MANURES FOU DARLEY. 227 



CHAPTEK XXIX. 

 MANURES FOR BARLEY. 



Messrs. Lawcs ami Gill)crt have j)ublisbeJ the results of experi- 

 ments witli tlitrcrciit manures on barley grown annually on the 

 same land for twenty years in succession. The experiments com- 

 menced in l>i')2. 



The soil is of the same general chanicter as that in the field on 

 tlie same farm where wheat was grown annually for so many 

 years, and of which we have given such a full account. It is what 

 we should call a calcareous clay loam. On my farm, we have 

 what the men used to call " clay sjjots." These spots var\' in sb,e 

 from two acres down to the tentli of an acre. Tliey rarely pro- 

 duced even a fair crop of corn or potatoes, and the barley was sel- 

 dom wortli harvesting. Since 1 have drained the land and taken 

 special pains to bestow e.vtra care in plowing and working these 

 hard and iiitraftable portions of the fields, the "da}' sjxits" have 

 disappeared, and are now nothing more than good, rather stiff, clay 

 loam, admirably adapted for wheat, barley, and oats, and capable 

 of producing good crops of corn, potatoes, and mangel-wurzcls. 



The land on which Mr. Lawes' wheat and barley experiments 

 were made is not dissimilar in general character from these "clay 

 spots." If the land was only half-worked, we should call it clay; 

 but being thoroughly cultivated, it is a good clay loam. Mr. 

 Lawes describes it as " a somewhat heav>' loam, with a subsoil of 

 raw, yellowish red clay, but resting in its turn upon chalk, which 

 provides good natural drainage." 



The part of the fiild devoted to the experiments was divided 

 into 24 plots, about the fifth of an acre each. 



Two plots were left without manure of any kind. 



One plot was manured every year with 14 tons per acre of farm- 

 yard manure, and the other plots "with manures,'' to quote Dr. 

 Gilbert, " which respectively supplied certain constituents of farm- 

 yard manure, separately or in combination." 



In England, the best barley soils are usually lighter than the 

 best wheat soils. This is probably due to the fact that barley 

 usually follows a crop of turnips — more or less of which are eaten 

 off on the land by sheep. The trampling of the sheep compresses 

 the soil, and makes even a light, sandy one firmer in texture. 



In this country, our best wheat land is also oar best barley 

 land, provided it is in good heart, and is very thoroughly worked. 



