FERTILIZER TESTS ON DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF TOMATOES. By James Troop. During the season of 1899 a number of experiments with commercial fertilizers on tomatoes were carried on in the different parts of the State under the immediate supervision of the Station chemist. In this same connection a similar test was made on the Experiment Station grounds in connection with the work of the horticulturist. Some interesting results were obtained, although they were not so well marked in all cases owing to the fact that the soil on the Experiment Station farm is naturally more fertile than that upon which the same experiments were tried in other portions of the State. The soil selected was a rather heavy, sandy loam, naturally underdrained and sloping slightly to the south. The plat occupied a space 162 by 99 feet or 16,038 square feet. Twelve varieties were used in the experiment. The plants were all started from seed in the greenhouse, except two varieties which were started from cuttings, and a portion of these were transplanted once from the seed bed into pots before planting them out into the open ground. The others were not transplanted at all, but taken directly from the seed bed to the open ground. The varieties were planted in rows running east and west, while the fertilizer plats ran north and south, across the varieties as shown in the following diagram. Tables X to XIX show the results obtained from the ten different plats, with and without fertilizers, each plat having the same varieties, and each plat consisting of two rows, excepting Nos. 1 and 10, which had three each. These tables give the kind and amount of fertilizer, number of plants per plat, number of pounds of fruit per plat, average number of pounds per plant, number of fruits per plat, average number of fruits per plant and the number of rotten fruits per plat. The first fruits were picked July 20, and the last on September 25. Much the larger part of the crop, however, was picked between August 1st. and September 5th.: |