191 2.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 941 



feeding value of the herbage remains an undetermined factor which 

 must not be overlooked. It is extremely doubtful whether in this 

 experiment, kainit was profitably employed, though it should be remem- 

 bered (and also when reading No. 6 conclusion) that no trial was 

 carried out on typically light land. 



(8) The effects of the dressings, even where they were applied several 

 seasons ago, are not yet exhausted. 



(9) Several factors affect the speed at which improvement is brought 

 about, among the most prominent being : — 



(a) The character of the season that follows the application of 

 the manures. 



(b) The attention which is paid to grazing the herbage. 



(10) At one centre, where the pasture was covered with a stubborn 

 herbage composed mainly of mat-grass and sheep's fescue, none of the 

 dressings effected any material change. 



(11) Sowing seed of white Dutch clover as a means of bringing 

 about a speedy improvement in a poor pasture was not justified. 



In an appendix to the report, the results of a test on ordinary arable 

 land with w^ild white clover are described. When sown in a seeds 

 mixture it proved much more permanent than the ordinary cultivated 

 variety of white clover. 



Manuring of Grass Land {Univ. Coll., Reading, Dept. of Agric. and 

 Hort., Bull, xi-ii, 1910). — Plots were laid down at nine centres in 

 Oxfordshire in 1909, to test the effect of various manures and com- 

 binations of manures on grass land. In most cases the grass was 

 mown in 19 10, and the bulletin gives particulars of the weights of hay 

 obtained in that year, together with notes on the character and quality 

 of the herbage on the different plots at each centre. The experiment 

 is being continued, but from even two years' results it is clear that the 

 manure or the mixture of manures which is likely to answer best at 

 one centre is not necessarily the best at another centre. A dressing of 

 a phosphatic manure gave profitable returns at most centres, and the 

 addition of potash and nitrogen further increased the yield. 



Manuring of Grass Land (Univ. Coll., Reading, Dept. of Agric. and 

 Hort., Bull, xiii., 1910). — The scheme of manuring in this experiment 

 is the same as that in the one mentioned above. Plots have been 

 laid down at eighteen centres in Bucks, five years' results having been 

 obtained from two centres, and four years' results from eight centres. 

 Full particulars of the weights of hay obtained up to the present, 

 together with analysis of the soil at each centre, are given in the 

 bulletin. 



Manuring of Poor Hill Pastures {Somerset C.C., Report of the Agric. 

 Instr. Com. for the period ending March 31st, 1911)- — Experiments 

 to test the effect of basic slag, superphosphate, lime, and kainit are 

 being carried out at four centres in Somerset. A distinct improve- 

 ment is noticeable on the plots receiving slag and superphosphate. 

 So far the ground lime and kainit have given little or no result. 



Manuring of Meadow Land (Monmouthshire Educ. Com., Rept. of 

 Director of Agric. Educ, October iSth, 191 1). — This report gives the 

 results of trials with artificial manures carried out on three different 

 soils since 1909. 



