THE MANURING OF MARKET-GARDEN CROPS. 



1051 



Careful observations, however, have been made on the quality of the 

 Peas, by cooking the produce of each plot separately under the same con- 

 ditions. The Peas manured with nitrate of soda have been, when cooked, 

 distinctly softer, much sweeter, and of brighter colour than those grown 

 without the use of nitrate. Since matters of flavour depend upon indi- 

 vidual taste, we have, in this experiment, relied not merely on our own 

 judgment but on that of four children, who tasted the Peas separately 

 and without knowing anything about them ; and the children all inde- 

 pendently expressed the same views as to the relative sweetness of the 

 Peas. 



Our experiments with Peas will also be continued. 



Gooseberries. 



Our Gooseberry plantation was made in 1898. A small crop was 

 gathered in 1899, but this, although already showing the influence of 

 the various systems of manuring, should scarcely be taken into account. 

 We got a fairly good crop in 1900, and a very good crop in 1901. In 

 1902 the crop, like most fruit, was much affected by a late frost, which 

 caused a large number of the berries to drop off prematurely. 



The crop in 1902 was gathered and weighed green, but in 1900 and 

 1901 the berries were allowed to become ripe. 



The experiments were conducted on the same lines as the majority 

 of our vegetable experiments, and we believe that these are the first 

 manurial trials which have been made on anything like an extensive scale 

 on the growth of Gooseberries, each plot being of an area of one- fiftieth 

 of an acre. 



The results we have obtained up to the present are shown in the 

 following table : — 



GOOSEBERRIES (planted only in 1898). 



Total weight of Gooseberries per acre 



Annual manuring per acre 









Three 





1900 



1901 



1902 



years' 

 average 





lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



lbs. 



50 loads (25 tons) London Dung 

 25 loads (12^ tons) London Dung . 



670 



2,325 



850 



1,282 



550 



975 



250 



592 



25 loads Dung, Phosphates (no Potash), and 













450 



1,050 



250* 



583 





750 



1,800 



700 



1,083 



25 loads Dung, Phosphates (no Potash), and 













350 



600 



150 



367 





450 



1,300 



500 



750 



25 loads Dung, Phosphates (no Potash), and 













800 



1,950 



400 



1,050 



Ditto, ditto (with Potash) 



700 



2,825 



800 



1.442 



No Dung ; Phosphates (no Potash) and 













650 



650 



50 



450 



Ditto, ditto (with Potash) 



725 



1,900 



250 



958 



In the first place it will be noticed that in every year the increase of 

 the dung from 25 loads to 50 loads per acre gave a large increase in the 



