290 Beport on Experimenis conducted in 1888 hy 
two causes the experiments were upset. Under these circum- 
stances no useful purpose whatever would be served by giving 
the weights of the produce, though there are several points 
brought out in the report which are worth attention. There 
was only one instance in which an adequate return for the 
manuring was obtained, and that was when 4 cwts. of nitrate of 
soda were used alone. It was noticeable that the mangold plots 
with nitrate of soda continued growing for a longer period than 
those which had none. The rainfall for the year was 23'36 
inches. It is intended to repeat these same experiments in 1889 
with some modifications. 
II. — Norfolk Chamber of Agriculture. 
The name of Mr. F. I. Cooke is now so well known in con- 
nection with the careful carrying out of practical experimental 
trials that it is no surprise to find that the Annual Report of the 
Norfolk Chamber contains the record of even more extended 
investigations than before. Besides Mr. Garrett Taylor and 
Mr. Sapwell, who have from the beginning been associated with 
Mr. Cooke, two other gentlemen, Mr. C. L. Buxton of Bolwick, 
and Mr. G. J. Holmes of Brooke, have recently placed land at 
the disposal of the Managing Committee for experimental pur- 
poses, so that now the Chamber may be said to possess no less 
than six " stations." It becomes in consequence more and more 
difficult to do even ordinary justice in an abstract of this kind, 
and the readiest and best way would undoubtedly be to refer 
readers to the Report of the Chamber, containing the full 
account of the experiments of the year. Mr. Cooke, indeed, 
not satisfied with what may be termed the ordinary " practical 
fai'mers' " experiments, has now, in one or two instances, extended 
these in the direction of scientific inquiry, a subject with which 
he is, I may say, one of the very few " practical " men qualified 
to deal. The Norfolk Chamber, through their Experimental 
Committee, soon saw the absolute necessity of an efficient super- 
intendent, whose special duty it should be to watch the experi- 
ments and be responsible for the carrying out of the directions of 
the committee. They may, I have reason to know, be congratu- 
lated on obtaining a man who, after some careful preliminary 
training, has become very efficient for the post. 
Despite every care and precaution, however, experiments are 
subservient to season, and the remarkable year just passed has 
played havoc with many of the trials. The almost entire 
absence of sun has perhaps most of all prevented the different 
manures from working their proper effects. 
