36 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



I 

 COMPARISON OP RESULTS FROM THE USE OF EQUAL QUANTITIES OP BARN-YARD MANURE, 



FRESH AND WELL ROTTED. 



On examination these tables of results all show that the best returns are obtained 

 in growing all of the crops referred to from the use of barn-yard manure, and that in a 

 large proportion of cases the yields are in favour of the fresh manure as compared with 

 that well rotted when used in equal weights. The following table summarizes the rela- 

 tive advantage in yield on both sides during the whole course of these experiments : — 



In favour 

 of well rotted 



Manure, 

 15 tons per ac. 



Wheat, average yield per acre for 7 years 

 Barley do 6 do 



Oats do 6 do 



Corn (Plots 1) do 



do (Plots 2) do 



Mangels do 



Turnips do 



Carrots after oats do 



do wheat do 



do barley do 



Sugar beets after barley, average yield per acre for 1 year . 



Potatoes after wheat do I do . 



do barley do 1 do . 



Bush. Lbs. 



Tons. Lbs. 



1,170 

 1,765 



1,205 



270 



1,830 



In favour of 



Fresh Manure, 



15 tons per ac. 



Bush. Lbs. 



8* 



1 40£ 

 3 28 



Tons. Lbs. 



2 1,878 



483 



1,155 



810 



1,100 



These results seem to show that fresh barn-yard manure gives on the average 

 greater fertility to the soil than an equal weight of manure well rotted. This subject 

 is a most important one in the economy of manures, since during the process of thorough 

 rotting, barn-yard manure loses about 40 per cent of its weight, to which must be added 

 the cost of twice handling and that of turning once or twice during the process of fer- 

 mentation. As stated in the report for 1893, the reason why the fresh manure is equal 

 to the rotted, weight for weight, probably lies in the fact that the liquid portions of the 

 manure, the richest in nitrogen have much of this most valuable constituent volatilized 

 and lost during the process of rotting. 



SAMPLE HEDGES ON THE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM. 



In the annual report of the Experimental Farms for 1889 a brief reference was 

 made to ten varieties of trees and shrubs, the suitability of which for hedge purposes 

 was being tested. The many inquiries which have since been made regarding shrubs 

 and trees suitable for hedges from all parts of the Dominion, has led to an extension 

 of this work not only at the central farm but also at the branch farms. These latter 

 will be reported on hereafter. The trial hedges at the central farm now number forty- 

 six in all, ten of which were planted in 1889, fourteen in 1890, nine in 1891, and 

 thirteen in 1894. In planting these hedges the young shrubs or trees have all been 

 put in in single rows and at a uniform distance of fifteen inches apart. These hedges 

 have been planted in sections of fifty feet in length and ten feet apart arranged in a 

 tier covering nearly 500 feet. The object lesson given by this comparative test has in- 

 terested a large number of the visitors to the farm, and many hedges have been planted 

 on private grounds as a result of the information gained here. These hedges are usual- 

 ly pruned twice a year, the first time in June and the second sometime in August, de- 

 pending on the season and the growth the hedges have made. None of them have yet 



