Connecticut western news., 1908-08-13
AN EXPERIMENT
 IN EAST CANAAN
AS TO VALUES OF FERTILIZERS
George K. Goodwin is Endeavoring to Ascertain What the Plant Food Re- quirements are iu this Part of the State.

Some the most difficult questions which the present day farmer has to answer are those connected with the proper and economical fertilization of his crops. Barnyard manure on which our grandfathers depended and which is still in many ways our best fertilizing material cannot now be obtained ln suf ficient quantities to meet the needs of the up to date farmer. Barnyard manure while not exactly balanced for general crops contains considerable quantities of each kind of plant food so that If manure is abundantly used the food needs of all crops are fulfilled. AS is not feasible to modify the composition of manure the only way is of course to apply enough to meet the needs of the crop in ali particulars even if there is . slight excess of some one ingredient.
 With commercial fertilizer however the case is different as there is on the market an endless number of combina- tionS and as the price generally bears a a fairly close relation to the total amount of plant food contained, it therefore behooves the farmer who must buy commercial fertilizer to find out just what is needed on his land else he will probably buy too little of one element and too much of some other. Geo. K. Goodwin, of East Canaan, has this year undertaken an experiment which throws considerable light on the plant food requirements of the soil in this part of the state. MT. Goodwin divided one acre of land into three plots of equal size. On one plot he put no | fertilizer at all to test the natural strength of the soil On the second plot he put 300 lbs. of fertilizer which furnished plant food as follow: Nitrogren 9lb. phosphoric acid 24 lbs. and potash 1 371a lbs. The third plot received the same amounts of nitrogen but no potash. 1 Potatoes were planted on the whole field , and each plot has been treated like the other ill all respects. At present there is but little difference in appearance be- tween the first and third plots while on the second plot which received potash in addition to nitrogen and phosphoric acid the tops are much larger and of more healthy color. If there is as much 1 difference in the yield as there is in the present appearance of the field, the necessity for using liberal amounts of 1 potash in this part of the state will have been strikingly illustrated.
 To furnish the amount of plant food that MT. Goodwin has applied to plot 9 would require an application per acre of 300 lbs. of fertilizer analyzing nitrogen per cent. tor Ammonia S.6 per cent) phosphoric acid per cent. and potash l216 per cent. Good judges who have looked at MT. Goodwin plots say, how ever, that somewhat heavier applica- ton would have proved more profitable.
 As a fertilizer just like the one used by MT. Goodwin is not manufactured by most of the fertilizer companies, it may be remarked that somewhat heavier application of fertilizer analyzin nit rogen 8 per cent. 5.5 per cent. phosphoric acid (available) per cent per cent. and potash (actuaD 10 per cent would proba- bly, have given equally as good results and such fertilizer can be purchased from almost any of tue fertilizer manu- lecturers. F. R. c.