187 



wlicnf (l('scril»'(l nbovc. (loldcii .Melon hnrlry wiis sown n< Hie rato of 

 !> |K'cks pel- iicic. 'I'lic niincnil manures avcit aijplicd Jnst brloic srcd- 

 in^i. the l»;irn\;inl iiiaiiiiic as ;i top-dressin^i' JmsI alfrr sowing. I lie lajx' 

 cake at altont the same lime, and the to])-dr<'ssin^s (»!" amnioninin salts 

 and nitrate of soda in the sprinu'. TIic indications from tlic tahnlated 

 rcsnits arc in t lie words ol' tlic ant lioi' ;is lolNtws: 



Miiu'ial niiiiiincs |iio<liic('(l no increase ill 18S!), and only in)Oiit 3 bnslicls in 1890. 

 'file icsnKs tVoni tlie nse of nitrate of soda or from ainnionia salts when used alone 

 wei'e closely alil;e Ixitli years, lint used in eoinliinal ion with minerals, nitrato of. 

 Koda j^ave aliniii 1' liiisliejs inereasi^ and considerahly more straw. l>onlilinj:j tins 

 drcssiiif^ of nitrate of soda jjave only 4 hiisluds in ISSK, and 2 bushels extra in 189(). 

 Ivather more relative increase was obtained from doublinf^ the ammonia salts, but 

 nitrate of soda jjjave the hij^her total yields, 'i'lie omission of the top-dressing [of 

 ammonia salts or nitrate of soda] for a sin;;le year did not iii citlier sea.son give sncli 

 marked distinctions as heretofore, betw«'en ammonia salts and nitrate of soda when 

 severally omitted. Thus, in 188!>, when annuoiiia salts were left out, the yield fell 

 to LM.ll liuslu'ls. and to IS bushels when initrate of soda was not put on; but in 1890 

 the eroii grown on the residue (d'the nitrate of the former year was even higher tlnui 

 that from the ammonia salts. It is only fair, however, to mention that in this year 

 ]dat 8rt was very patchy indeed. In 1889 neither farmyard manure nor vajie eaki- 

 a|iplied as top-dressing told well, and in 1S9() the etVect of the rape cake w.is not 

 nearly so marked, when comiiared ^\ itii the farmyard iiiamire, as in the case of the 

 wheat crop. 



Experiments with potatoes, J. A. Voelcker ('/o?//-. /I'o//. A(/l. S<><: <>/ 

 EtujUmd, :: srr., .^\ pp. :i7(>^ 577). — In tliiscxjicrimcnt tlic fertilizers used 

 ^vere (1) manure ]>rodii('od by steers fed on roots, luiy, linseed eako 2.8 

 pouiuls, barley 1 ])oniids, ami deeoiticated eotton eake 3.3 pounds per 

 liead daily: {'!) manure prodneed by st<'ers receivinji- tlie same ration, 

 exeei>t that undecortieated cotton cake wassubstitnted fordecorticated; 

 (3) a barnyard manure "of indetinite nature;" and (4) a mixture com- 

 posed of .">()() ])ounds of supevidiosjdiate, 300 i»ounds of kainit. and L'OO 

 pounds of sulphate of ammonia per acre. The resnlts follow : 



Yield of polittocH per acre. 



riat. 



Manure per acre. 



Yield per 

 acre. 



12 tons (liiiiji (iJocortinatert cotton eako) 



12 tons chilli; (uiule<'oiticate<l cotton cake) 



12 Ions l'ariii.\anl nianiiro 



800 poiintls mixed tVrtilizer 



Pntnids. 

 17. :iJ.-> 

 14. OS" 

 ];"•, 058 

 18,987 



" By this it Avill be seen that the aititicial maiinic produced ihclaro-est 

 ei"op. and it is worthy of note that there were no more .small jtotatoes 

 in this i)roduee than in any of the others. The most inter«'stinji- ]»art 

 of the exi)eriment, however, is that w hichbrin<is out tlie sn])erior manu- 

 rial etfect of the deoorticated cotton-cake dnnii' as against that from the 

 undecortieated cake." 



Relation between the quality of tobacco and its composition, 

 M. Barth [Lnndir. Vers. iStat., ."P), pp. 81-10i). — The author reviews 

 the investigations of Xessler which recoiinizcd the injurious effects of 



