Scientific Agriculture. 



524 



[December, 1911. 



on some experimental crops at Kyneton, 

 there was a gain of 5 tons due to similar 

 treatment ; and you will see from the 

 table that in 1893, at Mr. Ritchie's Port 

 Fairy plots also, there was a gain of 

 5 tons due to this treatment. 



Now, let us turn to Mr. Goldie's hay 

 results obtained at Port Fairy in 1889, 

 His untreated soil on plot 3 yielded at 

 the rate of 2$ tons, which is double the 

 average yiela of the whole colony, both 

 his soil and climate being much more 

 favourable than the average. But look 

 at the yields he obtained from the 

 adjoining plots, in the one case 41 tons, 

 and in the other 5*- tons per acre. The 

 latter was so much beyond ordinary 

 experience that many people refused to 

 accept it as correct. Mr. Goldie assured 

 me that he himself was surprised at it, 

 and took steps to confirm its correctness. 

 I have during the last two or three 

 months obtained 4£ tons from an ex- 

 perimental plot at Werribee, and I am 

 sure 4 tons might often be obtained. 



Look also at Mr. Goldie's mangold 

 re&uics obtained in 1892. The untreated 

 soil yielded at the rate of 14| tons, 

 but the treated plots yielded on the 

 one side four and a half times as much, 

 namely, 65£ tons, and on the other 

 side five anu a half times as much, name- 

 ly, 79 tons. Plot 9 yielded 88 tons, and 

 on one occasion Mr. Goldie forwarded 

 returns showing as high as 103 tons per 

 acre. I doubted the correctness of the 

 last result, but only recently Mr. Goldie 

 hasi 1 understand, publicly harvested a 

 crop yielding more than 100 tons per 

 acre. 



It is not possible to see returns like 

 these without feeling that our lands are 

 not producing anything near what they 

 might produce if they were subjected to 

 other treatment than that they now 

 receive. For the sake of making a 

 general statement, I have summarized 

 the returns of ten of these experimental 

 fields taken promiscuously, and, taking 

 the yield of the untreated soil on plot 

 3 as 100 I have calculated the average 

 improvement on the different plots- 

 The following are the figures obtained : — 



General average of Returns 

 from Ten Test Fields. 



Quantity Plots. 



Plot 1. Complete manure, light dressing .. 181 



,, 2. „ meuiuin 259 



„ 3. No manure .. 100 



„ 4. Complete manure, heavy dressing .. 273 



Quality Plots. 



Plot 5. Same as plot 2, but no nitrogen . . 207 



„ 6. „ „ „ phosphoric acid ... 110 



h 7. „ ,, ,, potash .. 259 



%. No manure .,• 89 



I do not claim that these ten fields 

 were a fair sample of our 3£ million 

 cultivated acres; probably indeed, they 

 were a trifle better than the average. 

 These figures have no individual signi- 

 ficance, they are merely a general 

 statement. But they strongly suggested 

 that, by applying more science, our 

 soils could be made to yield more than 

 twice as much as they are now yielding. 



The facts brought out by these test 

 fields are such as cannot be ignored. 

 We cannot neglect them, or regard them 

 as mere interesting curiosities. They 

 are pregnant with suggestion of wealth 

 and prosperity to the country. They 

 show that we have in these colonies 

 possibilities, vast possibilities, which, as 

 a young nation, we have not yet seri- 

 ously considered. It appears to me that 

 the time has now arrived when we must 

 consider them in earnest. 



It will naturally be asked if the, treat- 

 ment which has resulted in these vastly 

 improved yields could be practically 

 applied in actual work. Would not the 

 cost be too great ? If the treatment 

 could not be profitably applied, then 

 the suggestion to adopt it would not 

 be a scientific suggestion, for facts 

 of profit and loss are as much data 

 of science as any other facts. If it 

 were the fact that results like these 

 could not under present conditions be 

 profitably obtained, we should not, 

 however, for that reason ignore them, 

 or shelve the whole matter as being 

 outside the practical. It would be the 

 business of science to experiment and 

 investigate further, in order to find out 

 how to bring them within the sphere 

 of the profitable. As a matter of fact, 

 however, they are already within that 

 sphere. Presently I will endeavour to 

 show this. 



First, however, let me briefly explain 

 the principles which underlie these field 

 experiments. You will see that there is 

 distinct method in these plots. They 

 are scientifically planned. I wish to 

 dwell on this point, because farmers 

 sometimes carry out field experiments 

 of their own, and on more than one 

 occasion such experimenters have claim- 

 ed for their tests the superior merit 

 that they are not scientific experiments, 

 but practical ones. Scientific experi- 

 ments may be all very good in their 

 way, and no doubt are, but what is 

 wanted, say these men, is practical 

 tests, And their idea of practical 

 manure experiments is to buy as many 

 as possible of the various trade manures 

 offered in the market, to put an equal 

 money value of each manure on to each 



