24 



by four-horse plough to a depth of 6 inches; rolled and subse- 

 quently harrowed ; steam cultivated in October ; harrowed in April, 

 and seed drilled. 40 bushels of soot per acre w r ere applied when 

 wireworm began to attack. Rain followed, the crop recovered, 

 and is reported a success. 



No. 66. 23 acres OATS sown in November on derelict land over- 

 lying Boulder Clay which had been out of cultivation for 20 years. 

 The land required draining. It was broken up by steam in the 

 summer of 1916 to a depth of 7 inches, harrowed several times 

 but not rolled. Crop a failure. Result attributed to the severe 

 winter, wireworm, and the neglect of rolling. 



ESSEX (3 reports 2 successes, 1 failure). 



No. 67. 12 acres April Bearded WHEAT sown on shallow clay soil 

 overlying Boulder Clay. Ploughed and cross-ploughed in March 

 out of 30-years-old grass, rolled with heavy Cambridge roller, 

 harrowed twice, drilled, and rolled again when the wheat was up. 

 Crop successful. Result attributed to sharp frosts after plough- 

 ing, which mellowed the soil, and to the heavy rolling after the 

 plant had come up. 



No. 68. 11 acres WHEAT sown in November on the same holding 

 as in the alvove case, the land being rather lighter and of better 

 quality. The field, which had been 35 years in grass, was broken 

 up by steam in the spring and summer of 1916, cultivated four 

 times by steam cultivator in the spring of 1916, and horse culti- 

 vated and rolled several times during the summer months. Crop 

 a failure. The wheat grew well until the spring, when it was 

 destroyed by wireworm. It is remarked that owing to the large 

 amount of fibre in the turf, it was impossible to get this soil solid 

 enough for wheat; also that although there was a rookery of 120 

 nests close by, no rooks were seen on the field while the wireworms 

 were attacking the crop 1 



No. 69. 15 acres grey winter OATS sown second week of 

 October on heavy loam soil broken up in the previous summer 

 out of 30-y ears-old grass. The land was steam cultivated four 

 times, rolled, and ploughed in August with horse plough to a 

 depth of 5 inches; then twice harrowed with heavy harrows, once 

 with light harrows, rolled, drilled, rolled again, and harrowed 

 with light harrows. Crop successful, attributed to suitable season, 

 the close grazing before breaking up, and the water furrows, 

 which provided surface drainage. 



HERTFORD (4 reports 3 successes, 1 failure). 



No. 70. 8 acres OATS sown March 25th on medium loam soil 

 300 feet above sea-level. Ploughed by tractor in February out of 

 20-years-old grass, rolled twice with Cambridge roller, har- 

 rowed, drilled and harrowed twice. 3 cwt. per acre of an 

 artificial manure applied. Crop successful. The rolling 

 checked wireworm, and the manure helped to start the young 

 plant. In the previous year oats on similar land had failed owing 

 to wireworm attacks. In that case manure had not been applied. 



No. 71. A field of 45 acres heavy loam soil, ploughed out of 

 30-years-old grass, was sown with wheat in the spring of 1916. 

 The wheat failed. The field was sown with WHEAT in the following 

 autumn, when the crop was again a failure. The failure 

 appeared to have been due chiefly to want of drainage ; the land 

 was undrained and very wet. 



