Manuring of Meadow Hay. 



49 



experiments were generally in agreement. The advisability 

 •of including potassic manure to complete a mixture for 

 meadow hay was clearly indicated. The mixture which gave 

 the most profitable return in Lancashire in 1899 was i j-cwt. 

 of nitrate of soda, 2 cwt. of superphosphate, and 2 cwt. of 

 kainit ; in 1900 the most profitable mixture proved to be 

 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda, 2 cwt. of superphosphate, and 3 cwt. 

 of kainit. In Yorkshire, as stated above, the most profitable 

 mixture was i-J cwt. of nitrate of soda, 2 cwt. superphosphate, 

 and 3 cwt. kainit. 



In Lancashire some experiments have also been carried 

 out under the direction of Professor Walker to ascertain the 

 effect of dressings of lime on meadow land. These experi- 

 ments were commenced at four centres in 1899, and it is 

 hoped to continue them for several years, as the beneficial 

 effects of lime are not generally observed until after the lapse 

 of a year or two. The scheme is designed to determine not 

 ■only the results of applying dressings of different quantities 

 of lime, but also the effects of heavy applications of bone- 

 fiDur and slag, and the effects of using farmyard manure in 

 •one case with lime, and in the other case with bone-flour and 

 slag. The influence of the different dressings on the character 

 of the herbage is also to be investigated. So far as could be 

 ascertained, lime had not been previously applied at any of 

 the four experimental stations, and the soil was different in 

 each case. 



The quantities of lime applied per acre were 5 tons for a 

 lieavy dressing and 3 tons for a light dressing ; on the 

 phosphatic manure plots 9 cwt. of bone flour and 18 cwt. 

 of basic slag respectively were used per acre ; while in the 

 combination dressings with farmyard manure the quantity of 

 the latter was kept uniformly at 10 tons per acre, with the 

 •above-mentioned quantities of lime and phosphatic dressings, 

 according as the application of these ingredients was intended 

 to be heavy or light. 



The results of the two years' experiments have shown that 

 applications of quicklime increased in both years the crop of 

 meadow hay. The increase in the second year was greater 

 than that obtained in the first year. The heavier dressing of 



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