230 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [june, 



value of the roots. Two areas of half an acre each were dressed with 

 10^ cwt. basic slag and 7^ cwt. superphosphate at a cost of £1 each, 

 and the produce was 16 tons 10 cwt. and 17 tons 12 cwt. respectively. 

 The roots were consumed by sheep and their live weight and selling 

 price compared. The conclusion is drawn that the swedes grown with 

 slag have given a greater monetary return per acre. The gain in 

 live weight for twenty sheep was about 2\ cwt. in the case of the 

 swedes grown with basic slag, and about 2 cwt. in the case of those 

 grown with superphosphate. 



Manurial experiments on swedes were conducted at two centres in 

 Staffordshire. In one a special compound turnip manure was compared 

 with a home-made mixture containing equal amounts of nitrogen, 

 phosphates and potash. The latter cost 45. 6d. per acre less and gave 

 better results at two centres. 



Manuring of Mangolds (Univ. Coll., Reading, Bull. vii. Results of 

 Expts. at the College Farm, 1909). — An experiment was conducted on 

 the effect of different nitrogenous manures. Five plots of one-twentieth 

 acre each were dressed with 4 cwt. superphosphate and 3^ cwt. kainit. 

 Four of them then received 1^ cwt. of calcium cyanamide, nitrate of 

 lime, nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia respectively. Taking the 

 average of the three years 1907-9 the yields obtained from calcium cyan- 

 amide and sulphate of ammonia were both about 33 tons, while the 

 nitrate of lime and nitrate of soda gave about 35 tons. The 1909 results 

 pointed to the advisability of sowing the calcium cyanamide before the 

 seed. In previous years the leaves of the young plants were damaged 

 when this manure was applied as a top-dressing, and although the 

 plants sent out new leaves, this temporary check cannot be good. 



In another experiment in 1909 half-acre plots were used. All were 

 manured with 15 tons dung, 4 cwt. superphosphate, and 3^ cwt. 

 kainit per acre. The same nitrogenous manures were applied in quanti- 

 ties of 1^ cwt., except for sulphate of ammonia, of which 126 lb. were 

 used. The results were : Calcium cyanamide 33 tons 16 cwt., nitrate of 

 lime 30 tons 6 cwt., nitrate of soda 34 tons, sulphate of ammonia 35 tons 

 14 cwt. 



Manuring of Swedes (Univ. Coll., Reading, Bull. vii. Results of 

 Expts. at the College Farm, 1909, and Bull, viii., Trials carried out for 

 the Oxford C.C., 1909). — The effect of a commercial swede manure was 

 compared with that of a home-mixed manure of the same analysis. Two 

 one-eighth acre plots were used, and the former manure, costing £8 

 per ton, was applied at the rate of 4 cwt. per acre. The home-mixed 

 manure was composed of sulphate of ammonia 67 lb., superphosphate 

 (26 per cent, soluble) 77 lb., kainit 8 lb. The yields over two years 

 averaged 15 tons 17 cwt. per acre for the commercial manure and 

 16 tons 6 cwt. per acre for the other. Thus a slightly better result was 

 obtained by using a home-mixed manure costing £1 35. 3d. per acre, 

 compared with a purchased swede manure costing £1 12s. per acre. 



Experiments were also conducted at six centres in Oxfordshire on 

 behalf of the County Council, for the purpose of illustrating the effect 

 on the crop of various phosphatic manures used singly and in combina- 

 tion with other artificials. 



Of the phosphatic manures applied, superphosphate seems to have 

 given the best results, both when used singly and in combination with 



