EXrKltl.MKXTAL STATIONS — KEl'OKT FUlt 1879. 1!9."» 



nrn.icATF: kxi'Kktments at yestki; mains. 



It is dill' of the defects of the system of cro])ping in use at the 

 Society's stations, tliat all the plots at both stations arc niider the 

 sanie cvo\) each year, so that four years must elajise before experi- 

 ments with any one crop are able to be repeated. The disadvan- 

 tage of this arrangement has been very apparent during the last 

 two seasons, which have been un])ro])itious for the cro])S grown 

 •on them. Had the stations been larger or the experiments less 

 •extensive, each of the four crops of the rotation might have been 

 gTown annually, and thus have rendered the success of the ex- 

 periments less dependent on weather conditions. It is probabb- 

 that some means of obviating this defect will be ado])ted here- 

 after, for some of the ipiestions that have arisen from the results 

 of the turnip crop are too important to be allowed to lie over in 

 tlie hope of obtaining a propitious season once every four years. 

 The ]\Iar(juis of Twceddale has kindly come to the aid of the 

 Society in this matter, and has repeated on the farm of Yester 

 Plains six experiments selected from the phosphate plots. The 

 soil chosen for the experiments is a sandy clay in fair conditi(jn, 

 nnd the experiments are duplicates of jilots 3 and 4, 5 and G, and 

 D and 10 of the Society's scheme, thus enabling both dissolved 

 find undissolved phosphate from animal and mineral origin to be 

 compared. 



The crop was yellow turnips, " Fosterton hybrid," but owing to 

 the unfortunate season only about half the average yield was 

 .obtained. The following are tlie results per acre : — 



The advantage is seen to be greatly in favour of the dissolved 

 manures. It is remarkable that the crops obtained with dissolved 

 bones and dissolved apatite sliouhl l)e so exactly e([ual, Init they 

 (lilfered somewhat in appearance; the latter were fewer in number 

 but correspondingly larger, a circumstance which may be ex- 

 plained by the fact that the " fly " destroyed a large number of 

 the young plants, and thus gave the others more room to grow 

 and more nourishment to absorb. 



At the beginning of the season plot 6 looked the best, but it 

 did not improve so well as plot 10. In this respect they differed 

 from those grown at the Society's stations. 



The experiments are under the care of Mr Swintoii, to whom 

 1 am indebted for the data here given. The sani])les taken from 

 .these plots have not yet been analy.sed, but will form part i>f 



