lo Nov., 1910.] Potato Experimental Fields, igog-io. 



717 



2. That pasture improves the mechanical and physical condition of 



the soil, making it more friable, enabling it to absorb more of 

 the rainfall, and making it more retentive of moisture. 



3. That it improxes the fertility of the soil chemically by increas- 



ing the amount of available plant food contained in it. 



4. That artificial manures will improve the yields on chocolate 



volcanic soils, when supplied with sufficient moisture. 



5. That the action of artificial manures depends upon the rainfall 



and is favourably influenced by a large supplv of organic 

 matter in the soil. 



A Suggested Rotation. 



It may not be out of place to give an outline of a definite svstem of 

 rotation to comply with the practice suggested. It will be noted that 

 the accompanying table is for a four years" pa.sture course which will 

 require ten fields. Of these Xos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are under grass, Xo. i 

 is just broken up from sod and sown with oats, No. 6 has potatoes after 

 oats, No. 7 barley after potatoes, No. 8 peas after barley, No. 9 potatoes 

 after peas, and No. 10 barley or oats after potatoes, then under grass. 

 It .should be mentioned that wheat or oats will do equally as well as 

 barley if the district is not suited to that crop. 



Should the four vears' course be too long for the pasture three years 

 may be adopted. The fields may then be reduced to eight, which would 

 give three-eighths under grass, and one-eighth each under oats, potatoes, 

 barley, peas, and v/heat. It will be noted that the first crop after grass 

 is oats or other straw crop. This prepares the .soil and fits it for the 

 potato crop, which should not be planted on sod land, because if scab or 

 eel-worm is present in the soil their ravages are always greatest in .sod land. 



Table G.— Plan of Rotation. 



Cheltenham (Mr. J. Wedd's Plot.) 

 The work of planting this plot was delayed three weeks owing to wet 

 weather. The first section, composed of four drills each of Carman, 

 Clarke's Main Crop, and Up-to-Date, was planted on 26th July, the soil 

 temperature at 3 p.m. being 46 and the atmosphere 53. The second 

 section was planted 14th September; soil temperature at 3 p.m. was 57, 

 atmosphere 6;^. The germination of the seed was satisfactory. A test 

 of cut versus whole seed was carried out with two xarieties, viz., Up-to- 

 Date and Clarke's Main Crop. A section of the plot was sprayed with cop- 

 per soda solution. The manure dressings were the same as last year, viz., 

 eight lorrv loads of dung per acre over the whole plot, with the following 

 artificial manures : — 



Section No. i — Bonedust and superphosphate, equal parts, 6 cwt. per acre. 



Section No. 2. — Bonedust and superphosphate, 6 cwt. ; sulphate of potash, i cwt. 

 per acre. 



