PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 



409 



Experiments made hy Mr. Kussell Swanwick in the neighbour- 

 hood of Cirencester. 



The farm on which these experiments were made is situated 

 in the northern part of the county of Wilts, and lies on the 

 Oxford Clay, about 500 feet above the level of the sea. The 

 farm has been in the possession of the present owner for a few 

 years only, and when it came into his hands it was a perfect 

 wilderness, scarcely producing a crop worth harvesting. It was 

 then undrained, but since then has been partially drained and 

 greatly improved, the pasture land, however, having received 

 the largest share of attention, and having been brought by care- 

 ful management to yield large crops of grass and hay. No part 

 of the drained land was available for the experiments, but Mr. 

 Swanwick considered that the results obtained from the heavy 

 clays in a comparatively unimproved state would be interesting, 

 although the absolute amount of produce might not be large. 



The piece of ground chosen lay nearly flat, and was of even 

 quality, and of the heaviest description of clay. It was un- 

 drained, but the clay was thrown up in ridges or " lands." These 

 lands are about 8 feet wide, and raised 6 or 8 

 inches above the furrow when first ploughed. 

 The previous cropping had been wheat with 

 Italian ryegrass, the former receiving 1 cwt. 

 nitrate of soda per acre. The Italian rye- -< 

 grass was fed off with cattle, and ploughed .2 

 up for oats, which were manured with 2£ \> 

 cwt. superphosphate, 1| cwt. guano, and fi 

 1| cwt. salt. The oat stubble got a very 

 light dressing of farmyard manure (about 

 3 tons per acre) early in spring, which 

 was ploughed in, and the land intended 

 for the experiments well worked. The 

 surface could scarcely be made as fine as 

 Mr. Swanwick thought desirable at the time, <*> 

 but experience showed that it would have § 

 been better had it been left in a rougher - s 

 state. 



The plots were marked out in two "lands," 

 such a length being taken as made exactly 



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112 



th of an acre, and the whole were ar- 



ranged as in the diagram, the experiments 



being made in quadruplicate and not in duplicate, as those of the 



other experimenters were * The manures were sown on the 



* Mr. Swanwick, as I understood, intended to have made two sets of experi- 

 ments on different kinds of soil, but not finding suitable land, made a quadrupli- 

 cate series. 



2d 



