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WOBURN EXPERIMENTAL FARM. 



REPORTS FOR 1923 & 1924 BY Dr. J. A. VOELCKER. 



Season 1923. 



A late harvest made cultivation of the land backward, but 

 open and fairly dry weather in October and November gave 

 favourable conditions for sowing winter crops. This continued 

 throughout December and January, rainfall not being excessive 

 and frost nearly absent. The whole winter, 1922-3, indeed, was 

 marked by absence of frost. February and March were wet 

 months, and the soil was left in somewhat sticky condition for 

 spring sowing. April, May and June were all cold and unseason- 

 able, with absence of sunshine and late frosts in May, and crops 

 made but little progress. About June 25th a spell of very hot 

 and dry weather set in, giving good conditions for hay-making, 

 though the yield was small. A violent thunderstorm in July with 

 heavy rainfall saved the swede and other root crops, and also 

 clovers and "seeds," which were beginning to show the effect 

 of the drought ; corn crops also grew rapidly. The fine weather 

 continuing until August 14th, oats and wheat were safely reaped, 

 and good crops of roots and aftermath (clover and " seeds ") 

 were promised. The drought had a bad effect on spring-sown 

 corn crops, the first shoots ripening prematurely, and, when the 

 rain came, fresh shoots were sent up which never developed 

 properly. The general result was to give an exceedingly poor 

 corn yield, and the weights at threshing were even less than the 

 appearance in the field had indicated. The early-sown barley 

 ripened well, but the late-sown was practically a failure. On 

 August 14th there was a severe thunderstorm, during which 1£ 

 inches of rain fell, and, the remainder of the month proving cold 

 and showery, the harvesting of barley was delayed until August 

 31st. 



The total rainfall for the 12 months to September inclusive 

 was 23.2 inches, there being 175 rainy days. The heaviest rain- 

 fall was in July, viz., 3.53 inches, February giving 3.03 inches, 

 August and September 2.94 and 2.48 inches respectively. 



Season 1924. 



The season 1923-4 was an altogether exceptional one. Heavy 

 rainfall and long continued absence of sunshine and warmth com- 

 bined to retard the growth of corn crops and to prevent their 

 proper maturing. Weeds spread rapidly, and it was difficult to 

 keep the land clean. Under these conditions only poor yields of 

 low quality corn could be expected, especially as harvesting took 

 place in bad weather. 



The rainfall for the whole season, October 1923 to October 

 1924, was 30.30 inches as against 23.2 in 1923, with 201 rainy 

 days (over .01 inch) against 175 in 1923. May — just the time 

 when dryness and warmth were required — was by far the wettest 

 month of the whole year, with 6.06 inches of rain, and 20 rainy 

 days. On the other hand, February was the driest month, with 

 only 0.48 inches of rain — in February, 1923, it was 3.03 inches. 



