456 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



such a high potash fertilizer requirement. The largest quantities of sodium were 

 taken up by the fodder beets, the contents of the roots being especially high. The 

 roots of sugar beets contained but little sodium, practically the entire quantity 

 taken up by the plant being found in the leaves. The potatoes contained a very 

 small quantity of this element, whether the soil was fertilized with barnyard 

 manure, potash salts, or with nitrate of soda. Chlorin was most extensively use'd by 

 the fodder beets, and also in comparatively large quantities by the potatoes. The 

 roots of the sugar beets were very low in chlorin, nearly all of it taken up being 

 found in the leaves. The fodder beets responded most readily to the use of crude 

 potash salts, which contain a large quantity of sodium. 



The square-head varieties of wheat gave the highest yields wherever they survived 

 the winter. In general, these varieties are not very resistant to the cold season, and 

 improvement by breeding to overcome this defect is recommended. The following 

 varieties of cereals gave good results: Winter rye — Petkus and Heine Zeeliinder. 

 Winter barley — Bestehorn Giant and Groningen. Summer barley — Svalof Chevalier, 

 Heine Chevalier, Hanna, and Goldthorpe. Oats — Strube, Ligowo, Leutewitzer Yel- 

 low, and Beseler No. III. Potatoes — Cimbal Primel, Cimbal Yellow-Fleshed Table 

 potato, Ella, Cimbal Early Prolific, Rosalind, and Up-to-Date. 



The total dry matter produced per hectare in the roots of fodder and sugar beets 

 was about the same, but when taking the leaves into consideration the larger quan- 

 tity was produced by the sugar beets. Fodder beets planted 9xl4j in. produced 

 more dry matter than those planted 12x18 in. 



Field experiments in Staffordshire and Shropshire and at the Harper- 

 Adams Agricultural Colleg'e, Newport Salop (Joint Rpt. 1903, pp. 25). — At the 

 college the results of manuring meadow land in 1903 showed that a complete dressing 

 of commercial fertilizers gave the best results, although incomplete applications also 

 increased the crop. Potash fertilizers did not cause a marked increase in yield of the 

 herbage, but they materially improved its quality. The largest net profits, amount- 

 ing to £1 17s. 2d. per acre, was obtained from an application of 1.7 cwt. of nitrate 

 of soda, 2i cwt. of superphosphate, and J cwt. of sulphate of potash. 



A test was made of 12 varieties of oats, including the white, yellow, and black 

 types. New Abundance, a white oat, is considered the best variety, its yield in both 

 grain and straw being very good. Heine German Prolific gave the largest yield, but 

 its grain was not equal to that of New Abundance in quality. Among the black oats 

 Excelsior gave promising results, but its straw was very stiff and coarse. 



Fourteen varieties of mangels, including the Yellow Globe, Golden Globe, Golden 

 Tankard, and Sugar Mangel types were grown for comparison. Carter Windsor, a 

 Yellow Globe variety, led with a yield of 44 tons 4 cwt. per acre. The average 

 yields for the Yellow Globe, Golden Globe, Golden Tankard, and Sugar Mangel 

 varieties were 39.5, 28.75, 28.5, and 27.5 tons per acre, respectively. Each type 

 produced 3.5 tons of dry matter per acre, with the exception of the Golden Globe 

 varieties, which produced only 3 tons. 



» In a fertilizer experiment the largest increase in the yield of mangels, 10 tons 17 

 cwt., was obtained from an application consisting of 15 tons of barnyard manure, 3 J 

 cwt. of dissolved bone, 1 cwt. each of sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda, and 

 4 cwt. of salt per acre. The addition of 4 cwt. of salt proved beneficial. Potash was 

 not very effective. Fifteen tons of barnyard manure per acre seemed an average 

 dressing for this crop. Home-mixing of the fertilizers was found profitable. 



Among different fungicides, Bordeaux mixture proved to be the most effective in 

 the prevention of finger-and-toe disease in swedes and turnips. Lime did not seem 

 very effective. 



In fertilizer experiments with swedes in Shropshire barnyard manure gave an 

 increase over commercial fertilizers, and the need of this crop for phosphates was 

 clearly shown. In this test also, home-mixing of the commercial fertilizers proved 

 profitable as compared with the purchase of ready-mixed fertilizers. 



