388 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



EXPERIMENTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. 



Work at the Schools of Agriculture and Experiment 

 Stations and Sub-Stations. 



[In the last two issues of the Journal the work in liand at (!edaia, Grootfontein, 

 Glen, and sub-stations was reviewed. — Acting Editor.] 



VI.— AT ELSENBTTRG, MFLDEUS VLET, CAPE. 



FlKLD HUSBANDKY DIVISION. 



Manurial E.vpenments — (1) To determine the most profitable 

 fertilizer or combination of fertilizers for wheat and oats on the light 

 sandy loams of the sonth-west Cape and with a rotation of crops. The 

 rotation employed is : — (1) Fallow, with a cover crop of peas ploughed 

 under, followed by (2) wheat, followed by (3) oats and vetches for 

 hay, followed by (4) oats for grain. The fertilizers used and the 

 amounts applied jjer acre are:^ — Basic slag 200 lb., superphosphate 

 200 lb., })lood meal 140 lb.. l)one meal 200 lb., muriate of potash 

 '30 lb., ground limestone oOO lb., Ca])e Cross phosphate 200 lb., fresh 

 stable manure 2^ tons. 



(2) This is an experiment with a similar object, but with a 

 different rotation and different fertilizers. The rotation is (1) wheat 

 for grain, (2) oats for grain. (3) peas for grain. The fertilizers used 

 are: — Government guano, Saldanha Bay phosphate, gypsum, slaked 

 lime, kraal manure. There are ako green manure plots, in which 

 the peas are not allowed to go to grain, but are ploughed under. 



(3) This is a liming experiment to determine the best forms and 

 the most profitable quantities of lime to apply, and whether lime is 

 of any advantage without fertilizer being applied as well. 



Cereal Variety Trials. — Seventy plots are under different varieties 

 of wheat, oats, and barleys for a study of tlieir rharacteristics and 

 yield. Sixty plots are further used for acclimatization of seed of 

 more promising varieties, and this seed is sent out to farmers for co- 

 operative experiments. There are in addition 120 single-ear rows for 

 selection work. 



Experiments witli Green Manure Crops and Fodder Crops.- — 

 (a) Different varieties of green manurecrops followed bv wheat 



and oats. 

 ih) Testing a green manure crop of peas as against cultivated 



fallow, the succeeding crops being wheat and oats. 

 (c) Vetch and oat-hay crop versus oat-hay, followed by wheat, 



to test the effect of the legume (vetch). 

 {d) Feeding-off versus ploughed-under versva cut-for-hay, of a 



vetch and oat crop, to test the effect on the succeeding 



wheat crop. 

 (e) Rate of seeding trial with oat and vetcli for hay. 

 (/) Variety tests of oat and vetch for hay. 

 (//) Variety of clovers as a cover crop with oals. 

 (//) Seed -product] on from vetches. 



