Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-10-30


lively, and note the lights and shadows
which they cast upon Prof Horsford's ad-
dress. Prof. Horsford says;
In the second part of the Bulletin of the
Bussey Institute, Prof. Storer has gwen the
results OF II prolonged series of experiments
made at the Bussey farm during the years
1871, 1872 and 1873. with various articles sold
as fertilizers, including these two superphos-
pilates, to wit, Wilson's and Bradleys Nj,
and near to the conclusion he gives upon "A
scale of merits in thrtieths, among the re-
suits of experiments, the following:
1s7l.s,s is71-as. 1s7l-a,s.
Barley. Beans. Rutabagas
Wilson's 1929 % 81 :24:27 2S 90 :25
Bradley's XL IL: 5:l6 ls:2O:2l 27:2l:ls
Leaves. Stalks. Tops.
Wilson's l7:24:2l 81 :23:l7 l6 :2O:2I
Brndley's XII s: 6:ls l2:I9:2i S:l9l6
Let us average the totals for the three
years:
Wilson's 2l.O0 2i.O0 25. 33
Bradley's XL 1906 1886 22,OO
Leaves. Stalks. Tops.
2066 2033 1900
9.66 1888 400
In these results the superiority of Wilson's
ammoniated superphosphatc is apparent.
With Barley it is more than 100 per cent
better, both with fruit and herbage. With
the others 1t is less. Let us average the
three crops:
Fruit. Herbage.
Wilson's 1898 $500
Bradley's Nj 1888 4l.99
Or, in round numbers, the value of Will
sons is to that of Bradley's XII as l07.
Now these values are the results of field eX-
periments, &c.
Prof. Horsford proceeds to dilate upon
Al ,,a -;onoo hatwoa,, tho nhau,iSfei aokinoo Fac
and the practical test. But what a pitfall
he has dug for the unwary reader who ac-
cepts his statements. 1t would be scarcely
possible to make broader msrepresenta-
tion of the real results Of tho field expert
ments on the Bussey farm ! That "scale of
merit in thirtieths" Prof. Horsford has read
from the wrong end IL is more truly
scale of demerit. The best crops, obtained
with stable manure, wood-ashes, and pearl
ash, are l upon that scale, and the poorest
crops, obtained by ammoniacal and phos-
phatic manures, are 30! See page $50 Of
the Bussey Bulletin.) 1t is, therefore, tho
readers sad duty to reverse the bright con-
cluson to which Prof. HOrsford arrived in
his comparison of Wilson's and Bradey's
XII. The gorng was really done by the
other OK. The 18 Bussey field trials agree,
then, with the single field trial of Fisk in
demonstrating that Wilson's is inferior to
Bradley's XII in fertiizing effect, and this
result is in full accordance with the ver-
dict OF the chemists that Wilson's is inferior
to Bradley's XII in commercial value.
The Bussey field experiments capitally il
lustrate the fact which is now fully admit
ted by the most experienced and intelligent
farmers, viz, that the field trial furnishes no
criterion for judging of the commercial oalue
of u fertilizer any more than the effects Of a
medicine enable us to judge of its proper
price. These field experiments also show
that the practical trial has often only a lin.
tied and local or seasonal application to the
estimate of crop-producing power. Out of
the Is Bussey field experiments, where
Wilson's was used alone, it gave of fruit in
10 cases less than was harvested on an un-
manured plat, and, while there was gather
ed in these l8 trials total Of "A 1.2 kilo-
grams Of "fruit" barley, beans and rutaba-
gas) in lS other trials, with no manure,
there were obtained 80 IL Kilograms Of
fruit. Going more into particulars, we find
that the aggregate yield Of beans for the
three years was slightly increased (raised
from 3,086 Kilograms to 3,208 kilograms)
by the use of Wilson's but the yield Of ruta-
bagas was somewhat depressed from 6S l-2
to 67 kilograms), and the aggregate yield of
barley was reduced from 1854 to 4,233
Kilograms, or more than "a per cent
Fit were permissible to generalize from
| e.. .....oksanl G..lA keiaIa tka Ruooau
periments would fully justify the conclusion
that Wilson's superphosphate is a positiUe
damage to the farmer, for this fertilizer
was applied to three different crops, on two
distinct plats Of ground, and for three sue
cessive years, with the total result just
named. Storer's estimated value of S24
per ton is very liberal for an article that, to
say the least, didno good to the IL crops
upon which he applied it, and yet Prof
Horsford charges the chemists with UNDER
rating its value Nothing can be more evil
dent than that Prof Horsford has totally
failed to sustain his charge. In his address
Prof Horsiord says that "the efficacy of a
fertili ger depends, among other things, upon
its going into solution" and that sin sea
son of great drouth, the best of fertilizers
can have but little influence on vegetation. "
Prof StOrer, in the Bussey Bulletin, makes
mention of dry land pOOr) soil and dry
weather as influencing the crops upon his ex.
perimental plats; but since Prof. Horsford
unquali6edly uses these very field trials to
show that the chemists estimates are not
right, the chemists may as unquali6edly as
sumo that Prof. HoEsford is satisfied that