144 REPORT ON PHOSPHATIC AND AMMONIACAL MANURES. 



The soil in the field in which the mangolds were grown is of 

 a mossy character, containing a considerable quantity of organic 

 matter, and well adapted for the growth of that root, but the 

 season being cold, and for the most part wet, the crop was under 

 average. The field in which the swedes and turnips were grown 

 is heavy clay, and certainly about the worst description of land 

 for proving the excellence of phosphatic manures. The com- 

 parative effects, therefore, of the different proportions of phos- 

 phatic and nitrogenous elements on the increase of the crop of 

 mangolds are not comparable in these results with those of the 

 swedes and turnips, nor even, indeed, are the latter two com- 

 parable, for the turnips were grown on a stiffer piece of ground 

 than the swedes. The crops of swedes and turnips were likewise 

 rather under average. The land on which the experiments with 

 mangolds were made seems to have been very uniform, although 

 rather better in one set than the other. The plots of the swedes 

 experiments stood exactly in the same relative position as they 

 are here set down ; the distance from A to B being 215 yards, 

 and from A to C 27 yards. We were quite aware of the varia- 

 tion of the soil from A to B, but had no idea that any existed 

 from A to C. These results show, however, that the soil gradu- 

 ally increases in fertility from A to C, but a deficiency of " no- 

 thing" plots precludes the possibility of estimating how much. 

 It is impossible that they could be influenced in any way, one 

 more than another at least, by previous manuring, or the old 

 ridges, for they were purposely run across the line of the old 

 ridges. We believe the change in the soil to be gradual. The 

 same remarks apply to the yellow turnips. 



The 2 cwt. salt added to 10 cwt. guano for mangolds has given 

 a marked increase of crop ; we have invariably found such to 

 be the case with mangolds. The " 6 cwt. salt" seems to have 

 been too large a quantity, as it has given no increase of crop. It 

 is probable that had a plot been manured with 10 cwt. salt, the 

 produce would have been smaller, for " 6 cwt. salt," both on 

 swedes and turnips, has had a deleterious effect. This is not to 

 be wondered at ; the land on which they grew is only about six 

 miles from the sea, whence during stormy weather a considerable 

 quantity of salt is brought in the rain or spray. 



The effect of nitrogenous manures on the leaves of all of these 

 plants, and particularly on the percentage of " shot" mangolds, 

 is very striking. In judging the crops before pulling them, we 

 had set down the mangolds on Nos. 1 and 2 at "from 19 to 20 

 tons" per acre, and those on JS~os. 3, 4, and 5 at "about 10 tons" 

 per acre. There was no apparent difference in the latter three 

 lots. We also made errors to a similar extent in our "notes 

 before pulling" with the swedes and turnips on these same 

 manures ; and had it not been that the numerous results on the 



