22.0 



Experiments with Swedes. 



[JULY, 



crop when grown upon definite types of soil, but the results of 

 the first year present several features of interest, and the fact 

 that the results given below represent averages of such a large 

 number of experiments appears to render them of special value. 

 At each centre half an acre of land was divided into eight 

 parallel strips, each i-i6th of an acre in extent, and the manures 

 were applied to these plots, as shown in the following table : — 



No. of 

 Plot. 



Amouri 



Sulphate 

 of 



Ammonia. 



t of Manure p( 



Super- 

 phosphate. 



vc acre. 



Sulphate 



of 

 Potash. 



Cost per 

 acre. 



Average 

 increase 

 per acre. 





lb. 



lb. 



lb. 



s. d. 



Tons. 



i and 5 















(no manure) 













2. 



51 



250 



40 



16 9 



2-9 



3- 



102 



500 



80 



33 6 



4'8 



4. 



204 



[,OCO 



160 



67 0 



7*i 



6. 





500 



80 



22 0 



4-0 



7. 



102 





80 



18 6 



i*9 



8. 



102 



500 





26 6 



5-2 



On Plots 2, 3 and 4 mixtures of manures containing the 

 three necessary ingredients, nitrogen, phosphates, and potash 

 were used, the amount on Plot 3 representing an ordinary, 

 dressing of each, while on Plot 2 half this amount and on Plot 4 

 ■double the same were tried. A comparison of the yields and 

 the cost of producing them will show which was the most 

 economical. By comparing Plot 3 with Plot 6 the influence of 

 the addition of nitrogen is seen. The effect of the want of 

 phosphates is shown by a comparison of Plot 7 and Plot 3. 

 The fact, however, that Plot 8 produced a larger crop without 

 potash than Plot 3, which received 80 lb. of sulphate of potash 

 per acre, is a point which seems worthy of further investigation. 



From the results obtained on Plot 7, it is clear that to increase 

 the crop by the application of manures which do not contain 

 phosphates is an expensive unremunerative process. In fact, 

 on twenty-two of the farms out of the twenty-six from which 

 complete returns were obtained, the omission of phosphates 

 resulted in a very large diminution of the crop, and in many 

 cases the yield was little better than where no manure was 

 applied. 



