Field Experiments on Clover- Seeds. 



481 



clover cut clown in the middle of June, and made into liay. The 

 produce from the several plots was ready to be stacked on the 20th 

 of June, and the weighings of the hay were made that evening, 

 Avlthin the space of three hours. 



Table showing the Weight of Clover-hay of each Experimental Plot ofz^ of 

 an Acre, and Hay calculated per Acre, in Clov( r Experiments made at 

 Burcott Lodge, Leighton-Buzzard, in 1864. 



It will be seen that the weights of clover-hay on the two plots 

 left unmanured were almost exactly the same, and that the crop, 

 considering the kind of land on which it was grown, and the 

 dry season, w as very good indeed. 



It will also be noticed that the smaller dose of salt somewhat 

 diminished the weight of clover-hay, and that the larger dose 

 had a still more adverse effect. We may learn, if I am not mis- 

 taken, from the diminution of the clover-hay by salt, that it is 

 not desirable in average seasons to delay the application to the 

 land of even very soluble saline matters until the end of April. 

 Should the end of April or early part of May be wet, the dilute 

 salt-solution distributed through a large mass of soil is likely 

 to be beneficial, but otherwise it will do more harm than good 

 to the crops to which it is applied. On the whole, therefore, my 

 experience leads me to think it advisable to apply saline top- 

 dressings earlier in spring than they are generally made. Pro- 

 bably the beginning of !^^arch may be the best time in the 

 majority of seasons. 



Neither nitrate of soda nor the mixture of nitrate of soda 

 Avith superphosphate had any decided effect on the produce in 

 clover-hay. 



The large crop on the unmanured plots, moreover, shows 

 plainly that the particular field on which the experiments were 

 tried was in a high agricultural condition, in which it did not 

 require manure of any kind. It was, therefore, not well adapted 

 for experimental purposes, at least in the season in which the 



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