but as the sowing was followed by rain and then drought, the surface 

 of the land caked very badly and the germinating seed was unable to 

 push through the ground. Only on Series 1 and 2, where farmyard 

 manure is supplied, was anything approaching to a plant attained, 

 and in June the field presented a remarkable illustration of the value 

 of farmyard manure in ameliorating the texture of the soil and en- 

 abling germination to take place. The plant was so scanty on the 

 other plots that they were scufHed over and re-sown on June 12th. 

 The second sowing germinated fairly well, but never grew freely. 

 The highest yield of roots was a little over 21 tons per acre on the 

 plot receiving farmyard manure and rape cake, but it was not more 

 than 4 or 5 tons per acre on the plots receiving a purely inorganic 

 manure with nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda or sulphate of 

 annnonia. The yields seemed entirely dependent upon the amount 

 of organic matter supplied by the manure and its cumulative effect 

 upon the soil. It was characteristic of the season that the usual 

 attacks of Uroniyces betae on the high nitrogen plots was almost 

 entirely absent tliis year. 



On the Agdell T^ield wheat was taken, this being the close of 

 the 16th complete rotation. A fine plant of wheat was to be seen 

 all over the fiekl, and the yield was especially remarkable on the 

 unmanured plots, where as much as 24 bushels to the acre, weighing 

 65 lbs. to the bushel, was obtained. Still more remarkable, perhaps, 

 was the yield of almost 32 bushels to the acre on the plot w^iich re- 

 ceives no nitrogen and on which clover is not grown ; indeed it is 

 not immediately obvious where the large amount of nitrogen neces- 

 sary for a crop of this magnitude can have come from, for the plot 

 has received no nitrogen since 1848, and has never grown clover or 

 any other leguminous crop (except the Medicago which is a very 

 abundant weed on occasions). The effect of the preceding clover 

 crop as compared with a preceding bare fallow was clearly visible, 

 raising the yield by about 5 to 6 bushels on Plots 1 and 3 which 

 had received fertilisers for the root crop at the beginning of the 

 rotation. Plot 1, on the portion of the field which receives a com- 

 plete fertiliser for the roots, suffered somewhat during the w^inter, 

 for water lay there badly during the heavy rains of December and 

 killed off some of the plants, which were only imperfectly replaced 

 by re-seeding in January. 



The yield on the Permanent Grass Plots in the Park was below 

 the average, and the proportion of leguminous herbage was also 

 below the average. On most of the half plots the effect of the liming 

 w^as apparent in a considerable increase of crop, and the leguminous 

 plants were also more abundant on the limed portions. On the un- 



