1910.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 583 



remarkable ; during fine dry weather considerable increases in weight 

 were made, while losses in weight were recorded during a wet period. 



Manuring of Crimson Clover (Devon Agric. Com., Rept. on Field 

 Expts., 1907-9). — This experiment was carried out on a stiff loam, 

 poor in available phosphate, and containing no appreciable amount 

 of carbonate of lime. The crop was weighed immediately after cut- 

 ting, and the yield on the unmanured plot was at the rate of 12 tons 

 13! cwt. per acre. The heaviest crop (19 tons 5! cwt.) was obtained 

 by the application of 4 cwt. superphosphate and 1 cwt. sulphate of 

 potash per acre. Assuming that the clover is worth 15s. per ton, and 

 deducting the cost of the manures, this mixture gave a profit of 

 ^3 14s. per acre. 



Growth of Maize for Fodder (Univ. Coll., Reading, Bull, vii., 

 Results of Expts. at the Coll. Farm, 1909). — -Maize has been grown for 

 three years, with the object of ascertaining the conditions under which 

 it is possible to obtain a crop ready to cut as fodder for milch cows 

 towards the middle of August. Each year's trial has been carried 

 out on new ground, and the following dressing of manure has been 

 applied : — 10 loads farmyard manure, 3 cwt. superphosphate, 1 cwt. 

 nitrate of soda. In 1909 the seed was drilled on May 26th, at the 

 rate of two bushels per acre, three inches deep, in rows two feet 

 apart. The summer of 1909 was very unfavourable, but the yield was 

 15 tons 2 cwt. per acre, while in the three years the average has been 

 19 tons 13 cwt. 



Experiments on Hay in the Rick (Jour. South-Eastern Agric. Coll., 

 No. 18, 1909). — The shrinkage in the weight of hay that occurs owing 

 to the fermentation that takes place while the hay is in the rick has 

 been investigated. When the hay was being harvested, three hop 

 pockets containing about 50 lb. of clover hay were weighed, and then 

 built into a rick, one each in the lower, middle, and upper parts of 

 the rick. When the rick was cut into during the winter these pockets 

 were taken out and again weighed, and the loss of weight due to 

 sweating was found to be nearly 16 per cent, or about 18 lb. per cwt. 

 A similar experiment with one sample of meadow hay in 1908 showed 

 a loss of iy| per cent. 



It is pointed out that where records of experiments giving the 

 yield of hay per acre from differently manured plots are given, no 

 allowance is made for this shrinkage, and although such records show 

 correctly the comparative yields from the different plots, all the yields 

 seem slightly high, and do not show the actual yield of hay from 

 the land available for use on the farm. Where this is required there- 

 fore it would seem that a deduction of at least 15 to 17 per cent, should 

 be made from the figures usually given in reports on manurial trials 

 on grass land. 



Some information was also obtained as to the temperature that 

 newly-ricked hay usually reaches. Three iron tubes, 1^ in. in diameter, 

 and from 9 to 10 ft. long, were driven horizontally into the rick from 

 one to two feet above each other, the lowest being about 4^ ft. from 

 the ground when the rick had settled. The tubes were drawn to a 

 point at one end to allow them to be driven easily into the rick, and 

 small holes were drilled around the pointed end so that the heat 

 should act quickly on the thermometers. Maximum thermometers were 



