REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND ACTING AGRICULTURIST. 



25 



following plot (Longfellow) the soil was not as good nor as suitable for the crop, and for 

 this reason the yield was less than it would have been under more favourable con- 

 ditions. 



Longfellow. — 2 acres. This was planted adjoining the King of the Earliest, on 

 similar soil, which had the same preparation and treatment. Planted 27th May, in 

 rows 3 feet apart; came up 11th June; and was cut for ensilage 17th September. 

 Growth medium to weak ; leafy throughout ; height, 7 to 8 feet; stalks well eared, ears 



ift glazing stage. 



Yield per acre, 13 tons 945 pounds. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH TURNIPS. 



Nineteen varieties of turnips were tested during the past season in plots, side by 

 side, all having the same treatment. The soil was a heavy sandy loam of good quality, 

 more or less mixed with clay. The previous crop was hay. The land was manured in 

 the spring of 1893, with about 18 tons of barn-yard manure per acre ; no fertilizer has 

 feeen applied since. It was ploughed very shallow after the hay crop was taken off, and 

 again later in the autumn about 8 inches deep. In the spring of 1897, it was ploughed 

 again about 8 inches deep and harrowed tvice with the smoothing harrow. The land was 

 then made up in drills two feet apart and subsequently rolled with a heavy land roller 

 which flattened the drills nearly one-half leaving a firm seed bed. Three sowings of turnip.^ 

 were made at the rate of about 3 pounds of seed per acre. The first sowing was on the 

 8th of May, the second on 21st May, and the third on 13th of June. The roots from 

 the first two sets were pulled on the 13th and 14th October, and those from the third 

 set on the 14th October. The yield per acre in each case has been calculated from the 

 weight of roots pulled from two rows each 99 feet long. 



TURNIPS — TEST OF VARIETIES. 



Name of Variety. 



1 

 2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 



Shamrock Purple Top.. . 



Purple Top Swede. 



Great Mogul 



Perfection Swede 



Giant King 



Marquis of Lome 



Jumbo or Monarch 



Prize Winner 



Mammoth Clyde 



10 Carter's Elephant 



11 East Lothian 



12 Prize Purple Top , 



13 Hall's Westbury 



14 Hartley's Bronze 



15 Skirving's 



16 Sutton's Champion 



17 Halewood's Bronze Top. 



18 Bangholm Selected 



19 Selected Champion 



Yield per 



Acre. 

 3rd Plot. 



Tons. Lbs. 



29 

 18 



245 

 465 



21 75 



20 59C 



25 1,920 

 29 115 



21 1,835 

 27 1,110 



31 260 



26 470 

 14 1,040 



27 1,880 



32 717 



21 240 

 23 282 

 17 1,.337 

 23 1,300 



22 385 



These turnips were all sown in rows varying from 200 to 400 feet in length, which 

 gave opportunity for further experiments, after the two rows of 99 feet each, used to 

 ascertain the yield in the first place, had been pulled. A portion of the roots in this 



