for Tioentij Years in succession on the same Land. 151 
conditions mentioned, the deficiency of straw was, it is true, 
considerably greater in 1870tlian in 1868; due, doubtless, to the 
much less rain in April ; but the produce of corn was, with farm- 
yard-manure considerably higher than, and with mixed mineral 
manure and nitrate of soda nearly as high as, in 1868 ; indeed, 
with farmyard-manure, it was very nearly average, and with the 
nitrate, as in 1868, very much higher than by mixed mineral 
manure and the same amount of nitrogen supplied as ammonia 
salts — though, as the produce by the ammonia salts was not so 
defective in 1870 as in 1868, neither was the excess by the 
nitrate so great as then. There can be little doubt that, the 
greater porosity of the soil, and the consequently greater power 
of absorption and retention of moisture near the surface, where 
the dung was applied, and the greater disintegration and porosity 
of the subsoil, , and the more extended distribution of the 
manure and of the roots within it, where the nitrate was used, 
had again enabled the growing crops the better to withstand 
the heat and drought. 
To sum up : The extraordinarily prolonged season of drought 
of 1870, though yielding, as might be expected, small amounts 
of total produce (corn and straw together), of both wheat and 
barley, but especially of the spring-sown crop, was remarkable 
for giving, of wheat grain even an excess, and of barley grain much 
less deficiency, the higher the manuring ; much less deficiency 
with farmyard-manure, and with nitrate of soda, than with 
ammonia-salts ; and, with both crops, very high proportion of 
corn to straw, and very high weight per bushel of corn. 
Twentieth Season, 1871. 
In October, 1870, the changes of temperature were very 
frequent, giving, however, about the average for the month ; 
and there was a slight excess of rain. The first 19 days of 
November were for the most part cold, the remainder warm, 
but the average for the month was low, and there was a con- 
siderable deficiency of rain. There were about 10 days of very 
warm weather in the middle of December, but the beginning 
and end of the month were cold ; the latter extremely so, with a 
good deal of snow and cold wind ; the average for the month 
was 5 or 6 degrees below the average for 99 years ; and the rain, 
and melted snow, indicated a considerable excess of fall. January, 
1871, with the exception of a few days in the middle of the 
month, was cold ; and at the beginning, and for nearly a fort- 
night at the end, the weather was extremely severe. From early 
in February, until the middle of March, the weather was very 
mild, and thence to the end of the month the temperatures were 
