908 



Agricultural Gazette of N.S.JV. [_Nov. '1, 11)08. 



iiiiuiuriiiii, the yif'M suffers consi(l('i-;ihl\-. Not only must ttic food constit 

 uents 1)1' s()lul)l(', l>iit they must lie in a positimi wlin-c tlic\- c-iti Kr utilised 

 by the ciop. it is a shallow coott'i', ami (■\('ry ell'oit must \u- mailc in the 

 •cultivation of the soil and in the ajiplication of manui-cs to retain the plant 

 food iieai' the surfaee, where it can he reailily drawn ujion hv the crop. 



Whilst niaiuiriii,ti; lias heen shown hy tliese e»x])erinients to liaxc such a 

 marked influence upon the yields, it must not h(» forifotten that it is cfpially 

 important to hiinn' the soil into a jiroper physical condition. It should be 

 ploughed de-eph' some time hefm-e sowing and lii;litlv replou^hed just previous 

 to ])lantinLj, as indicated in th*^ l)ei;iniuni;' of" tins article. At'er the crop has 

 connneiired to grow, the cultivator should l)e kept going until the leaves 

 meet a-cross the i-ows. This maintains a loose surface, which has the etlect of 

 lessening evaporation of moisture from t\\v soil, much in the same wav as a 

 u)u'ch of straw. Where the soil is allowed to heconx' crusted on the 

 surface, moisture (piickly evaporates, luit w here it is kept loose and line the 

 moisture rises through the soil as far as the loose l)rok«i: surface hut no 

 farther, aTuI instead of being dissipated into the air is conserv( d in the soil 

 and utilised by the ]ihiiif. This intertilla^e also prevents the growth of 

 weeds, which draw upon fertility and moisture, exhaustim.,' profithsslv wliat 

 should be retained for the use of the crop. h: this State the stern facr must 

 be recognised thnt dry ]ieriods will ever recur, and one of the chief olijects in 

 all treatment of the soil must be the con'-ervadon of moistui'e in the .-oil while 

 rain is plentiful, to eiuiMe the cro]) to maintain a healthv growth when the 

 rainfall is scanty. 



Trials of Varieties. 



This experiment was carried out on a j)ipeclav loam, similar to that on 

 which the trials with ferti'isers were made, which had previously been cropped 

 with wheat. The soil was pre])ared according to the system outlined in the 

 fertiliser e.xpei'iment. It was manured with 1 cwt. superpho.sphate, \ cwt. 

 sul})hate of jiotash, and \ cwt. dried blood per acre drilled in with tlie sepd. 

 Sowing wa-i done on ^JSth Fehruary in favoui-aljle weather, and a perfect 

 stand obtained. All the varieties were hai'vested on l^.oth Jidy. The yields 

 were estimated hy harvesting two r<»ws 1 chain in length from each, variety, 

 and the ivsults calculated at ])er acre. 



E.VPEUIMENTS with ►Swede Turnips ; planted I'Stli Fi'hruaiy, luuvested 



25th July, 1907. 



Name of Variety. 



Yield per plot. Yield per acre. 



