1908.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 



459 



EXPERIMENTS WITH CEREALS. 



Varieties of Wheat {Field Expts.at Harper-Adams Coll., 1907). — Trials 

 have been made at this centre with seven English wheats and six foreign 

 varieties. Browick Grey Chaff gave the best result, but there was no great 

 difference in value between this variety and Squareheads Master, Golden 

 Drop and Red Stand Up. The foreign varieties gave very much lower yields 

 though they fetched is. 6d. to ys. 6d. per quarter more ; and there was a 

 difference of £4 per acre between the best English and foreign varieties. 



Varieties of Wheat {Essex Education Committee, Field Exp ts., 1906). — 

 Six varieties of wheat were tested on six farms in different districts. The 

 average yields in bushels of 63 lb. were as follows :— Essex Rough Chaffy 

 40*2 ; White Chaff Browick, 46*8 ; Squareheads Master, 43*6 ; Squarehead, 

 44*9 ; Rivett, 47*2; Wilhelmina, 497. Red Fife was also grown on five 

 farms, with an average yield of 29 bushels. W T ilhelmina is a Dutch wheat 

 with a good reputation in Holland. 



Varieties of Wheat {Beds. C. C. Rept. on Wheat Plots, 1907). — Eleven 

 varieties were tested on plots 35 poles in size. The season was not 

 considered favourable and the quality of the samples was not very satis- 

 factory. The best yields in bushels of 63 lb. were as follows :— Red 

 Standard (Webb), 51 ; Imperial (Street), 49 ; White Stand Up (Carter), 46J ; 

 Squareheads Master, 43 ; Kinver Red, 42^. Red Fife yielded 39 bushels 

 and was reported to be a splendid sample. 



Varieties of Wheat {Cambridge Univ. Dept. of Agric. Guide to Expts., 

 1907). — This experiment gives the result of thick and thin sowing, the 

 number and proportion of plants obtained and the results of calculating the 

 yield from plots of half-an-acre and plots of Toth of an acre. As a rule thin 

 seeding suited red wheats best, while thick seeding was best for white wheats. 

 The results obtained by calculating the yield from the ^th acre plots were 

 far from satisfactory, although the small plots were carefully chosen to 

 represent the whole area. 



Continuous Growing of Wheat and Barley {Journal of Roy. Agric. Soc, 

 1907). — The plan of the Woburn Field Experiments on the continuous 

 growth of wheat and barley, which was originally designed in 1876-77, was 

 altered in 1907 in several respects. Since these experiments began a good 

 deal more knowledge has been collected as to the action of different manures 

 and constituents of manures, and the conclusion of the thirtieth year of con- 

 tinuous cropping afforded a suitable opportunity of reviewing the original plan 

 in the light of the experience gained. The fact of the manurial applications 

 being, in many instances, out of proportion to what the farmer could profit- 

 ably employ — under altered conditions of corn-growing — also militated 

 against the ready acceptance of the experiments by the " practical ' ; farmer, 

 and placed them, as it were, beyond his reach. It was felt, therefore, that it 

 would be desirable if the plan could be revised in some respects, without 

 destroying its scientific value, so as to commend it more fully to the practical 

 man. Certain modifications have consequently been introduced which are 

 described in this report, which also contains the figures for 1907. 



Varieties of Barley {Univ. Coll. of Wales, Aberystwyth, Agric. Dept. 

 Ann. Rept., 1906). — Seven varieties, including some of the best-known sorts, 

 were tried on a farm near Aberystwyth, but the best result was obtained by 

 a Welsh barley from Pembrokeshire. As barley is grown in Wales solely 

 for feeding purposes, a heavy yield is of more importance than quality, and 



