of Manures Applied to Pasture. 



9 



Usually a special lot of sheep about 14-15 months old has 

 been purchased at the beginning of the season for the purposes 

 of this experiment. Sometimes the stock of the farm has been 

 able to supply the necessary animals. Care has been exer- 

 cised to get the animals as uniform as possible. If 80 sheep 

 are required to stock the plots in any season about 100 are 

 weighed, and the 10 heaviest and 10 lightest are at once 

 rejected. Then the 80 are so distributed throughout the plots 

 that all the lots of sheep are as similar in all respects as 

 possible. When this is done with due care the disturbing 

 factor of individual idiosyncrasies is largely eliminated. The 

 animals have never shown any signs of lack of thriving caused 

 by the limited character of their grazing area. The number 

 of sheep placed upon each plot has been decided on the 

 experience gained, and on the appearance of the herbage 

 of the particular plot. A mere fraction of one per cent, have 

 died or proved unsuitable in the course of the experiment. 

 Each animal when placed upon the plots has been supplied 

 with a "plot mark" and with an individual number. Tattoo- 

 ing the ears has been found to be the most satisfactory 

 method of applying the individual mark, the insertion of 

 clips or studs not being sufficiently reliable. 



The financing of the work was undertaken by the Northum- 

 berland County Council, though the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries subsequently gave a general grant to the Armstrong 

 College on account of the farm, the College, through its Agri- 

 cultural Department, exercising detailed scientific supervision. 



The original scheme provided for nine years work, but 

 at the end of that period the experiments were continued with 

 some small modifications, and are still in progress. In the 

 first instance only the first period of nine years will be 

 reviewed in this report. (See Tables IV. and XVII.) 



Experiments at Sevington, Hampshire. 



After the experiment had been in progress for three years 

 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries made arrangements 

 with the Bath and West and Southern Counties Society for an 

 exact duplication of the tests on poor pasture situated on the 

 chalk, on a farm at Sevington, rented by Mr. James Stratton 

 from the Tichborne estate, about two miles from Alresford, in 



