EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS — BARLEY CROP, 1887, 215 



during the last week of July came too late to increase the straw, 

 but the prevalence of sunshine and shower was beneficial in 

 increasing the growth and weight of grain, so that, despite the 

 shortness of straw, the amount of grain per acre was little if at 

 all diminished, and its quality was exceptionally fine. Had the 

 rainfall in June and July been interchanged, there would have 

 been a growth of barley, both as regards grain and straw, that 

 would have left nothing to be desired, and we should have been 

 far better able to judge of the amount of unexhausted manures 

 lying in the soil of the Pumpherston station. Owing to the 

 unfavourable distribution of the rainfall during the growing 

 season the unmanured crop suffered more than crops grown 

 under normal circumstances. 



The barley was sowm out with a carefully selected mix- 

 ture of grass and clover seeds intended for permanent pasture, 

 and so far as the grasses are concerned it is a fortunate cir- 

 cumstance that the barley crop was a short one, for they 

 have thereby had a better opportunity of making use of the 

 manurial matter in the soil. The appearance of the various 

 plots on the station after the removal of the barley crop 

 was more striking than that presented by any former crops 

 grown upon the station. It was originally intended to apply 

 various manures to the grass as soon as the barley was har- 

 vested, but the great differences of growth upon the various 

 plots showed that much additional information on the subject 

 of unexhausted fertility would be derived from the grass crop, 

 and it was therefore resolved to leave the station unmanured 

 for another season. Owing to the diversity of seeds sown, and 

 to the long time during which the roots of the various plants 

 are enabled to grow and take possession of the soil and sub- 

 soil, there is no crop so suitable as grass for jielding information 

 regarding the residual fertility derived from the application of 

 manures in former years. 



The crop of barley in 1887 is shown on Table II. It will be seen 

 that although it was short it was of excellent quality. There 

 was no barley weighing less than 54| lbs. per bushel, and some of 

 it weighed as much as 57 lbs. It is seldom that common barley 

 weighs so heavily, and I am informed that no barley raised on 

 that land in former years attained so great a weight as 57 lbs. 

 per bushel. As has been shown in former years, the kind of 

 manuring has some influence in increasing the weight per 

 bushel. A deficiency of phosphatic manure, and also a defi- 

 ciency of potash, produced a light kind of grain, and as might be 

 expected a superabundance of soluble nitrogenous manure had 

 the same effect. The plots manured with soluble phosphates 

 produced always a heavier grain than those with insoluble 

 phosphates, the average increase in weight being about one 



