39 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE SEEDING OF SAINFOIN 

 AND LUCERNE. 



A report has recently been transmitted to the Board by the 

 Director of the Agricultural Department of Reading College, 

 furnishing the results of the field experimental work conducted 

 under the supervision of the College during 1898. Among 

 the experiments of the past year were some relating to the 

 seeding of sainfoin and lucerne. These were carried out in 

 the counties of Dorset and Oxfordshire, with a view to 

 the determination of the following points, viz., the relative 

 values of sainfoin and lucerne ; the effect of sowing these 

 seeds broadcast and b}- the drill ; and the relative results 

 obtained by sowing them alone or mixed with grass and 

 clover seeds. 



In Dorset the experiments were made on a farm at 

 Shillingotone, near Blandford. The soil is a chalky loam, 

 varying from five to twelve inches in depth, the subsoil being 

 chalk. In 1896 the field was under turnips, manured with 

 two cwt. superphosphate, two cwt. dissolved bones, and one 

 ton couch ashes per acre ; the turnips were fed off with sheep. 

 The plots were each |-acre in area. The seeds were sown 

 with barley at the end of March, 1897. A narrow strip at 

 the end of each plot was not sown with barley, so that the 

 result of sowing the various seed mixtures without a crop 

 might be noticed. 



The plots were inspected on September 28th, 1897, some 

 time after the barkvy had been harvested. At that time all 

 the plots looked well ; the narrow strip on which barley had 

 not been sown was very luxuriant, but the remaining portions 

 of the plot had plenty of plant. The drilled plots of sainfoin 

 and lucerne differed very little from those sown broadcast, 



