834 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECOED. 



acre of barley maintained 0.94 sheep per acre per year, peas, 2.26, and wheat 

 0.39. In the kale, oat, vetch, wheat rotation the figures were 2.41, 0.59, 2.69 

 and 0.52 sheep per acre per year, respectively. The total gross returns for 

 the two 4-year rotations were £12 4s. Id. and £12 13s. 5d., respectively, as com- 

 pared with £10 15s. after bare fallow. The increased gross return was not 

 sufficient to cover the additional outlay involved in raising the subsidiary crops. 



Three years' work indicated that in point of cereal returns a bare-fallow, 

 wheat rotation had every advantage over a bare fallow, wheat, pasture rota- 

 tion, although the net returns from the longer rotation " are likely to be quite 

 as good if not better." 



Four years' tests indicated that the average sheep-carrying capacity of 

 pasture plats after wheat, treated with i cwt. of superphosphate, was 2.66 sheep 

 per acre per year, as compared with 3.01, 3.09, and 3.26 head, respectively, in 

 case of plats that received 1, 2, and 3 cwt. of superphosphate per acre. These 

 heavier applications apparently gave a carrying capacity about 4 or 5 times as 

 great as that " of similar land worked on ordinary station lines." In case of 

 wheat, the heavier applications of superphosphate did not produce profitable 

 increases in yield. 



On unfertilized plats the period between germination of wheat and full bloom 

 averaged 335 days and that between germination and ripening ISO days, as 

 compared with 130 and 178 days on the superphosphate plats, and 126 and 173 

 days on the nitrate of soda plats. Although nitrate of soda apparently in- 

 creased the grain and hay yields, the increases were insufficient to pay the 

 cost of the fertilizer. 



In a 5-year test applications of 2 cwt. of superphosphate either with or with- 

 out I cwt. of nitrate of soda to wheat were followed bj^ somewhat greater grain 

 yields than were 2 or 3 cwt. of basic slag or 14 tons of farmyard manure per 

 acre. In a 1-year test of fertilizers after bare fallow a higher wheat yield 

 followed an application of 2 cwt. of superphosphate and * cwt. of sulphate of 

 potash than was secured on any of 14 other plats in the test, which received 

 applications of superphosphate with or without sulphate of potash, sulphate 

 of ammonia, nitrate of soda, or muriate of potash in various mixtures and 

 amounts. Eleven of these plats had been seeded continuously to wheat and 

 decreased in average yield from 26 bu. 10 lbs. in 1905 to 5 bu. 23 lbs. per 

 acre in 1907. In 1908 they were bare fallowed and in 1909 averaged 35 bu. 

 and 34 lbs. of grain per acre. 



[Small grain experiments at the Roseworthy Agricultural College], A.J. 

 Perkins (Jour. Dcpt. Agr. So. Aust., 15 {1912), Nos. 7, pp. 705-713; 8, pp. 

 792-800). — These pages state the results of variety tests of oats, wheat, and 

 barley on six 1-acre plats plowed from 2 to 12 in. The highest wheat yield 

 was obtained from the plat plowed 8 in. deep. 



[Depth of sowing tests], A. J. Perkins and W. J. Spafford {Jour. Dept. 

 Agr. So. Aust., 15 {1911), Nos. 3, pp. 208-216; J,, pp. 353-362; 5, pp. J,79-^98; 

 15 {1912), No. 6, pp. 608-623, fig. i).— Tables state in detail the germination 

 secured by sowing at 12 different depths ranging from J in. to 6 in. during 

 the 3-year period, 1906-1909. The seeds were generally planted on duplicate 

 l>lats in sandy soil and in a heavy clay loam, and not all were so\vn throughout 

 the 3-year period. 



Wheat germinated most freely in sandy soil when sown from i in. to 1 in. 

 deep, and fairly satisfactorily up to 4 in. but beyond that depth germination 

 was irregular, although 50 per cent of the plants finally came up even after 

 sowings 6 in. deep. In heavy clay loam, germination was best at a depth of 

 ] in. but continued fairly satisfactory to a depth of 2J in., while below 41 in. 

 more than 50 per cent was lost. 



