BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 113 
No. 9.—A Field Experiment to Test the merits of Phos- 
phate, Potash, and Nitrogen on a Fine Sandy Loam of 
peculiar character. By Epmunp Hersey, Instructor in 
Farming. : 
Nearty twenty years ago, at a time when few farmers in this 
vicinity had any just appreciation of the power of certain fine, 
sandy soils to bear crops, I had occasion to make some experi- 
ments on such land the results of which were so distinctly 
instructive that even at this late day they seem to be worthy of 
being put upon permanent record. 
The field operated upon was at the top of a flat knoll some 
thirty feet above the surface of a small pond which lies near at 
hand. The soil of this field is a very fine, sandy loam slightly 
colored at the surface from the admixture of a small proportion 
of humus, but it consists principally of an extremely fine siliceous 
‘sand, well nigh free from flakes of mica, which reaches to an 
unknown depth. A well driven through this land came to the 
water-table at a depth of sixteen feet. Naturally enough, this 
sand readily drinks in and absorbs rain-water that falls upon it, 
and it is at the same time highly capillary because of its extreme 
fineness. It lifts water from below so easily and constantly that 
at times when neighboring farmers are complaining of drought it 
can be seen on scratching the surface of the soil in my field that 
there is plenty of moisture contained in it. Evidently the con- 
ditions are highly favorable for processes of nitrification, and as 
the results of the experiment showed they are well nigh ideal for 
the utilization of bone meal. 
The field had long Jain unused, excepting as a poor cow- 
pasture. It had probably not been ploughed for one hundred 
years, if ever, until shortly before my experiment. It was free 
from trees and bushes. On first trying to bring the land under 
cultivation, I was seriously misled by the advice of an acquain- 
tance living on a farm one hundred miles distant from mine who 
had found that his soil needed potash more than any other fer- 
tilizer. After following his advice for three years and becoming 
entirely dissatisfied with the results obtained, which showed clearly 
enough that potash salts were not specially needed on my land, 
I determined to try a methodical experiment which should 
