1886. 100 lbs. Dissolved Bone-black (= 17 lbs. available phosphoric acid). Yield of Dry Corn Fodder. 255 lbs. 1887. 100 lbs. Dissolved Bone-black (= 17 lbs. available phosphoric acid) and 50 lbs. Muriate of Potash (= 25 lbs. Potassium Oxide). Yield of Dry Corn Fodder. 730 lbs. 1888. WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTING CO, STATE PRINTERS. 50 lbs. Muriate of Potash (= 25 lbs. of Potassium Oxide). EXPERIMENTS WITH CORN FODDER. FIELD A. 1886. 1887 1888. PLAT 9. 50 lbs. Muriate of Potash (= 25 lbs. Potassium Oxide). 50 lbs. Muriate of Potash (= 25 lbs. Potassium Oxide). 50 lbs. Muriate of Potash (= 25 lbs. Potassium Oxide). II. INFLUENCE OF FERTILIZERS ON THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF PROMINENT FODDER CROPS. [Field "B."] The field assigned to the above-stated inquiry is located west of field "A," and has been used, like the latter, for several years previous to the establishment of the Experiment Station, for the production of hay. The land is nearly on a level, and runs from north to south; it occupies at the present time an area of 1.7 acres. The soil consists of a somewhat sandy loam. During the spring of 1883 it was ploughed and prepared for raising corn fodder. This crop was raised for one year in drills, and without the aid of any manurial matter. The previous thorough mechanical treatment of the soil, as well as its impoverished condition, was considered favorable for the contemplated work. In 1884 the entire field was subdivided into eleven plats of equal size, with five feet of space between them. Every alternate plat has received from that date annually the same kind and same amount of fertilizer, six hundred pounds of ground bones and two hundred pounds of muriate of potash per acre. The fertilizer has been applied at an early date each spring, either broadcast or between the rows, as circumstances admitted. It was in each case subsequently slightly harrowed under. Since 1885, all crops on that field have been raised in rows; this system of cultivation became a necessity in the case of grasses, clovers, etc., to secure a clean crop for observation. The rows, in the case of corn and leguminous plants, were three feet and three inches apart; and in the case of grasses, two feet. The space between the different plats measured five feet; it has received thus far no manurial substance of any description, and is kept clean from vegetation by a proper use of the cultivator. Plats 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21 are fertilized annually; plats 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 have received thus far no fertilizer. The single plats are either occupied by one variety of plants or by two; in some instances several plats are used for one and the same crop. Corn and various prominent varieties of meadow grasses and of leguminous plants have thus far been selected for observation. |