Manuring of Swedes and Potatoes. 29 



would have been more profitable than it was if h cwt. nitrate 

 of soda and 1 cwt. fish meal had been substituted for 1 

 cwt. sulphate of ammonia ; the profits yielded by it were,, 

 however, greater than those obtained from dung and arti- 

 ficials. These experiments, and those made in the previous 

 year, indicate that when the potato occupiss a portion of 

 the fallow break, dung should be used ; when it does not, 

 farmyard manure may often with advantage be omitted, and 

 artificial manures only used. 



In the absence of dung, heavy dressings of sulphate and 

 muriate of potash have proved advantageous ; heavy dressings 

 of kainit have, on the other hand, somewhat decreased the 

 yield. In two instances it was noticeable that kainit 

 hastened ripening. In both these cases the percentage of 

 dry matter in the potato crop was much reduced. On each 

 of the five farms, and also at the College farm, the use of 

 kainit lowered the percentage of dry matter. The average 

 reduction amounted to 2*88 per cent, of dry matter, which 

 means that the food value of eight tons of potatoes grown 

 with kainit was, on the average, no greater than seven tons 

 grown with sulphate of potash. 



Experiments in the manuring of potatoes were also 

 repeated in the past year at twelve centres in Lancashire, 

 under the direction of Mr. F. P. Walker, the Agricultural 

 Lecturer of the Harris Institute, Preston. The object of 

 these experiments was to ascertain the comparative effects of 

 a dressing of 20 tons and 10 tons respectively of farmyard 

 manure, and the results of applying artificials with a 

 moderate dressing of dung. 



The results showed that the heavier dressing of dung 

 produced an increase of crop which left a substantial profit, 

 and they confirmed the general experience obtained at the 

 various experimental centres in connection with other agri- 

 cultural colleges, that potatoes are a crop which respond 

 in a remarkable degree to large applications of farmyard 

 manure. In farm practice, however, in the majority of cases 

 sufficient farmyard manure cannot be spared to give such 

 heavy dressings, and it is therefore important to note that in 

 these experiments, as in those previously reviewed in this 



