light rains, but no heavy rain, the soil at the depth where the roots of a crop are mainly situated may easily become so dry as to check growth, when the surface soil and the sub-soil are both sufficiently moist. The evaporation of water from the vegetation of a cultivated field is much greater than that from the naked soil, and this larger evaporation must be supplied from the earth which the roots penetrate. It is plain that a soil separated from bottom water by a gravel bed may suffer greatly from want of moisture during a period of summer weather, when no heavy rains fall, although many light showers wet the surface to a little depth.

I call attention to these details in order to show that the state of the water supply may be really unfavorable to vegetation when no such condition of things is suspected, but must leave to further observation to decide whether the potato scab is in fact attributable to these vicissitudes.

FARM EXPERIMENTS AT MAINE STATE COLLEGE,'

*

CONDUCTED DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 1, 1883, BY G. M. GoWELL, FARM SUPERINTENDENT, AND WALTER BALENTINE,

PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE.

EXPERIMENT No. 1.
Pig Feeding.

In undertaking this test there were several points upon which information was sought. First, the comparative results from the different foods employed. Second, At what age of pigs is the most satisfactory growth obtained? Third, the cost of making pork, at present prices of food. Four pure blood Chester white pigs of similar forms and weights, three months of age, were selected for this trial. Up to this age their food had been skimmed milk and wheat bran. They were divided into two sets of two pigs each,-set A being fed through the trial upon fifteen pounds skimmed milk daily, and all the corn meal wet, uncooked, they would consume. A little bone dust was given frequently. Set B received all they would consume of a mixture of seven parts corn meal and one part fish scrap, wet with water, uncooked. At the commencement, set A weighed 170 lbs., and

Set A consumed a total of 1495.5 lbs. of meal and 1470 lbs. skimmed milk, and gained 378 lbs., thus requiring to produce one pound of growth, 3.95 lbs. of meal and 3.89 lbs. of milk. Set B consumed 1515.5 lbs. of meal and scrap, and gained 388.5 lbs., requiring 3.9 lbs. of the mixture for one pound of growth. Probably the reason for the low gain made by set A during the sixth and seventh periods, may be found in the fact that they were heavily loaded with fat, and very ripe, requiring much effort to get about their pens. Throughout the trial the tendency of set A was to fatness, while set B grew vigorously but did not become very fat. This result, must, I think, be ascribed to the different foods employed and not to peculiar tendencies existing in the animals, as they were well bred, and at the commencement of the trial very evenly mated, as the pigs in each set continued to be throughout. From the table it will be observed that as they advanced in age and size, it required a greater quantity of food to produce a pound of increase. The showing of set A is not favorable to the feeding value of milk; but the test in this case was not just, for they were fed beyond the point of profit in the sixth and seventh periods. How far the milk in their ration was influential in producing such early maturity and ripeness is a point upon which we shall seek further light. At the expiration of the seventh period the pigs in set A were butchered. Live weight of set was 548 lbs. ; dressed weight, 470 lbs.; shrinkage, 78 lbs., or 14 per cent.

Gain in pounds.

ture of meal
and scrap for
1 pound gain.

Amount of mix

To 2 pigs 1 month old

SET A.

To feed until three months old, 200 lbs. bran, $3,

279 qts. skimmed milk, $2.70 To feed after three months, 1495.5 lbs. corn meal at $1.88

5.70

28.12

6.84

2.00

$50.66

CR.

$51.70

SET A.

By 470 lbs. at 11 cents per lb.

Cost of dressed pork per pound, 10.77 cents.

Set B not being sufficiently fat, its feeding was continued thirty-five days upon corn meal and water. The gain during this time was 176 lbs. upon 724 lbs. meal; 4.11 lbs. of meal being required for one pound of gain. During the feeding upon meal alone, the gain appeared to be in fat rather than in growth. At time of slaughtering they were ripe, but not so excessively fat as were the members of set A. The account is as follows:

To feed until three months old, 200 lbs. bran, $3; 270 qts. skimmed milk, $2.70

5.70

To feed after seventh period, 720 lbs. corn meal at $1.80 per cwt.

To feed after three months, 1515.5 lbs. of mixture at $1.88 per cwt.

28.49

13.02

Cost of dressed pork per pound, 9.41 cents.

There was a decline of two cents per pound in the market price of pork between the sales of set A and set B. No account was made of the labor in caring for animals, or for manure resulting from food consumed. It is evident there was no profit in the above feeding. It must not be forgotten that the prime

object in this test was not to see how cheaply pork could be made, but rather the comparison of feeds and their produce when fed at different ages of animals.

EXPERIMENT No. 2.

Field Experiments with Artificial Manures.

One set of experiments was designed to study the feeding capacities of some of our more common agricultural plants with special reference to the nitrogen supply. This set of experiments has brought to light some very interesting facts in connection with the ability of the corn crop to obtain its nitrogen from other sources than that supplied in the manure. It has been shown that the majority of our farmers have supplied to this crop a much larger quantity of costly nitrogen than is necessary for its production.

The college has taken part in these experiments from the beginning, and has done its share of the work which in the future is to enable us to grow corn at a much reduced cost.

The soil on the college farm is not adapted to successful corn culture, and the nitrogen experiment with that crop was in consequence abandoned this year. It was our intention to continue the nitrogen experiment on potatoes, but owing to the heavy rains in the first part of the season, the land devoted to experimental purposes was rendered unfit for planting till the season was so far advanced that we were obliged to make our field experiments on beans.

The ground selected for experimental crops was a level field of uniform clay loam, with heavy clay subsoil. It had been in mowing for several years without manure. For the nitrogen experiment, one acre, 435.6 feet in length by 100 feet in width, was taken and divided into twenty equal plots running lengthwise of the field, making the plots five feet wide. The beans were planted in rows 24 feet apart, giving two rows to each plot. The fertilizers were applied in the drill in the proportion given in the following table.

The questions to be studied under the experiment are,—First, To what extent is it necessary to supply nitrogen in manures to produce a crop of beans? Second, What substances furnish nitrogen in forms best adapted to the crop?