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AGRICULTURAL AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Manuring of Seeds Hay. 



An experiment on the manuring of seeds hay was carried 

 out last year at eleven centres in the County of Durham, 

 under the direction of the Agricultural Department of the 

 Durham College of Science. A heavy crop of hay is an 

 especially important consideration in this county on account 

 of the demand created by the collieries, and the sale of hay 

 being very common, the crop pays for a more liberal use of 

 manure than if it were grown for consumption on the farm. 

 The object of the experiment was to ascertain the effect of 

 applications of nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, super- 

 phosphate and kainit, either alone or as ingredients of a 

 mixed manure for top-dressing first year seeds. 



For the purpose of the experiment, an acre of land was divided 

 into fifteen equal plots, the first five of which were treated as 

 follows: — Plot i, no manure; plot 2, ij cwt. sulphate of 

 ammonia per acre ; plot 3, 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre ; 

 plot 4, f cwt. of sulphate of ammonia and 1 cwt. of nitrate of 

 soda per acre ; and plot 5, half the dressing of plot 4. The 

 second set of five plots received the same dressings as those 

 already described, with the addition of 4 cwt. of kainit per 

 acre ; while the remaining five plots received the manures 

 applied to the other two sets, in combination with 4 cwt. of 

 superphosphate per acre, so that on this series plots 1 to 5 

 received a complete manure. The manures were applied 

 early in April, with the exception of the nitrate of soda, 

 which was put on at the beginning of May when the grass 

 began to grow. The application of the superphosphate and 



