786 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [jan., 



for hay. Figures are given of the botanical composition of the herbage 

 on each of the plots and sub-plots, and the general results showed how 

 small maybe the relationship between the seed-mixture and the pasture. 

 Some of the results obtained were discussed in an article which appeared 

 in this Journal, October, 1905, in which the unsatisfactory state of our 

 knowledge of the herbage of pastures was pointed out, and it was decided 

 to examine a number of permanent pastures for the purpose of getting 

 information upon the following points : (1) the percentage of the surface 

 occupied by different species ; (2) the number of plants per square foot ; 

 (3) the density of the herbage ; (4) variations in the proportions present 

 of the same plant at different seasons of the year; (5) the chemical com- 

 position of the herbage at different seasons ; (6) the chemical composition 

 of the soil. A number of tables are given showing the results of the 

 investigation. A summary was given in this Journal, March, 1908, 



P- 735- . . 



Experiments on the laying down land to grass have also been carried 

 out at the Suffolk County Council Experimental Station at Saxmundham 

 since 1902, and tables are given showing the botanical composition of 

 the hay crop in 1904 and 1906. 



The effect of various manures on the hay crop and of basic slag on 

 poor pasture land is also being tested at Saxmundham. 



Improvement of Old Pasture (Camb. Univ. Dept. of Agric, Guide to 

 Expts., 1907). — The improvement of poor pasture is a subject to which 

 the Cambridge Agricultural Department has given a good deal of atten- 

 tion in recent years. With the assistance of the Board of Agriculture, 

 a field of 40 acres of poor grass land at Cransley, in Northamptonshire, 

 has been rented' for experimental purposes, as well as 16 acres at Hatley 

 in Cambridgeshire, and by arrangement with the County Councils, 

 experiments have been carried out in Essex and Norfolk. The experi- 

 ments were all of the same type. Fields of poor pasture were divided 

 up into three-acre plots, the plots were differently manured, and the 

 effects of the manuring were ascertained by pasturing sheep upon the 

 plots for from 16 to 20 weeks during the summer months. Sheep for 

 the purpose were carefully selected in April or May, and after having 

 been fasted for a night, were weighed and divided up into uniform lots. 

 The fasting and weighing were repeated at the end of each month, and 

 the total increase made by the sheep was taken as showing the improve- 

 ment which had taken place in the pasture as the result of the manuring. 



In all, except one, of these pasture experiments, the best results have 

 been obtained from heavy dressings (10 cwt.) of basic slag. Manures 

 containing potash, lime, or nitrogen, have not been found necessary in 

 the early stages of the improvement, but at Cransley, after several 

 years, both potash and lime are beginning to produce marked effects. It 

 has been shown by these experiments that the improvement produced by 

 phosphatic manures is partly indirect. Phosphatic manures bring about 

 a great increase in the clovers, and the luxuriant clover crop, which 

 springs up one or two years after manuring, improves the soil for 

 grasses. In treating such poor pastures, therefore, the first aim must be 

 to stimulate clovers as much as possible. After from two to four years 

 the clovers begin to disappear, and the grasses should then receive 

 attention. 



The results of these experiments are given in tabular form, together 

 with the figures of another series of experiments on manuring land for 



