Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-05-26
The Atwater Fertilizer Experiments.


Mr.. Tobey of Calais writes us that the re-
suits Of his trial of the experimental fertil-
izers have been to him puzzle, compared
with which the famous ais" is toy. With
his potatoes the rot vitiated the result, and
the loss was, in the several plots, nearly in
direct ratio to the cost of fertilizers applied.
With turnips there was gain or profit in all
except where the heterogeneous fertilizer was
used alone and with phosphoric acid, and
where stable manure was used. The COM
plete fertilizer gave two hundred and seventy
bushels increase and profit Of S14.51 per
acre, valuing the tnruips at twelve and
half cents a buenel. Plaster gave an in
crease of one hundred and fifty-eight bush
els and profit of 1882. The corn was
on one side of the turhlps and the potatoes
on the other. The yield OF corn on the plot
where the plaster was used varied only four
bushels from the average of the three I'M
MANFRED plots, and the potatoes Oily one
bushel. Mr.. Tobey, with these facts in vew
asks where did the increase of one HIN |
bred and fifty-eight bushels of turnips cont
from? Is it possible that the plaster (two
hundred pounds per acre) did it ?" Judging
by the figures alone, it looks as though the
plaster did it but when we come to inquire
how, we run against the acknowledged fact
that the action of plaster in the soil is not
well understood. We have been slowly
coming to the conclusion that, usually, the
beneficial action of plaster is in the setting
potash free in the soil. We find plaster and
ashes interchangeable fertilizers on our land
but only for a few years consecutively can
we use the plaster with favorable results.
We then have to return 10 ashes. This CO.
incides with the idea that plaster makes the
potash in the soil available" and conse-
quently enables the crops to exhaust it.
The complaint is common that plaster ceases
to have a good effect in light soil. after a
few applications, and that the land is left
"badly run out" On good clays, where un
developed potash is usually abundant plas-
ter continues to act favorably over lolg Sc
ries of years, and on such lands rotation Of
plastered clover, wheat and potatoes, Lay
be followed indefinitely. We should infer,
from the results Of Mr. Tobeys experiments
as given above, that the land used was not
deficient in phosphoric acid or, greatly, in
nitrogen, but lacked potash. This is an I'M
usual condition of things for an average
farm, but then Mr.. Tobey's is not an aver
age farm. He has probably bought more
phosphate fertilizing material, and econo-
mixed more in his liquid manure, than one
farmer in fifty. His soil may never have
been robbed of its original store of phos-
pilates, IS so many Vermont farms have
been, by selling off grain and meat We
might suspect that potatoes had been sold
off. Mr.. Tobey says that corn with phos-
phoric acid and with potash, used sepa-
rately, gave profit in each case, while on
all the other plots the increase was not suf-
icient to pay cost of fertilizers When we
remember that the form of phosphoric acid
used Ian acid phosphate of lime) was over half
plaster, it seems that the good result in both
these cases might have been really due to
potash, supplied in the potash fertilizer in
one case, and developed by the plaster of the
phosphate in the other At least, this is the
only way we can solve the "puzzle." His
largest yield was with complete fertilizer,
but with no profit The potash fertilizer
gave the best profit, S9S2 per acre, while
the phosphate (unnitrogenous) gave profit
of S3.l7 per acre. With the complete fer
tilizer, although the crop was the largest,
only seventy-one per cent of the corn was
sound, while with phosphoric acid and pot
ash, though the yield was least and the loss
Si.9l, eighty-six per cent of the corn was
sound, and the crop ripened eight or ten
days before any other This goes to sustain
our view that, while corn needs some nitro
gen, too much makes the crop leafy, late, and
consequently unsound in a short season.
We should have expected that, say one-third,
as much nitrogen in the complete fertil-
izer as it did contain would have given
quite as large crop, and have allowed it
all to ripen. As the second largest yield
was on potash alone, we may infer that a
plot with potash and little nitrogen would
have given good, sound and profitable
crop. But there is no nitrogen and potash
plot reported. The plot receiving stable
manure was very green and immature at
harvest and only ffty-six per cent sound.
Very much too much nitrogen here, appar-
ently,-enough to nullify the good of the
other constituents of this complete fertil-
- which waq tharafora rathar foo oon,-
plete. This manure was from two horses
put twice daily behind six COWS. 1t then all
went into the barn cellar and was kept
evenly spread in pen some twenty-five
feet square, where four hogs were kept
through the winter. Over this was spread,
from time to time, the manure of fifteen
sheep. Dry muck, sawdust and shavings
were used for bedding Mr. Tobey says
al iattered myself that this was good ma
nure, and that eight cords per acre was a
fair dressing. But alas away goes my
faith, pinned as it was upon the manure
heap as the farmers means of temporal sal
walton. Eight cords per acre, with no in
crease in potatoes, an injury to the corn, and
only sixty-five bushels of tumips |" Does
friend Tobey forget the old adage, Toe
much of good thing is good for nothing p
That manure needed extending" to bring
its heterogeneous richness down into due
proportion with its other elements, and es
pecially with its potash. Half as much Il
the acre, with twenty-five bushels of goot
hardwood ashes, would, we think, have giver
very much better result. Mr.. Tobey's let
ter is so full of meat that we must max,
another article of the rest of it,