40 Influence on the Production of Mutton 



of lime, the insoluble phosphate being disregarded in the 

 latter manure. 



At Cockle Park, Sevington, Cransley, and Hatley, Plot 4 

 received 5 cwt. per acre of basic slag (100 lbs. P2O5) for the 

 first year of the experiment, a further equal quantity being 

 applied for the fourth season, after which no further manuring 

 took place. At these stations Plot 5 received about 7 cwt. of 

 superphosphate (100 lbs. P2O5) for the same seasons as those 

 in which Plot 4 was dressed with slag, the slag being put on 

 in autumn and the superphosphate in spring. At Yeldham 

 the experiment was carried on for three years only, so that 

 neither the slag nor the superphosphate was repeated. At the 

 one Scottish station (Downan) making this test, 7 J cwt. of 

 basic slag (120 lbs. P2O5) was applied per acre to one plot in 

 spring, 1899, and in the month of January, 1901, the same 

 plot received an additional dose of 5| cwt. of slag (80 lbs. 

 P2O5). The adjoining plot was at the same time dressed with 

 7J and 5 cwt. of superphosphate, containing the same amount 

 of phosphoric acid as was furnished by the slag. The stocking 

 in the first year was not considered sufficiently well-arranged 

 to make the figures for that year reliable, but those for the 

 remaining five years are set out in Table XVIII., as are also 

 those for the other stations. I have given the weights at each 

 station for the individual years, as it is of interest to learn 

 whether superphosphate is, as is alleged, more rapid in its 

 action than slag. 



The results are, without exception, in favour of Basic Slag 

 whether judged by (a) the weight of mutton produced, or 

 (b) the money gain. At one station (Sevington), which, as 

 has been stated earlier, is situated on the chalk, superphos- 

 phate in the aggregate nearly approaches slag in its effects, 

 but at all the other stations the excess of mutton to the credit 

 of the slag is a very large one. If this is the case where 

 the live-weight gain alone is considered, the superiority must 

 necessarily be emphasised when the cost is taken into con- 

 sideration. Average superphosphate costs more per ton than 

 average Basic Slag, and as the latter manure contains, as a 

 rule, a higher percentage of phosphates, it follows that the 

 cost of the slag must be much less where equal weights of 

 phosphoric acid are being used. The financial aspect is set 



