8 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



It is a very important question, but one concerning which on account of its 

 complex character, no very exact information can be given as to what effect the 

 various natural and artificial fertilizers have on particular crops, and which are the 

 most economical to use, to replace the important consLituents taken from the soil by 

 constant cropping. The results obtained from any method of treatment will, as a 

 matter of course, depend largely on the proportion of these respective ingredients 

 existing naturally in the soil ; much also depends on the character of the season, 

 whether it be favourable or unfavourable for the crop. Some conclusions however 

 more or less general in their character, may be drawn from careful experiments on 

 any soil, and with the object of gaining information on this important topic, a series 

 of experiments was planned and begun on the Central Experimental Farm six yeai-s 

 ago, which may be outlined as follows: — 



TESTS OF THE ACTION OP FERTILIZERS ON SOME CROPa. 



A piece of sandy loam, more or less mixed with clay, which was originally covered 

 with heavy timber, chiefly white pine was chosen for these tests. The timber was cut 

 many years ago, and among the stumps still remaining when the land was purchased, 

 there had sprung up a thick second growth of trees, chiefly poplar, birch and maple, 

 few of which exceeded six inches in diameter at the base. Early in 1887 this 

 land was cleared by rooting up the young trees and stumps and burning them in 

 piles on the ground from which they were taken, the ashes being afterwards dis- 

 tributed over the soil as evenly as possible, and the land ploughed and thoroughly 

 harrowed. Later in the season it was again ploughed and harrowed, and most of it 

 got into fair condition for cropping. 



The plots laid out for the experimental work with fertilizers were one-tenth of 

 an acre each, 21 of which were devoted to experiments with wheat, 21 to barley, 21 to 

 oats, 21 to Indian corn r maize, and 21 to experiments with turnips and mangels. 

 Owing to the difficulty and unavoidable delay attending the draining of some wet 

 places, it was not practicable to undertake work on all the plots the first season. The 

 tests were begun in 1888 with 20 plots of wheat and 16 of Indian corn, and in 1889 

 all the series were completed excepting six plots of roots, Nos. 16 to 21 inclusive, 

 which were available for the work in 1890. The season of 1889 was wet when 

 several of the plots were found to be insufficiently drained and the crops suffered in 

 consequence. This will be mentioned when the results for that season on these par- 

 ticular plots are given. In the tables the result of the crop of each year is shown, 

 also the average for the whole period during which the experiments have been 

 continued. 



In 1890 it was found that all the grain plots had become so weedy that the 

 growth of the crops was much interfered with, and with the view of cleaning the 

 land one-half of each of the wheat and oat plots was sown with carrots in 1891, and 

 one-half of each of the barley plots with sugar beets. In 1892 the other half of 

 each plot in each of these series was sown with carrots. In 1893 it was thought 

 desirable to continue this cleaning process, and carrots were again sown on the half 

 of the wheat and oat plots occupied with this crop in 1891, and also on the half of 

 the barley plots cropped with sugar beets that year. It is expected that at the end 

 of another season, the whole of these plots will be sufficiently free from weeds to 

 warrant their being sown entirely with grain again. In the meantime some infor- 

 mation has been gained by these tests as to the effect of the different fertilizers on 

 carrots and sugar beets, which will be given in this connection. 



WHEAT PLOTS. 



The seed sown on each of these plots from the beginning has been in the pro- 

 portion of IJ bushels per acre, and each year they have all been sown on the same 

 day. The variety chosen at the outset for sowing was the White Eussian, and this 

 was continued during 1889, 1890 and 1891. In 1892 Campbell's White Chaff was 



