Vol.. III. No. .54. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



147 



tilled and adei(uately iiiaimred with farmyard manure, it 

 is to be expected that this soil would respond handsomely to 

 appropriate chemical fertilizers. During the season under 

 review, however, the droughts that occurred interfered with 

 the normal sequence of events, and the usual favourable 

 eft'ect of api)lying sulphate of ammonia was not observed, 

 except in the case of the plot that received 200 Bj. srdi)hate 

 of ammonia, part \pplied in January and jiart in June, which 

 showed an increase by its ajjplication of 8i tons of i)roduce 

 (canes and tops). The plot that received 360 lb. nitrate of 

 soda gave an increase of 7 tons jiroduce, but the best plot 

 of the whole field was that which received 40 11). nitrogen in 

 the form <>f dried blood (i.e., about 3.50 lb. dried blood) all 

 applied in .Tannary, which showed an increase of 10 tons 

 produce, say, l tons of marketable sugar with its attendant 

 molasses. 



Of the iihr.,;jihate plots those that received 200 K). to 

 250 B). basic slag alone showed a small increase of 2 to 4 

 tons of produce. 



The potash plots showed a small but unprofitable 

 increase as the result of the application of 80 lf». to 200 lb. 

 sulphate of potash per acre. 



At Foursquare a field of 8i acres was under experiment. 

 The soil is a rather stiff, black clay, and, in resi)ect to its 

 chemical constitution, altogether su[)erior to that at Dodds, 

 containing especially an abundance of potential phosphoric 

 acid and bj' no means deficient in nitrogen or potash : 

 moreover, it received an amjile apiilication of good farmyard 

 manure. In a year of drought it is therefore not sur|)rising 

 that the canes should be unable profitably to utilize any 

 further .supplies. 



As a matter of fact, the mean result of the twenty-one 

 plots that received farm)ard manure but no chemical manure 

 was 21 A tons of produce per acre. Twenty plots that received 

 farmyard manure and an ordinary chemical manure, consist- 

 ing of 200 11). sulphate of ammonia, 120 It), nitiate of soda, 

 250 t>. basic slag and 100 lb. sulphate of potash, gave 

 a mean result of 24 tons j)roduce, that is, an increase of 2i 

 tons of [iroduce over the no chemical manure plots : a result 

 which shows that in a year of drought the increased return 

 would not compensate for the expenditure on manure. 



It is true that some of the plots showed larger returns 

 than this, but, on the whole, it seems safest to limit ourselves 

 to the following : — 



In the nitrogen series most of the plots showed no 

 increase as the result of the application of the nitrogen. 



The plots that received minerals and 60 lb. nitrogen as 

 sulphate of ammonia showed an increased yield of 2i tons 

 produce. 



Double minerals in addition to nitrogen produced no 

 adequate return for the extra outlay. 



In the al)sence of minerals, nitrogen in small apjjlica- 

 tions gave unfavourable results ; in large applications (80 lb. 

 to 100 lb.) gave favourable results. 



Phosphatic manures ai)peared to cause a small increase, 

 and on the whole, superphosphate appeared to be superior to 

 basic slag. 



The application of 25 lb. potash as sul[)hate gave an 

 increased yield. 



Still in view of the interesting fact that an application 

 of slaked lime has in other (and normal) seasons given good 

 results in heavy clay soils, even though they were rich in 

 carbonate of lime, we may here state that the six plots that 

 received slaked lime gave an average yield of 27 tons of 

 produce, that is, an increase of 5i tons, and we are inclined to 

 attribute this result to the well-known effect of the soluble 

 forms of lime on heavy clay soils of uniting the fine 



particles into larger aggregates and thereby improving the 

 drainage and aeration of the land. 



At Hopewell three experimental fields were reaped 

 containing, rer«i)ectively, j)lant canes, first and .second ratoons. 



In Flelchfr field 3i acres were laid under experiment 

 and divided into twenty-.seven plots, each containing 252 

 stools of canes. The soil is a red clay, rich in nitrogen and 

 phosphoric acid. The field received a heavy apj)lication of 

 farmjard manure, 40 tons per acre. 



The results show an increase by manuring, which, in the 

 most favourable plots, amounted to 6 tons produce per acre. 

 Nitrogen was the most important constituent in producing 

 this result, but there is evidence that both the phosphates 

 and potash contributed to increase the yield. Basic slag was 

 a more effective form of j)hosphate than superphosphate. 



Ashford Ju'ld contained 4 acres of experimental plots 

 which were of the usual size. The soil is a red, stiff clay on 

 a stiff clay subsoil rich in nitrogen, carbonate of lime, and 

 other mineral constituents required by plants. Before the 

 canes were planted 30 tons per acre of farmyard manure 

 were applied, and besides the experimental manures applied 

 during the growth of the plants the ratoons also received 

 various applications. Briefly put, the results of the 

 experiments go to show that, in the case of these first ratoons, 

 an a])plication of chemical manure gave the substantial 

 increase of 8 to 10 tons of produce, and that this increase 

 was due in part to the application of phosphate, and in part 

 to the api)lication of nitrogen. The experiments did not 

 show any superiority of one form of phosphate over the 

 other. 



Jlopper field contained second ratoons, and the experi- 

 ments were a continuation of those of the two previous seasons, 

 when plant canes and first ratoons were reaped from the same 

 I»lots. The soil is a red claj- and rests on a red clay subsoil. 

 It is rich in carbonates of lime, nitrogen and phosphoric acid. 



Some of the plots received an application of 40 tons per 

 acre of farmyard manure before the canes were planted. 



The results may be summed up as follows : — 



In the case of land that had received no farmyard 

 manure before the canes were planted — 



Minerals alone produced no effect. 



Minerals and nitrogen produced a crop of 20 tons 

 produce, and minerals were necessarily applied to the ratoons 

 for the nitrogen to produce its full effect. 



Basic slag phosphate [Produced no effect : superphosphate 

 a small increase. 



Pota.sh in increasing applications up to 7-5 It), produced 

 a large increase of yield. 



In the case of land that had received a large application 

 of farmyard manure before the canes were planted — 



The application of nitrogen up to 75 lb. or 100 tt). 

 produced a large increase in the yield. 



It is not clear whether minerals produced any effect 

 when applied in addition to nitrogen, when the amoimt of 

 the latter did not exceed 75 tt). 



When the application of nitrogen reached 100 Bb., the 

 application of minerals in addition produced no further 

 increase of yield. 



ONE-ACRE PLOTS. 



The one-acre manurial plots were at Hampton, Bushy 

 Park, Ruby and Blowers. The results are, on the whole, 

 similar to those obtained with small plots at Dodds and 

 Foursquare, in that they show a comi)aratively small increase 

 of yield as the result of the application of chemical fertilizers. 

 This we attribute to the small and irregular rainfall of this 

 season. 



(To le conthmed.) 



