I907-] 



Romnky Marsh Shi:i:i\ 



75 



and was not tested by weighing. Considering how strongly tin 

 use of lime for potatoes lias been advocated in Scotland, it is 

 curious that it has not been included in published experiments. 



Green Manuring. — Another desirable experiment is the 

 ploughing-in of a green crop, such as white mustard, before 

 potatoes are grown, as a substitute for farmyard manure. In 

 my own experience this has proved highly advantageous, and 

 where the manure named is scarce, a trial of the plan may be 

 recommended. A fair crop of mustard can be grown if sown 

 at any time before the end of August, and in some seasons a 

 fortnight later, before it is necessary to plough the land up for 

 the winter. Thus it can be produced after a crop of peas or 

 second-early potatoes has been cleared off the ground, or even 

 after wheat harvested early. 



What is needed to settle as far as possible the unsolved problems 

 in potato growing is a set of co-operative experiments, uniform 

 in plan, carried out in various parts of the country and for a 

 series of years. 



ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 



M. J. R DUNSTAN. 



This breed of sheep has for centuries been kept on the extensive 

 sparsely populated tract of alluvial land on the southern coast 

 "t Kent known as the Romney Marsh. This land was recovered 

 from the sea at a very early period and comprises an area of some 

 40,000 acres of pasture which is administered as regards the 

 system ol drainage and of sea defence 'In' Commissioners, and in 

 the case of Romnev Marsh by *' Lords of the Level"; these levels 

 are R< >inn< v Marsh, Walland and 1 )engc Marshes, and ( iuldeford 

 and Broomhill Levels. There is also a considerable area of 

 grass land extending inland between the low hills on the north 



and n< irth-east. 



1 he soil varies in character from a poor sand and barely 

 covered shingle to a deep, rich alluvial 1< mm. There is a consider- 

 able (juantitv of grand old pa>ture land never turned up bv the 

 plough and getting no manure save that from the sheep and 

 cattle hied and grazed on it. 



The district is bleak and exposed ; hedges are absent, the ft elds 



