1910.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 495 



the cost of application, it was found that a man and horse could dis- 

 tribute on the experimental field, 650 yards from the tank, about 20 

 cart loads, or 9 tons, of liquid manure in a working day of ten hours, at 

 a cost of Sd. per ton. In this estimate, however, only the carting is 

 taken into consideration, and as on most farms no provision exists at 

 present for collecting and storing liquid manure, the cost would be 

 increased by the provision of a suitable tank. It must also be remem- 

 bered that, while a considerable proportion of the liquid manure is under 

 the usual conditions wasted by drainage from- the dung heap, a large 

 quantity is absorbed by the litter, and a part of the liquid collected in 

 the tank would have been utilised with the farmyard manure. 



A second series of hay plots was started in 1909, on which the liquid 

 manure was applied in the same quantity (16 tons per acre) as the 

 farmyard manure, and in this case both gave an increase in crop of 

 15 cwt. per acre, that from the dressing of artificials being 7 cwt. 

 From the appearance of the plots, however, the farmyard manure 

 is likely to give the better return in the second year. The returns 

 obtained from the manures in this experiment were not high, but it is 

 stated that the field was already in a high state of fertility, the crop 

 on the unmanured plot being 3 tons per acre. 



An experiment was also started in 1909 to compare the value of 

 liquid manure and farmyard manure on arable land. Mangolds and 

 cabbages were manured with (1) 25 tons liquid manure, and (2) 20 tons 

 farmyard manure. Other plots received the same with, in addition, a 

 dressing of a complete mixture of artificials. The results showed that 

 where artificials were used in conjunction practically the same yields 

 were produced with the liquid as with the farmyard manure, while on 

 the plots to which no artificials were applied the crop with liquid 

 manure was the smaller by about 2 tons. In this case one-third of the 

 liquid manure was applied in December, one-third when the drills were 

 opened, and one-third after thinning, and there can be no doubt that 

 a considerable proportion of the liquid applied in December would be 

 washed away. This loss cannot, however, be entirely avoided, since 

 sufficient storage capacity cannot be provided to hold over all the liquid 

 until the spring. 



Liquid manure necessarily varies in composition according to the 

 feeding of the cattle and the quantity of water that finds its way into 

 the tank, but its value in these experiments appears to show that the 

 question of its storage and use is worthy of consideration. 



Trials with Four Nitrogenous Manures (Jour. Dept. of Agric. and 

 Tech. Instruc. for Ireland, January, 1910). — In 1909 a comparison was 

 made by the Irish Department of Agriculture of the two new nitrogenous 

 manures, calcium cyanamide and nitrate of lime, with the two older 

 sources of nitrogen, nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. The 

 crops on which these manures were tested were oats, potatoes, turnips, 

 and mangolds, four plots being dressed with one each of the four 

 nitrogenous manures, and a fifth plot receiving no nitrogen. Other 

 artificial manures supplying phosphates and potash were applied, and 

 in the case of some crops farmyard manure, but in each series the cultiva- 

 tion and manuring of each of the five plots was the same, except as 

 regards the source of nitrogen. The percentages of nitrogen in the 

 manures used at most of the centres were as follows : — Sulphate of 



