181 



be necessary to manure with potash and phosphates. In 1890 the 

 yield of clover-grass hay was 3 tons 7 cwt. per acre, and was of the 

 best quality. 



We will mention one more experiment made on new peaty soil, namely, 

 with serradella (Ornithopus sativus), not so much on account of the 

 legiminous crop itself, which is not grown in England, as for the ef- 

 fect produced on a subsequent crop of potatoes by ploughing it in. 

 After an application of lime (32 cwt. per acre), rye, potatoes, and 

 •gain rye, were grown in 1889-91, the land being, each year, manured 

 with kainite, basic slag, and sodium nitrate. The results were, how- 

 ever, unsatisfactory when the amounts of manure given are considered , 

 owing to the nitrogenous matter of the soil having been dissipated by 

 frequent burning. In 1891 the land was divided into ten plots of 

 about 0.25 acre each, and carefully manured and limed ; plots 1, 2, and 

 3 received 8 cwt. of soil per acre from a serradella field, and after rye 

 was sown the whole of the field was harrowed. Serradella was then 

 (May) sown on plots 1 to 6. The rye grew uniformly over the whole 

 field. The serradella germinated well, but failed on the plots which 

 were not inoculated, whilst on the inoculated plots it was most luxu- 

 riant. In October samples of the serradella were taken, after which 

 the rest was ploughed in. The yield of serradella was estimated at 7 

 tons 4.25 cwt. per acre green : this, when ploughed in, corresponds 

 with a dressing of 3.2 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre. In 1893 pota- 

 toes were sown, being manured with dung (about 10 tons per acre) and 

 artificial manures, on all the plots. The following quantities of pota- 

 toes were obtained per acre with and without the green manuring: — 



tons cwt. qrts. 

 without green manuring ... 6 10 3 



with " ... 8 7 2 



In the case of rye, which followed the potatoes, there was also a con- 

 siderable gain, both in grain and in straw, due to the green manuring, 

 after inoculation. The profit(^^) per acre, due to inoculation, in the 

 years 1893 and 1894 was as follows : — 







£ 



s. 



d. 



In 1893, an excess of 1 ton 16 cwt. 3 qrs. of 



po- 









tatoes per acre 



3 



12 



10 



In 1894, saving of 0.8 cwt. nitrate of soda 



per 









acre 









7 



1 



" an excess of rye grain — 2.9 cwt. 









16 



7 



straw— 2.8 









4 



2 



Total 





5 







8 



Tho soil of the field was employed for inoculating other land in- 

 tended for serradella. The green manuring rendered a heavy applica- 

 tion of stable manure unnecessary for potatoes, and it will probably be 

 possible to limit the number of cattle kept, and the growth of fodder 

 crops, much more than was hitherto thought possible. 



Let us next proceed to consider some results obtained on sandy soils. 

 In 1890 a field near Lingen was selected for experiment. It was a 



10 The serradella seed, 361b. per acre, cost about £1. 



