410 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 



26th and 27th June, and on the evening of the latter day there 

 was an unusually heavy thunder shower, no less than 2 inches 

 of rain having fallen in three hours, which prevented the seed 

 being put in till the 30th, on which clay it was sown broadcast 

 on the flat and hoed in. It is not the custom in that district 

 to ridge the turnips, and Mr. Swanwick thought that greater ac- 

 curacy would be obtained by falling into the ways of the country 

 than by attempting to get men to do what they were unaccus- 

 tomed to. Within twenty-four hours' of sowing there was - 5 

 inch of rain. 



The turnips brairded within a week, and carne up nearly at 

 the same time on the different plots, though the plants were a 

 little patchy. They were hoed on the 21st and 23d of July by 

 a careful man, who hoed them as regularly as possible. They 

 were again hoed on the 8th and 9th August. On the 16th 

 August, plots 3, 6, and 9 were best, 1 and 4 next, then 2, and 

 10 and 11 were worst. The effect of the heavy rain which oc- 

 curred before sowing was seen in a very marked degree during 

 the progress of the crop. In fact, it was obvious that it had 

 caused the clay to run together, and so prevented the expansion 

 of the bulbs, and in this respect the repeated working which the 

 experimental plots got was disadvantageous, for on the adjoining 

 " land," which had not been nearly so much worked and was 

 much rougher, the same turnips, though unmanured, were almost 

 as good as the best of the experimental plots, and produced 

 nearly three times as much as the nothing plots. 



The month of September was most unfavourable, rain having 

 fallen every day but one. There was a perpetual drizzle and 

 little sunshine, so that the roots of many plants rotted in the 

 ground, and thus deprived the bulbs of further nourishment. 

 The unusual character of the rainfall will be obvious from the 

 following table : — 



Inches. 



May 08 



1st June to 27th Juno 2 - 4 



27th „ to 30th „ 2-0 



1st July to 7th Julv 10 



7th „ to 14th „* 0-0 



14th,, to 21st „ 0-0 



21st „ to 31st „ 0-5 



1st Aug. to 7th Aug 0-9 



7th „ to 14th „ 0-6 



14th „ to 21st „ 



1st Sent, to 30th Sept 5-9 



1st Oct. to 31st Oct 2-0 



1st Nov. to date of lifting 1*7 



The crop was weighed on the 26th and 27th November, and the 



results are contained in Tables XX., XXL, XXIL, and XXIII. 



1 shall not attempt to enter into any elaborate description of 



the experiments now recorded, which may indeed be allowed to 



