56 



EXPERIMENTS UPON FaSTUUE GRASS. 



lAppendtr, 



B. On pasture grass. 



Three years' old lea. The extent 2 acres 3 roods Scots measure, divided into 

 three equal parts, and the manures applied during the last week of April. 



No. 1. Dressed with J cwt. of ammoniacal salts, 1 cwt. of sulphate of sodei 

 (glauber salts). 



No. 2. Dressed with \ cwt of ammoniacal salts, ^ cwt. of e;lauber salts, | cwt. 

 of common salt. 



No. 3. Dressed with i cwt. of ammoniacal salts, | cwt. of glauber salts, ^ cwt. 

 of nitrate of soda. 



Results. — Nos. I, 2, and 3 were much alike ; in all the three cases the vege- 

 tation was quickened and improved; but, as is always the case with experi- 

 ments on pasture, unless the cattle were kept off for the whole season, and the 

 produce cut, it is not easy to say how far the above application went to improve 

 the grass ; but certainly the small field did wonders — for it pastured fifteen early 

 calves nearly all the season, 



II, The following carefully conducted series of experiments were made by 

 Mr. Fleming, of Barochan, with the view of determining the relative effect of 

 saline substances upon the weight of the hay crop, on the field where the experi- 

 mental wheat of 1841 was grown: — 



Result of Experiments tried upon sown Grass, cut for Hay on 30th June, 1842, Crook's 

 Farnni, where the Wheat grew in 1841. (See preceding partof this Appendix, p, 19.) 

 The quantity of land in each plot teas one-sixteenth of an imperial acre. 



No. 



crook's farm, barochan. 

 Description of Dressing. 



Nothing 



Sulphate of Soda 



Common Salt 



Nitrate of Soda 



Sulphate of Soda 



Nitrate of Soda, mixed.. . . 



Natural Guano 



Silicate of Potash « . 



Gypsum 



Sulphate of Ammonia. . . . , 



TurnbuU's Guano , 



Common Salt 



Soot 



Hay of Barley Land, ma 

 nured with Bane-dust, 1841 



lbs. 



21 



21 



') ' 



14 



14 I 

 1 bushel \ 



s-i 



<a 3 



III 



£13 s i, M c 



lbs. 

 710 

 484 

 672i 

 1125 

 515 

 932i 

 757i 



820 

 595 



795 



lbs. 

 11,360 

 7,740 

 10,960 

 18,100 



8,240 



14,920 



12,120 



13,120 

 9,520 



12,720 



M^l 



6640 



186 

 3560 256i 

 760 198 



1760 '225 



— 186 



1360,228 



940 15,840 3680 305 324i 6 14 



o2 ^ 



275 

 3.37 

 262 

 312 



362 



275 



262 



275 

 312 



287 



o eo 



tns.cwt.qrs. 



13 2 



Remarks.— Nos. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, and 8, were all dressed on the 9th of April, the weather be- 

 ing very dry at the time, and their effects were hardly perceptible ; but in the last week of 

 April Nos. 3 and 4 ehowed an improvement over the others. We had heavy rains the first 

 week of May, and by the 7th of May the nitrate of soda (No. 3) could be seen at a distance by 

 the alteration of the colour to dark green, and its height above the others ; upon that day 

 Nos. 1 and 2 shewed no visible alteration from the ur. Iressed. No. 3 was the best of any : 

 taller, and of a dark green colour, and thicker swardeo. No. 4 showed little or no alteration 

 in colour, but was fully lofiger than the general, crop, and presented the remarkable appearance, 

 aa did No. 1, in being nearly all Festuca Rubra, irilh hardly any ryegrass, although of this 

 grass, viz. (Festuca Rubra), none was sown ; the field having been sown with rye grass, tim- 

 othy, and red clover. No. 5 darker than No. 4 in the colour, and good ; but No. 8 hardly im- 

 proved. Nos. 6, 7, 9, and 10, were dressed upon the 7th of May. The men in ploughing up 

 the stubble of 1841 found that the ridges which were top-dressed that season with nitrate of 

 soda, were more difficult to plough, from the strength and depth of the grass roots, than the 

 ridges undressed, each alternate ridge only having been dressed. 



Prices of Manures. — Sulphate of soda, 7s. per cwt. ; Nitrate of soda, JEI. per cwt. ; Natu- 

 ral Guano, 25s. per cwt. ; Artificial Guano, 8s. per cwt. ; Silicate of Potash or Soluble Glass, 

 I63. per cwt. ' Sulphate of Ammonia, £1. per cwt. 



