1909.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 151 



March 24th at the rate of 23 bus. per acre. April was a wet and cold 

 month, and the barley suffered a good deal, especially on the weaker 

 plots, and the crop never really recovered from the check. With the 

 sulphate of ammonia plots the need of lime was more emphasised than 

 in the case of the wheat. It would seem clear that the barley crop, 

 being a " surface feeder," feels more quickly the withdrawal of lime 

 and the injurious effects of soil-acidity. After much difficulty in har- 

 vesting owing to wet weather at the end of August, the crop was 

 stacked. The yield was very poor, and the grain practically spoiled 

 as regards quality. The highest yield was 24*4 bus. with farmyard 

 manure (equal to 100 lb. ammonia per acre), and of the artificial 

 fertilisers, minerals and nitrate of soda gave the best crop. 



Varieties of Oats (Dorset C.C. Educ. Comm., Rept. on Agric. 

 Expts., 1907-8).— Ten varieties of wheat were grown on four farms, 

 together with a " local " variety in each instance. With one exception 

 (Garton's White Pearl), all yielded an average of over 35 bus. per acre. 

 The best yields were Garton's Red King, 48! bus.; Webb's New 

 Standard Red, 47 £ bus. ; and Toogood's Square-Headed Success, 47^ 

 bus. On one farm or other each of the first three yielded over 55 bus. 



Varieties of Oats (Dorset C.C. Educ. Comm., Rept. on Agric. Expts., 

 1907-8). — Varieties of oats were tested at two centres in 1906, and at 

 two centres in 1907. In the former year no variety reached an average 

 of 50 bus. per acre, the two best being Mounted Police, 49I bus., and 

 Banner, 49 bus. In 1907 the general level was much better, the best 

 yields being Banner, 64! bus. ; Awnless Probstei, 62 bus. ; Besseler's 

 Prolific, 6i| bus. ; and Mounted Police, 573 bus. The seed oats were 

 procured from the West of Scotland Agricultural College, and it was 

 the aim to sow each variety at the same rate, i.e., 2^ million seeds 

 per acre. 



Effect of Change of Seed Oats (Univ. Coll. of N. Wales, Bangor, 

 Agric. Dept., Bull. IV., 1908). — In 1905 seed oats were obtained from 

 ten different districts in the British Isles, and tested with seed grown on 

 the farm at Madryn for the previous three years, with the object of 

 ascertaining to what extent growth may be affected by seed produced 

 in different situations under varying conditions. The experiment was 

 repeated in 1907 and 1908, the variety in all three years being Abun- 

 dance. The experiment, which will be continued for another year, so 

 far appears to show that no advantage is gained by changing seed in 

 cases where home-grown seed, well dressed and of good quality, can 

 be obtained. Fresh seed did not appear to tend to an earlier harvest, 

 all plots ripening at practically the same time. 



Varieties of Oats.— (West of Scotland Agric. Coll. Bull. 45. Report 

 on Experiments on Varieties of Oats. Frame Experiments and Frame 

 Crops.). — An extensive series of experiments has been carried out over 

 a number of years by the West of Scotland Agricultural College, under 

 the direction of Prof. M' Alpine, in regard to varieties of oats, their 

 botanical characters, and the influence of manures thereon. The 

 experiments dealt with in Bull. 41 were referred to in this Journal, 

 September, 1908, p. 461. The experiments, which are of a very detailed 

 character, do not lend themselves easily to condensation, but the 

 following summary will give an indication of the main points. 



The investigations in this section were carried out in the following 



