EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS — TUPtNIP CPiOP 1882. 



377 



very rapid, for it is able still to provide as much mineral matter 

 to the plant as many plots to which mineral matter have been 

 annually applied. The amount of mineral matter taken away 

 by the crop per acre is important, as it affects the exhaustion of 

 the land, but it is perhaps more important as it affects the 

 redistribution of manure. When turnips are fed on the land the 

 mineral matter they contain is distributed over the land in the 

 du.na of the stock, and thus the mineral matter derived from 

 considerable depths is put into a most favourable position for 

 being used by the succeeding crop. It is of some importance to 

 know w^hat kind of manures are best suited for giving roots rich 

 in ash constituents, and therefore more advantageous for eating 

 on land that is in poor condition. 



A comparison of the first ten plots (Tables VIII. and X.) gives 

 some very definite information on that point. 



No. X. — Ash per Acre. 



There is a great difference between these results, and even tlie 

 average results differ widely. At runi})hcrston the quantity of 

 mineral matter lifted by tiie crop from the soil on these plots 

 manured with soluble i)liosphates in winter is on an average 214 

 lbs. per acre, while on these manured witli insoluble phosphate 

 in summer it is only 164 lbs. per acre — a difference of 3U per 

 cent, in fjivour of the former. 



The inference to be drawn from tliese results is that turnips 

 grown with dissolved manures will, when consumed by stock, 

 produce a manure containing a relatively large amount of mineral 

 j)lant food, anrl in that resi)ect are more valuable as a means of 

 improving land. 



The woody fibre contained in the dry n)atter of turnijis is 

 about 10 or 11 per cent. The smaller and lirnier turnips of 



