiefly on 
account of the effect of the latter on the quality of the product. 
(4) A fertilizer formula based on the composition of the crop 
is urged by some. On the other hand the farmers of Long Island 
had very generally come to adopt what is known as the 4, 8 and 
10 formula, the economy of which seemed to have no general sup- 
port except the somewhat inconclusive approval of common prac- 
tice. 
The experiments as conducted in 1897 were planned, therefore, 
with reference to answering the following questions: 
(1) What is the profitable quantity of commercial fertilizer to _ 
use in growing potatoes on Long Island? 3 
(2) Is the 4, 8 and 10 formula better than one which recognizes 
only the composition of the crop? | | 
(3) Is the sulphate of potash better than the muriate for potato | 
growing, quantity and quality both considered? 
The results for a single season (1897) taken by themselves 
without reference to the influence of continued practice gave the 
following indications, viz. : 
(1) That more than 1,000 pounds of fertilizer was used at a 
loss. 
