THE CHOICE OF SEED. 235 



of trials on the same extent of land, made by Mr. Finnie, 

 show the benefit obtained by a mixture. The following 

 varieties used alone gave the results as stated, Potato oat 

 74 bushels, Hopetoun 65, Early Angus 77, Kildrummy 77, 

 Dun 76, Blainslie 70, Gray Angus 63, Sandy (changed 

 seed) 61, Sandy (home growth) 56. Whereas, the following 

 results, Hopetoun (5 parts), Kildrummy (1), produce 85, 

 Hopetoun and Sandy 80 bushels, Hopetoun and Early 

 Angus 76, Potato and Early Angus 66, and Potato and 

 Sandy 66 bushels. From these results Mr. Finnie drew 

 the following conclusions. " First, it appears that Potato 

 oats sown alone produced 8 bushels more than when sown 

 with either Early Angus or Sandy ; secondly, that Hope- 

 toun oats produced 20 bushels less when sown alone than 

 when mixed with Kildrummy, 15 bushels more than when 

 sown with Sandy, and 1 1 bushels more when mixed with 

 Early Angus. If there was no difference of soil or treat- 

 ment in the above comparison, it appears that the average 

 increase of produce from simply sowing a mixture of oats 

 amounts, in the cases selected, to 13 bushels, from a space 

 of ground which took 6 bushels to sow it." These ex- 

 periments show enough to induce others, probably on a 

 more extended scale, to be made. While the practical man 

 should never forget that such experiments are not absolutely 

 correct as indicative of similar results under different cir- 

 cumstances of soil, locality, and climate, all of which ex- 

 ercise a most important and modifying influence, neverthe- 

 less they are valuable as showing relatively the influence of 

 certain modes of treatment. At the same time, it does not 

 always follow that experiments made in one place, indicate 

 what the results, even relatively, may be of exactly similar 

 experiments made in another and a different place. Thus 

 it may happen, as, indeed, in practice it often does happen, 

 that the result of precisely similar experiments in different 

 places may be precisely contradictory, the indications af- 

 forded by them in one being totally opposed to those af- 

 forded by them in another place. All these, and other 

 considerations more or less important which might be named 



