Royal Agricultural Society's Field Experiments.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 163, 31 July 1886, Page 5

Royal Agricultural Society's Field Experiments.

Dr Voelokek's report on the field expeiimenta at Woburn, in ISBS, confirms con elusions arrived at from the results of previous experiments On the duplicate plots t where wheat was grown without manure for the ninth year in succession the yield was 21.3 and 21.9 bushels respectively, as compared with 23.1 and 26.6 bushels the previous year, thus showing, as the plots altogether showed, that 1885 was not as prolific a season at Woburn as 18S4 had been. Still, the produce was remarkably large from land un manured for nine years, and yet growing wheat year after year, and it affords strong testimony as to the importance of carefully tilling and cleaning the land. Mineral manures alone only increased the produce to 22.4 bushels, while 2001b of ammonia salts gave a yield of 31.2 bushels per acre, and 2751b of nitre cf soda produced 28. 1 bushels. The same quantities of these manures in the order given above, with minerals added, produced, 35.5 and 38.9.bushels respectively, > while the doubling of the quantities of the nibrogonous manures, in conjunction with minerals, led to the production of 41.1 and 40 bu«hel?, the increased produce not being sufficient to pay for the expense of the extra manure ,in either case. There was no appreciable difference' in the results from -the use of nitrate of soda and' ammonia-salba ; but it is important to bear in mind the fact that the wheat was hoed after the manures were applied, so that the- sulphate of- ammonia was ( buried, <. and that there was a good deal of wet' weather after, the,nitrate of soda was sown,^yr means of .which f sonie> oi that easilyfsoluble manure "must.haye <been lost, Two ' plots >' which yielded. , 4818* and "51 "bushels in 1884J af tembeing manured ,with . •minerals and 4001b of ammonia.salts. in one paae, ;!ran'dFi>withi^mineram S |ftnd^s,solb ? t qf h nitrate^pfftSoda&tuhuttie other,

only 24.7 and 18 bushels' last year, when the 1 nitrogenous "manures, 1 were omitted. THis shows that the effect -of even very large dressings of thefee-inariufes is practically exhausted on the sandy soil at Woburn in, a single I " season though the ammonia is less evanescent than, the nitrate, ; of soda. *Ai heavy: dressing of farm-yard manure produced,, only 31.8 bushels of wheat. On the bailey plots nitrate of soda in every -Instance gave 'better results'thah atnmonia-salts!' Attempts to show the difference in the manurial values of the cotton cake and maize meal as' consumed by live stock haying failed in one field, apparently because the soil was too rich to show the difference, similar experiments were tried on poor land, with results in favour of cotton cake. — English corre?pondent Otago Witness.