Experiment with a Turf Plough. 



445 



end of March in the succeeding spring- of each season. 

 Details of the treatment are shown in the table : — 



Result of Using Laackcs Turf Plough. 







Yield of Hay. 







Botanical 



Analysis 



1899. 





Plot. 



Treatment for Season I 898, (the 

 manuring was for both 1898 and 1899.) 



1898 1899 

 cwt. cwt 



§ Total 



Dogstail. 



Fescues. 



Fiorin. 



Vernal. 



Yorkshire 

 Fog 



White Clover. 



0 

 > 



Various. 



O 

 H 



I 



li Ploughed," soil stirred, manured, 





24i 



58i 



i4'7 



11-2 



38-3 



i-8 



19-7 



2'7 



!"4 



II"2 



100 



2 



" Ploughed," soil stirred, rolled, 

 manured - .... 



37 



23i 



60I 



187 



9.2 



3.i'8 



3'° 



|26- 3 



2'0 



2-3 



6-i 



100 



3 



" Ploughed." soil stirred, rolled, not 

 manured - - - v - 



22 



i5* 



37* 



22 *o 



9'4 



32-5 



1.6 



21 'o 



i-8 



3 1 



8-6 



100 



4 



Neither "ploughed," stirred nor rolled, 

 but manured 



50 



24! 



74 



i 4 'i 



II'O 



3i'9 



3"i 



2i-6 3-6 



4'4 



10-3 



100 



5 



Altogether untreated - 



34* 



i6i 



5i 



16-2 



7 -8 



35-6 



2'5 



i5'7 





5'° 



12-7 



100 



6 



" Ploughed," rolled, manured, not 





25 



64* 



IO'I 



10-4 



33-5 



1.6 



29*1 





27 



8-9 



100 



The effects of the treatment on unmanured ground are 

 seen by comparing plots 3 and 5. 



On plot 3 the tuif was " ploughed," the soil underneath 

 was stirred, and the land was subsequently rolled, with the 

 result that in the first season the hay crop was reduced from 

 34J cwt. to 22 cwt., while in the second season the reduction 

 was from 16J cwt. to 15 J cwt. 



A comparison of plots 2 and 4 will show what the plough 

 was able to acomplish, when accompanied by manure. The 

 use of the implement — with simultaneous stirring of the soil 

 and subsequent rolling of the land — resulted in a reduction 

 of the crop in 1898 from 50 cwt. to 37 cwt, while the yield in 

 1899 also suffered to the extent of ij cwt. per acre. 



It will thus be seen that, whether used alone or in conjunc- 

 tion with a dressing of artificial manure, the plough has very 

 seriously reduced the yield in the first season, while its 

 prejudicial influence is still observable, though not to so 

 great an extent, in the second year. 



Seeing that the plough has failed to improve the yield, but 

 little practical interest attaches to the effects of rolling or 

 stirring. It may, however, be pointed out that rolling 



