330 Summary of Agricultural Experiments. [July, 



On this last plot there were no buttercups, and 13 of the species were 

 grasses and leguminous plants. On the unmanured plot the ratio of 

 the weight of grasses to leguminosas was 9 to 1, and of the latter nine- 

 tenths was Lathyrus pratensis. 



With kainit alone and kainit and superphosphate the proportion of 

 leguminosas was about the same, but the most abundant plant was 

 white clover. Where nitrate alone and the complete mineral manure 

 were used, the proportion of leguminosae was reduced. Of the grasses, 

 Upright Brome (Bromus erectus) was the chief on all plots, the smallest 

 proportion of it (about 70 per cent.) being on the plot receiving a com- 

 plete mixture of artificials. Where it had decreased, its place among 

 the grasses was mainly taken by cocksfoot and fescues. 



Field Crops. 



Growth of Linseed {Univ. Coll. of N. Wales, Bangor, Agric. Dept., 

 Bui. 7, 19 10). — Linseed is used on almost every farm for calf-rearing 

 and other purposes, and, as it has been selling at a high price for 

 some considerable time, a series of trials was arranged to see if it 

 could be profitably grown by the farmers themselves. A quarter of an 

 acre was sown on each of eleven farms in North Wales. The seed was 

 sown about the end of April, at the rate of 104 lb. per acre, and was covered 

 very lightly. Linseed does not ripen like corn, but produces flowers 

 and ripe seeds at the same time, and it is harvested when most of the 

 flowers have formed pods, and when the oldest pods are quite ripe 

 and dry. On most of the farms the crop grew well, but after flowering 

 went down a good deal on account of rainy weather. The crops varied 

 considerably, from 48 lb. on the quarter acre at one centre, where it 

 was beaten flat by the rain, and damaged after cutting by bad weather, 

 to 407 lb. at another centre. In the majority of cases good crops were 

 produced, and the average from the quarter acre was about 2 cwt. 

 Professor Winter considers that if linseed remains at its present high 

 market price, there can be little doubt that it would pay many farmers 

 to grow what they require for their own use, and possibly, in some cases, 

 it might be grown successfully on a commercial scale. 



Varieties of Oats (Roy. Agric. Coll., Cirencester, Scientific Bulletin, 

 No. 2, 19 10). — A trial of five varieties of oats was made on the College 

 farm in 19 10, on plots between a quarter and a third of an acre in 

 size. The yields per acre were : — 



Grain. 



Bushels of Straw. 



40 lb. Cwt. 



Banner 82 45 



Abundance 77 39 



Thousand Dollar ... 71 36 



Newmarket 66 44 



Black Tartar 58 41 



Black Tartar weighed only 31 lb. per bushel. An analysis of the grain 

 of each variety is given in the report. 



A Russian Method of Corn Cultivation. — Reports of experiments 

 carried out at Bromberg, in Germany, to test the efficacy of the 

 method of corn cultivation advocated by M. Demtschinsky have appeared 

 in this Journal for December, 1909, and February, 191 1. The account 

 of the following experiments conducted at Weihenstephan, in 1909 and 



