350 



Plat and box experiments at the Dresden Experiment Sta- 

 tion for Plant Culture. — In connection witli the precedinj;- article a 

 description of the arraugements made for vegetation experiments at 

 the station for agricultural and horticnltural plant culture in Dresden, 

 Saxony, Avill be of interest as an illustration of the way in wliich anew 

 station in Germany, with the fruits of large experience but only limited 

 amounts of money at its disposal, utilizes the teachings of that experi- 

 ence to secure the best results. 



The station was organized April 1, 1890, at the solicitation and in the 

 special interest of practical farmers and gardeners, and is just now 

 (autumn, 1891) completing its arrangements for experimental work. 

 Its annual income for current expenses, exclusive of land, buildings, 

 and outfit, is about $3,000. Its energy is to be devoted to inquiry in 

 vegetable production, and as the neighboring station at Tharand, 

 which has been under the direction of rrofessor ]S\)bbe for nearly a qnar- 

 ter of a century, is engaged in more abstract researches in vegeta- 

 ble physiology by the methods of the laboratory and the greenhons*', 

 the Dresden Station will give itself to investigations on the growth of 

 plants in natural soil, thus imitating more closely the conditions of 

 practical culture. The agricultural division of the station, which is 

 under the charge of Dr. B. Steglich, ]»roposes ex])erinuMits with ditVer- 

 ent crops, on several kinds of soil, for the study of the jnerits of dif- 

 ferent varieties of plants, the efiects of fertilizers, and the gains and 

 losses of plant food by the soil. It recognizes the value of field t'xperi- 

 ments, but wisely arranged to have them made in ditlerent ]»laccs in 

 Saxony by intelligent farmers under its direction. The somewhat 

 limited area of land at the station is thus left free for experiments on a 

 smaller and more accurate scale, for which ])urpose it is ami)Ie. Tiie 

 station is being well equipj)ed with buildings, greenhouses, and labora- 

 tories, and the agricultural division has 2 hectares (about 5 acres) of 

 land devoted to various experiments with plants. The special interest 

 for our present purpose is in the arrangements for plat and box exjieri- 

 ments. 



It was felt desirable to prosecute certain experiments upon the growth 

 of plants on the kinds of soil most comnnm in Saxony, and to make 

 them as accurate as possible. For this purpose the ni>])er stratum of 

 soil of a certain area of the station laud is being removed and rejilaced 

 by soils of the desired kinds. Soils of five typical classes have been 

 chosen for the purpose. They are designated by the terms, heavy cla \ cy, 

 loamy, calcareous, light sandy, and huunms. For these «litVerent soils 

 separate lots are provided. Each lot is divided into ten long, narrow- 

 plats, each plat being 25 met(HS long and 4 meters wide and containing 

 10 ares. The plats are separated by strips 1 meter \\U\v and around 

 the border of the lot is a path of the sanu- width, so that the whole lot 

 is 51 meters long and 27 meters wide, with the plats running across it 

 from side to side. The clayey, loamy, and saudy soils are obtained near 



