5/8 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [oct., 



A trial was made of the two new sources of nitrogen, calcium 

 cyanamide and nitrate of lime. All the plots received 10 tons per 

 acre of farmyard manure, and the crop of saleable tubers with this 

 amounted to 6 tons 7 cwt. ; a dressing - of superphosphate and sulphate 

 of potash in addition gave 9 tons 18 cwt., while the following were 

 the results when four different forms of nitrogen were added to make 

 a complete dressing : — 100 lb. sulphate of ammonia, 12 tons ; 100 lb. 

 calcium cyanamide, 12 tons ; 148 lb. nitrate of lime, 10 tons 7 cwt. ; 

 120 lb. nitrate of soda, 10 tons 15 cwt. The artificial manures were 

 applied in the drills at the time of planting. 



A comparison of Scotch and Irish " seed " was made at three 

 centres. A supply of Up-to-Date potatoes was obtained from Elgin. 

 Scotland, and Crumlin, Ireland, and compared with Lincolnshire-grown 

 "seed," grown in 1908 from "seed" procured from Scotland. The 

 average crops of saleable tubers per acre were as follows : — Irish, 

 7 tons 17 cwt. ; Scotch, 6 tons 8 cwt. ; Lincolnshire, 6 tons 2 cwt. 



Trials of Scotch and Irish Seed Potatoes (Gloucestershire Educ. 

 Com., Ann. Rept. of Agric. Sub-Corn., 1908-9). — " Seed " of a number 

 of varieties obtained from Ireland and Scotland was planted on two 

 farms side by side with "seed" grown on the farm from Scotch 

 " seed " in 1907. The season was exceedingly favourable for the 

 potato crop, and consequently the advantage of a change of seed was 

 not shown as in previous years. 



Cultivation of Lucerne in Scotland and the Effects of Inoculation 

 (West of Scotland Agric. Coll., Bull. No. 53, 1910). — The object of this 

 experiment, which was commenced in 1904, was primarily to determine 

 whether lucerne could be successfully grown in Scotland. The soil 

 selected was a friable loam, well drained, and in good condition. It 

 was found that lucerne grew quite well without a covering crop, 

 giving a yield of 4 tons 6 cwt. per acre of green forage from seed 

 sown at the rate of 20 lb. per acre, but where the lucerne 

 was sown with oats only a few scattered lucerne plants remained. 

 Lucerne is a plant requiring abundant light and air, and the competi- 

 tion of the vigorous roots of the oats evidently proved sufficient to kill 

 out the young lucerne plants. 



A further experiment was commenced in 1905, and continued during 

 the succeeding four years with a view to determine the effect of a 

 bacterial culture for leguminous crops. The field under lucerne was 

 divided into three plots, the first being left untreated ; the second was 

 treated with the lucerne culture, the culture being mixed with a 

 quantity of dry sand and distributed uniformly over the surface; and 

 to the third was applied nitrate of soda at the rate of 1 cwt. per acre. 

 This dressing of nitrate of soda was repeated in successive years, but 

 the other two plots received no further treatment beyond a dressing 

 of mineral manures given to all three plots in 1907 and 1909, to 

 guard against the failure of effect, through lack of mineral consti- 

 tuents, of the nitrogen provided by the bacterial culture and the nitrate 

 of soda. 



The average yields per acre per annum from the three plots were 

 7 tons 12 cwt. from the untreated plot; 9 tons 17^ cwt. from the plot 

 to which the culture was applied; and 9 tons 8 cwt. from the plot 

 treated with nitrate of soda. This gave an average annual increase 



