THE RELATION OF SOIL TEST VALUES TO FERTILIZER RESPONSE BY THE POTATO: I. NITRATE PRODUCTION AND CROP YIELD

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The ability of soil to produce nitrate nitrogen was determined by an incubation method and values obtained were related to potato yields at 21 experimental locations by Bray's modified Mitscherlich equation. The mean c1 value (proportionality constant) for a total of 58 tests, which included three varieties during a 2-year period, was 0.0182. The standard error of the mean was 0.0014. While differences between c1 values for years were not significant, differences between locations and varieties were. When the soils were grouped, the c1 values for those from the Annapolis Valley were approximately twice those for soils from the adjacent North and South Mountains, and the values within each group were remarkably uniform. The appropriate equations for relating soil test values and crop yields were log (A-y) = log A − 0.0112b1 and log (A-y) = log A − 0.0204b1 for Mountain and Valley soils respectively.