290 EXPEKIMENTAL STATIONS — REPOKT FOR 1879. . 



yield, might give some indication of the fineness of the straw. 

 Duplicate liundreds taken from several lots have shown, how- 

 ever, that the weights of these may vary considerably, and that 

 1000 straws per sample would be needed to give approximately 

 correct values, and that the entire process of sampling straw 

 would require to be done on a much larger scale. 



The il^^^ ^'^^'^ plots on this station have now been put into 

 a. satisfactory state. The whole soil of plot 06 has now beei\ 

 lifted and mixed together, the subsoil has been stirred, and the 

 whole regularly drained, and the soil respread so as to make a 

 uniform piece of land, which will contain duplicates of the first 

 '22 plots, and which may be expected to produce results as far as 

 possible reliable. 



The analysis of the barley crop at Pumpherston, though far 

 advanced, will not be completed for two months, and though 

 some of the results obtained might be discussed here, it has been 

 thought more profitable and expedient to delay their considera- 

 tion till the completed results are able to be produced, and* 

 viewed as a whole. We shall now notice shortly the results of 

 the barley crop at Harelaw. 



TJie Barley Croid at Harclau; 1879. 



As was noticed at the l^eginning of this report, the station at 

 Harelaw was not manured for the barley crop. The land is in 

 high condition, and is, on that account, not so well suited for 

 experimental purposes as the land at Pumpherston. Neverthe- 

 less, it is satisfactory to observe that the effects of the manures 

 applied for the Swedes in 1878 are quite visible on the returns- 

 obtained with the succeeding crop of barley, and a few observa- 

 tions regarding these may not be without interest. 



If the crops of barley are compared with the former crops of 

 turnips on the same plots, a compensatory result will frequently 

 lie noticed. Plots which yielded a poor crop of turnips have, in 

 many cases, yielded a fair crop of grain. For example, plot 5,, 

 which was the poorest of the phosphate plots when under turnij)s, 

 has grown the best crop of barley. There are several causes at 

 work to produce this result. In the first place, the soil which 

 carried a large crop of turnips parted with a correspondingly 

 large amount of its available nourishment, and left less for the 

 siicceeding crop ; in the second place, on those plots which 

 received slow acting manures, a considerable part of the 

 manure was not able to be utilised by the turnip crop, and thus 

 became available for the barley. 



