310 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Wohurn. 
2\ cwts. of nitrate of soda, without minerals, gave an increase 
of 16 bushels of barley and 10 cwts. and 1 qr, of straw above 
the produce of the unmanured plot No. 7. 
The same quantity of nitrate of soda, in conjunction with 
superphosphate and other minerals, on plot 6 produced 
20 bushels more barley and 14 cwts. 3 qrs, more straw than was 
obtained on the unmanured plot No. 7 ; and 5 cwts. of nitrate of 
soda (in round numbers), in conjunction with the same propor- 
tion of mineral manures which were applied to plot 6, gave an 
increase of 23i bushels of corn and 16 J cwts. of straw above the 
produce of plot 7, or only 3^ bushels more barley and not quite 
2 cwts. more straw than was produced by half the quantity of 
nitrate of soda used on plot 6. 
The practical conclusion that may be legitimately drawn from 
these experiments with nitrate of soda and minerals is, I think, 
that in practice moderate applications of nitrate of soda, in con- 
junction with mineral manures (superphosphate), to the barley- 
crop pay better for the outlay than very large dressings of nitrate 
of soda. 
In the preceding year the produce of barley on plot 9, 
manured with minerals and 5 cwts. of nitrate of soda, amounted 
to only 44^ bushels, or to 12 bushels less than in 1881. On the 
other hand, the straw grown with the 44^ bushels of barley in 
1880 weighed 36 cwts. and 20 lbs., whereas on the same plot 
56J bushels of barley were reaped in 1881, and only 31 cwts. and 
12 lbs. straw, or 5 cwts. and '8 lbs. less straw than in the preceding 
year. This shows that in cold seasons, like that of 1880, the 
effect of large doses of nitrate of soda to barley appears to be 
to produce rather abundance of straw than good barley. In cold 
and wet seasons a small dressing of nitrate of soda often produces 
more corn than a large dressing. 
Thus, in 1880, mineral manures and 2\ cwts. of nitrate of soda 
actually produced 4j3- bushels more barley, weighing lbs. 
more per bushel, than the same quantity of minerals and 5 cwts. 
of nitrate of soda. 
It will also be seen that the dung on plots 10 and 11 had a 
very good effect upon the barley-crop in 1881. The smaller 
dressing — about 4 tons on plot 10 — produced nearly 45 bushels, 
weighing 50'3 lbs. per bushel, and 23 cwts. 1 qr. and 26 lbs. of 
straw, and the larger dose (about 8 tons of dung) on plot 11 
produced nearly 51 bushels of corn and 28 cwts. and 11 lbs. of 
straw. The barley on plot 11 weighed 52*3 lbs. per bushel, or 
from 2 to 3Jlbs. more per bushel than the barley on the other 
experimental plots. 
