The results of our first season of observation, 1889, regarding the influence of nitrogen-containing manurial substances on the character and on the quantity of the fodder corn raised under otherwise corresponding circumstances, although not without some interest, were not decisive enough to advise a detailed explanation of causes. The larger part Not less of the summer season of 1889 with us was cold and wet, and for this reason of an exceptionally unfavorable character for the raising of fodder corn. How much this circumstance has affected our first results, is difficult to decide. difficult is it to decide, at this stage of observation, how much the special conditions of various plats may yet control the results. The comparatively low yield of ears and the large percentage of undeveloped ears, on plats 4, 7, 9, which received no nitrogen-containing manurial matter, was, however, very marked. 1890. During the past season, oats was chosen as the crop for our trial. The field was prepared by ploughing in the fall and in the spring, previous to the manuring. The same kind and the same quantity of manurial substances were applied broadcast to the different plats as in the preceding year shortly before seeding. 800 lbs. of barn-yard manure, 32 lbs. of potash-magnesia sulphate and 29 lbs. sodium nitrate (= 4 to 5 lbs. nitrogen), 48.5 lbs. potash- 43 lbs. dried blood (= 5 to 6 lbs. nitrogen), 25 lbs. muriate of potash (= 12 to 13 lbs. potassium oxide), and 50 lbs. dissolved bone-black (8.5 lbs. available phosphoric acid). 25 lbs. muriate of potash (= 12 to 13 lbs. potassium oxide) and 50 22.5 lbs. ammonium sulphate (= 4 to 5 lbs. nitrogen), 25 lbs. muriate 25 lbs. muriate of potash (= 12 to 13 lbs. potassium oxide) and 50 25 lbs. muriate of potash (= 12 to 13 lbs. potassium oxide) and 50 The above weights of the different manurial substances were taken for the purpose of securing to each plat, as far as practicable, potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen in corresponding proportions. The manurial substances were slightly harrowed under before seeding. The oats were seeded April 29 and 30, in rows, two feet apart, to allow a one-horse cultivator to pass between the rows. Each plat had sixteen rows, and thirty-nine pounds of oats, Pringle's Progress, were in equal weights divided between eleven plats. A brush seed drill with no plate under the brush was used for that purpose. The young plants appeared above ground on May 5. The plants on plats 6 and 8 appeared sickly, having a yellowish tint, May 23. The entire field became subsequently somewhat infested with plant lice, plats 6 and 8 suffering most, May 26. Cultivator and hoe were used at this stage, to renovate the ground, June 2 and 3. The entire crop, with the exception of that upon Plat 8, soon improved and recovered entirely. Plat 8 suffered for some days longer than the rest from the infection; it showed later on a lower and somewhat uneven stand of its oats. The shade of the green of the growth upon different plats showed during the progress of the season in many instances. a quite marked difference. Upon plats which had received their nitrogen in the form of sulphate of ammonia, as well as upon those which had received no nitrogen-containing manurial matter, a light-green tint of the foliage was noticed alike in the earlier stages of the growth of the oats. In the latter case this light-green color of the crop remained until the maturing began; in the former case, i. e., where sulphate of ammonia had furnished the nitrogen supply, the color became deeper green as the season progressed. The progress of growth varied at times in a marked degree, yet no exceptional differences in height were noticeable at the maturing of the crop. The following tabular statement contains the measurements of the height of the plants at stated dates: The entire crop was cut August 11; it was removed to the barn August 13. To secure as far as practicable a uniform state of dryness, the final weighing of the yield of each plat was deferred to August 21, when the following results were obtained: Considering Plat 8 a failure for known cause, the low yield of kernels on plats 4, 7 and 9, which received no nitrogen application, is, to say the least, very significant. Comparative Weights and Moisture Tests of the Aboverecorded Grains. One hundred average kernels of each plat were taken for the test; three independent tests were made; the weights below recorded are the mean of the three tests made. The oats were kept in glass-stoppered bottles during the examination. The difference in moisture points evidently towards some varying degree in maturity. In the majority of cases where muriate of potash has furnished the potassa, the maturing of the crop was somewhat later than where sulphate of potassa was used. Phosphoric Acid. Nitrogen. The absence of nitrogen in the manurial matter applied to plats 4, 7, 9, is accompanied by the lowest yield in dry matter in the grain; the yield of dried grain in case of plats 4, 7, 9, averages 67.9 per cent., and in case of the remaining plats, excluding Plat 8 for stated reasons, it averages 90.8 per cent. The plats containing potash-magnesia sulphate as the potash source, namely, plats 2, 5, 10, have yielded the largest amount of grain; each of these plats received its nitrogen supply in a different form, ammonium sulphate, blood, and nitrate of soda. The field (A) has been seeded with winter rye during the late autumn, to continue the investigation in the same direction. |