1$4 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
From the tables it will be seen that the yields of both dry 
matter and protein in the cow pea fodder remain nearly uni- 
form without regard to the quantities of nitrogen in the fer- 
tilizer used. This is shown most plainly by the columns giving 
the percentage of yields. The basis taken for comparison and 
for computation of percentages is the yield from the plots sup- 
plied with the mineral fertilizers alone. Taking these yields at 
100 per cent., the largest yield of cow pea fodder from any of 
the nitrogen plots reaches only 104 per cent. for dry matter and 
IOI per cent. for protein; while the largest yield of soy beans 
was I17 per cent. of dry matter and 123 per cent. of protein. 
The results of the experiments with legumes are in striking 
_ contrast to those of experiments with grasses. This is shown 
clearly by the table on page 158, comparing results in dry mat- 
ter and protein from experiments with all the crops. The maxi- 
mum increase in yield from the plots where the largest ration of 
nitrogen was used, over that from plots where only mineral 
fertilizers were used, was 17 per cent. of dry matter and 23 per 
cent. of protein in the soy beans, compared with 88 per cent. 
of dry matter and 122 per cent of protein in the grasses. 
The contrast thus shown between the grasses and the 
legumes in regard to the effect of nitrogenous fertilizers is of 
economical importance to the farmer. It is greatly to his ad- 
vantage to know that nitrogenous fertilizers applied to grasses 
like timothy, red top, etc., increase not only the total yield of 
crop, but also, in a relatively greater proportion, the percentage 
of protein in the crop; while the same kinds and amounts of 
nitrogenous fertilizers have little or no effect upon either the 
total yield or the percentage of protein in such crops as clover, 
alfalfa, vetches, cow pea, soy beans, etc. 
On the other hand, the fact that the legumes, as shown by 
the experiments reported, can be grown advantageously by the 
use of no other fertilizers than the mixed minerals is also of 
_ very great practical importance. These crops are rich in pro- 
tein, but the nitrogen for its formation they take largely from 
the air, instead of drawing heavily upon that in the soil, as do 
the grasses and cereals. Thus by growing the leguminous © 
crops, and by practising a judicious system of rotation, the - 
farmer may increase greatly the amount of protein produced 
upon the farm, and at the same time conserve the fertility of 
the soil. 
