12 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



days. Yield per acre, 30 bushels 18 pounds ; weight per bushel, 29 pounds. Length of 

 head, 7 to 10 inches, branching ; length of straw, 36 to 41 inches. Growth medium; all 

 standing well. There was some smut, and the leaves and stems were badly rusted. 



Wallis. — 1^ acre The soil was sandy loam of poor quality ; its preparation and 

 treatment the same as for the Early Golden Prolific. Sown 4th May ; 2 bushels per 

 acre; came up 15th May ; and was ripe 7th August. The time to mature was 95 days. 

 Yield per acre, 26 bushels 26 pounds ; weight per bushel, 33 pounds. Length of head, 

 8 to 10 inches, branching ; length of straw, 41 to 46 inches. Growth medium and even ; 

 some spots lodged. There was some smut, and the leaves and stems were badly rusted. 



Bavarian. — 6| acres. Soil sandy loam of variable character ; part of it of fair 

 quality, and part of poor quality. This land was manured in the autumn of 1896 with 

 about 12 tons of barn-yard manure per acre, and then ploughed under about 8 inches 

 deep. The previous crop was Indian corn. In the spring of 1897, the land was disc- 

 harrowed twice, and harrowed with the smoothing harrow twice before sowing. Sown 

 6th May ; 2 bushels per acre ; came up 15th May ; and was ripe 12th August. The 

 time to mature was 98 days. Yield per acre, 35 bushels 17 pounds ; weight per bushel, 

 32 pounds. Length of head, 8 to 10 inches, branching ; length of straw, 38 to 44 inches. 

 Growth medium and even ; all standing well. There was some smut, and the leaves 

 and stems were considerably rusted. 



Banner. — 5^ acres. Soil sandy loam of poor quality, a part of it peaty. The pre- 

 paration and treatment was the same as that for the Bavarian. Sown 6th May ; 2 

 bushels per acre ; came up 15th May, and was ripe 12th August. The time to mature 

 was 98 days. Yield per acre, 29 bushels 12 pounds ; weight per bushel, 31 pounds. 

 Length of head, 8 to 10 inches, branching ; length of straw, 38 to 44 inches. Growth 

 medium, rather weak in the lower spots ; all standing well. There were a few heads of 

 smut, and the leaves and stems were considerably rusted. 



Abundance — 4^ acres. The soil was a sandy loam of fair quality, which was 

 manured in the spring of 1896 with about 10 tons of barn-yard manure per acre. The 

 previous crop was barley. This was not ploughed in the autumn, but was ploughed 

 about 6 inches deep in the spring of 1897, and harrowed three times with the smoothing 

 harrow before sowing. Sown 8th May ; 2 bushels per acre ; came up 16th May ; and 

 was ripe 10th August. The time to mature was 94 days. Yield per acre, 49 bushels 

 14 pounds ; weight per bushel, SA^ pounds. Length of head, 8 to 11 inches ; branching, 

 length of straw, 44 to 49 inches. Growth strong and even, but badly lodged. There was 

 some smut, and the leaves and stems were badly rusted. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH BARLEY. 



Experiments have been conducted during 1897 with 52 varieties of barley, 23 of 

 which were 2-rowed sorts, and 29 were 6-rowed. These were all sown in plots of -^^th 

 acre each. The soil was a sandy loam of good quality, which received a dressing of barn- 

 yard manure during the winter of 1895-96, the manure being placed on the land during 

 the winter in small piles of about half a cart load each and spread in the spring. The 

 previous crop was part flax and part oats. The land was ploughed in the autumn of 

 1896 from 7 to 8 inches deep, disc-harrowed once in the spring of 1897 and harrowed 3 

 times with the smoothing harrow before sowing. The 2-rowed varieties were sown from 

 the 1st to 3rd of May, and the 6-rowed on 30th April and 1st May. 



