28 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and-toe disease in swedes. Liine was the most effective, altliotijili not entirely suc- 

 eessfnl. 



The Woburn pot-culture experiments in 1900, J. A. Voelckek, {Jour, lioij. 

 Agr. ,Sue. England, 63 {1901), pp. 317-334, fig>i- l^)- — The purpose, plan, and previous 

 results of these experiments have already 1)een noted (E. S. R., 13, pp. 335). 



The Hills experiments. — A test was made of treating the soil for wheat with lithium, 

 potassium, and sodium chlorid at the rate of J, 1, and 2 cwt. per acre. An additional 

 test was made soaking the seed for 10 minutes in a 1 per cent solution of these dif- 

 ferent salts, and in 1, 10, and 20 per cent solutions of sodium iodid and sodium 

 Ijromid. Lithium chlorid retarded germination, produced shorter and weaker straw, 

 and gave a smaller yield of corn than any of the other salts used. The effect was the 

 more marked as the quantity of lithium salt used was increased. The potash appli- 

 cations slightly increased the yield of corn and straw, and the use-of sodium chlorid 

 gave even better results than the potash salt. Soaking the seed before sowing in 1 

 per cent solutions of the different substances above mentioned was productive of some 

 benefit. A 10 per cent solution of sodium iodid was too strong, but solutions of 

 sodium bromid or chlorid of the; same strength did not show deleterious effects. The 

 benefit derived from the use of sodium bromid or chlorid for this purpose is consid- 

 ered uncertain. A 20 percent solution of these three different salts was found harm- 

 ful, the sodium iodid being the most injurious. 



Exiseriments similar to those with wheat were made with barley. In these tests 

 lithium chlorid had no retarding influence, and did not decrease the j'ield of straw, 

 but it stunted the roots, seriously interfered with the development of root hairs, and 

 largely reduced the weight of the grain. The use of potassium and sodium chlorids 

 did not l)ring out any particular point. No benefit accrued from soaking the barley 

 seed in solutions of 1, 10, or 20 per cent of either sodium iodid or sodium bromid. 

 The stronger solutions of these salts had only a slight detrimental effect. Sodium 

 chlorid had a bad effect, which increased with the strength of the solution. 



Miscellaneous pot-culture experiments. — Tests of thick and thin sowing of barley con- 

 ducted in previous years were repeated in 1900. The barley was sown in pots at the 

 rate of 5, "\, 9, and 13 pks. per acre, and the heaviest yield was obtained from the 

 thickest seeding. The best yield of grain and straw was produced from seeding at 

 the rate of 7.} pks. per acre. It is considered advisable to sow barley thicker than 

 wheat, the quantity recommended being 9 pks. per acre. 



The experiments with hard and soft wheat on different kinds of soil begun in 1899, 

 were continued in 1900, and the general observations of the first year were fully con- 

 firmed. "The soil . . . has the power of altering the character of the grain, and so 

 it can not be said that soft seed necessarily produces soft wheat, or that the sowing 

 of hard seed ensures a crop of hard wheat." 



The Essex field experiments, 1896-1901. I, Permanent pastures, T. S. 

 Dymond [Essex Counti/ Council, Teelt. Instr. ('o)n., Tech. Ltihs., 1901, pj). .'f--,Jig. 1, dgnis. 

 2). — The results of these experiments on permanent pastures in variou.s parts of 

 Essex are briefly described and reported in tabular form. Experiments in seeding 

 to grass showed that rye grass, cocksfoot, timothy, foxtail, and meadow fescue, 

 together with legununous crops, such as clover and lucern, make a good mixture 

 for heavy clay soils with gravelly subsoil. Grazing allowed a quicker growth of 

 grass than mowing for hay, but also encouraged weed growth and the disappearance 

 of some of the sown grasses. The best means of increasing the nitrogen supply of 

 the soil is to feed the stock liberally. Phospliatic fertilizers were found essential to 

 the quality and quantity of the herbage on new and old grass land. Four cwt. of 

 basic slag per acre applied every alternate year is recommended for old 'pasture. For 

 new grass land mowing and grazing in alternate years, feeding the i)astured stock 

 with nitrogenous food to supply nitrogen to tlie soil, and dressing the land with 2 to 

 4 cwt. of basic slag per acre every alternate -year is considered the best treatment. 



