The Springdale news., 1916-04-14
ROTHAMSTED mENT
STATION AND FERTILIZERS.

lines of agricultural work. 1t has
gone into the laws of soil fertility, has
been the first to discover many of
these laws, and has in all its history
been especially interested in working
out plan of farm management by
which soil fertility could be maintain
eel at minimum cost to the farmers.
The Rothamsted experiments began
in the year 1887, when Sir John Ben
nett Lawes began experiments on his
private estate. He was a man who
loved the soil and to experiment with
II. Strange to say, he was fertil-
izer manufacturer in a certain sense,
as he early discovered a process for
Transforming bone into superphos-
plate by the use of sulphuric acid,
took out a patent for this in 1912,
and built an extensive business, which
he managed for about thirty years.
In 1913 he associated with him J. H.
Gilbert, and these two men for more
than fifty years conducted extensive
agricultural Investigations in regard
to soils and fertilizers. and feeds and
feeding of domestic animals. In 1889
Sir John turned over his large estate,
which had now grown so important,
and had become so well known in all
parts of the civilized world to a
board of directors, and endowed it
with half a million dollars
Among many other things that
We're done, experiments were conduct
ed with fertilizers, mineral salts. and
many forms of ammoniates, also with
animal manures, TO determine just
what the soils needed to grow the
most crops. For this work plots of
ground We're set aside, marked off
and carefully measured, and then
planted TO the crop with which the
investigator wished to work Small
plots would be used for the different
kinds of mineral and animal manures.
and in each series one plot would be
left unfertilized throughout the entire
experiments, while the others would
have applied the different combina
tions of fertilizers, etc. Careful re-
ports were taken from each end of
suits. The same experiments were
continued for twenty years and more.
Many experiments were conducted
with hay. and some of these with the
following results: The plots that had
no manure of any kind averaged in
twenty years, 1883 pounds of hay: the
plots which had mineral manure alone
1888 pounds; the plots with mineral
manure and 400 pounds of ammonia
salts, 5,711 pounds of hay; those with
mineral manure and 800 pounds of
ammonia salts, SIPS pounds of hay;
the plots which received the mineral
manure and nitrate of soda, s .407
pounds of hay. Considering the very
low cost of the fertilizers in compar-
ison to the increased yields brought
about by their use. one could not fail
to. see the value Of the manure salts.
The Rothamsted station was inter
ested in the permanent improvement
of land and the part played in this
BY the use of fertilizing materials.
From the many experiments carried
out, there was never doubt of the
wisdom of applying plant food to the
soil Larger yields We're always OBJ
tanned, other things being equal, and
the fertilization of the soils through
out England and her possessions rec.
commended 1t was decided 10 ascer-
tain the effects of fertilizers on corn.
Seven plots were treated as follows:
Plot l. Unmanured.
Plot 2 Mixed mineral manure, 300
pounds sulphate OF potash, 200 pounds
sulphate soda, 100 pounds sulphate
magnesia, $50 pounds superphosphate
lime.
Plot 3 Ammonia-salts. comprising
200 pounds sulphate ammonia and 200
pounds muriate of ammonia.
Plot 4 Ammonia salts and mixed
mineral manures, as Plot ..
Plot 5. Five hundred and forty
pounds Peruvian guano.
Plot g. Two thousand pounds rape
cake
Plot Z. Fourteen tons farmyard ma
nure.
The results of six years of expert
ments follow. The greatest increase
in yields was obtained with fertilizers
richest in ammonia The ammonia
salts, the gVano and the rape cake
gave the largest increase. which was
about four or five bushels increase
of dressed corn. In Plot ., where
only the mineral manures were used,
the increase was least, while in Plots
3 and it was greater, and in 4 great
est. 1t seems that the mineral ma
nures needed the effect OF the am
monia salts in order to help them be-
come available. There was in every
case substantial increase where fer
tiljzers were used over the plots that
remained unmanured.
The great object in giving the
above information is 70 bring to the
attention of farmers and business men
hat the question of fertilizers for the
&c