982 



Notes on Manures for January. 



[Jan., 



bushels. 



lb. 



cwt. 



lb. 





, 27-5 



103 



17-3 



55-0 



83-4 



27-2 



128 



17-6 



55-7 



82-8 



Grain per Acre : Straio Weight of Corn Grain to 

 Head Corn. Tail Corn, per acre, per hushel. 100 of straio. 



Ko manure 

 Superphosphate only 



(200 lb. per acre) 

 Superphosphate (200 lb. per 

 acre) + Sulphate of Am- 

 monia (112 lb. per acre) 37-4 160 24-2 55-5 82-6 

 The dressing of superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia has 

 given an additional 10 bushels of head corn, J cwt. of tail corn 

 and 7 cwt. of straw over that yielded by the unmanured. The 

 weight per bushel of corn was heavier also. 



The Distribution of Manures over the Rotation. — In most 

 field experiments the effect of the manure is tested on one crop 

 only, no notice being taken of the remaining crops. In practice, 

 however, these other crops are a serious consideration and 

 farmers frequently ask how best to distribute their manures 

 over the rotation. 



There are still farmers who put all their manures on to one 

 crop and apply nothing in the rest of the rotation. This is 

 justifiable only in special cases, e.g. in early potato farming. 

 In the early potato district on the Firth of Forth the potatoes 

 alone receive manure and not the rye or rape that comes in 

 between. In an ordinary four- or five-course rotation it is a 

 mistake to confine the manure to one crop only, even when the 

 aftermath of the " seeds " is fed off. 



An interesting experiment on this subject has been going 

 on for some years in the Back House Field at Cockle Park. 

 The soil is light and the rotation is swedes, barley, hay, oats. 

 Some of the best results were obtained by dung alone for swedes 

 (10 tons per acre), followed by artificials alone for hay (1 cwt. 

 sulphate of ammonia, 5 cwt. superphosphate, 1 cwt. muriate of 

 potash per acre). Nothing better was obtained in any of the 

 various ways of dividing up the manures. 



At Cockle Park a dressing of phosphate so increases the clover 

 in the seeds hay that no nitrogenous top dressing is necessary for 

 the subsequent corn crop. In cases where this good develop- 

 ment of clover is not obtained, however, the cereal crop would 

 need a top dressing. 



Use of Potassic Fertilisers for Potatoes. — During the current 

 season some interesting results have been obtained at 

 Eothamsted showing the effect of potassic fertilisers in a severe 

 drought. It was found that potash had a marked effect in the 

 absence of dung, but only little action in its presence. All the 



