

LEGUMINOUS CROPS. 113 



again followed by improved growth, after which there was 

 declining produce for a number of years to 1870 inclusive, 

 and again recovery in 1874 after 3 years of fallow. This 

 general view of the results is of interest, as fixing attention 

 on the great tendency to failure of this leguminous crop, 

 when grown year after year on the same land. 



Independently of the occasional entire failures, there were 

 also considerable fluctuations from year to year according to 

 season ; and the table shows that there was, besides, upon 

 the whole considerable decline from period to period. Turn- 

 ing now to the effects of the different manures, it is seen 

 that there was, over each period, a considerable increase of Increased 

 produce by the use of the mineral manure containing potash, P roduce . 

 but that there was comparatively little further increase by era" man- 

 the addition of nitrogenous to the mineral manure. Thus, ure - 

 as shown in the upper division of the table, the average Llttlei ^- 



' O CTCOSC ITQ111 



annual total produce over the 32 years (which, however, nitrogenous 

 included 7 without any bean crop) was — without manure manure. 

 1389 lb., with the mineral manure alone 2168 lb., and with 

 the mineral and nitrogenous manure together 2507 lb. 

 That is, whilst the mineral manure without nitrogen gave 

 an average annual increase of 779 lb., the addition to it 

 of nitrogenous manure only further raised the produce by 

 339 lb. 



Or if, instead of taking the average of the 32 years, we take 

 it only over the 26 years in which there was any bean crop, 

 as shown in the lower division, the average total produce 

 was — without manure 1709 lb., with purely mineral manure 

 2688 lb., and with the mineral and nitrogenous manure to- 

 gether 3086 — that is, there was an annual average increase 

 of 979 lb. by the mineral manure containing potash, and of 

 only 398 lb. more by the addition of nitrogenous manure. 



It may be added that details not given in the table 

 further show, that in two of the last 8 years the total 

 produce was, without manure, only exceeded three or four 

 times during the whole period — namely, during the first five 

 years ; with mineral manure alone, it was only exceeded 

 four or five times ; and with the mineral and nitrogenous 

 manure together, it was only exceeded six times. Indeed 

 the table shows that on both of the manured plots the 

 average total produce over the last 4 years of actual crop 

 (with 4 of fallow in the 8 years) was nearly as much as the 

 average of the first 8 years of crop. Thus, with the purely 

 mineral manure, the average total produce of the first 8 years 

 was 3208 lb., and over the last 4 years of crop it was 3011 

 lb. ; and with the mineral and nitrogenous manure it was, 

 over the first 8 years 3555 lb., and over the last 4 years of 



VOL. VII. H 



