Grain Manuring Experiments, 1903-4. 



system, and such a comparison ought, after some years, to indicate 

 pretty clearly the system to be adopted with advantage by the 

 farmer. 



Yields of Wheat Obtained from Manured Plots, 1903. 



No of 



Plot on 



Plan. 



Average 

 of Plots 

 2&5 .. 



Continuously Cropped 



McPher 

 son. 



Morti- 

 mer. 



Average 

 Cronk. of three 

 fields. 



No. of 

 Plot on 

 Plan. 



Bushels. 



23-65 



27-50 

 ■23-50 

 27-75 



18-12 



24-55 

 23-35 

 19 30 

 25-30 



21-37 



21-40 

 23-05 

 21 90 

 30-15 



23-20 



24-63 

 21-56 



27 73 



Fallowed in Alternate Years. 



McPher- 

 son. 



Morti- 

 mer. 



Average 

 Cronk. lof three 

 fields. 



Gain in. 

 favor fal- 

 lowing. 



Yields Obtained from Unmanured Plots. 



15-22 



18-24 



Average 

 of Plots 

 8&11 .. 



18-87 26-07 



18-39 



21-11 



2-87 



The Effect of Fallowing. 

 The effect of fallowing appears evident, both from a comparison of 

 the average returns from the unmanured plots under the two systems 

 of cropping, as well as of the results obtained, in each instance, from 

 the manured plots. The average yield of plots 2 and 5, in the con- 

 tinuously cropped portion of the 3 fields, works out at 18*24 bushels 

 per acre compared with an average of 21"11 bushels obtained from 

 the unmanured plots, 8 and 11, of the fallowed portion ; that is, 

 fallowing alone appears to have resulted in an increased yield of 

 2*87 bushels. But the good effect of fallowing may be due to various 

 causes. It may follow as the result of conservation of moisture, from 

 the disintegration of mineral matter, from improved physical con- 

 ditions, or from organic operative agencies working in the direction 

 of the conversion of unavailable forms of nitrogen into available forms. 

 With the magnificent rainfall of last season, it can hardly be thought 

 that the larger yields of the fallowed plots were in any way largely 

 due to a larger soil moisture content. 



The special way in which fallowing appears to have worked, in 

 the direction of the production of larger yields, becomes evident from 

 a consideration of the following figures taken from the table above: — 

 Average Yields of the Three Fields. 



It will be seen that in the first three instances, where phosphatic 

 manures only have been used, there has been a very substantial gain 



