Report on the Field and Feeding Fxiieriments at Woburn. 279 
Experiments on the Continuous Growth of Barley. 
The farmyard manure for the plots 10b and 11b was made 
by four Hereford bullocks which fed for twenty-one days at the 
same time, and consumed the same amount and kinds of food 
as those which made the dung for the continuous wheat plots. 
The dung, after removal from the pits, was put under cover, and 
weighed on February 23, 1887, being then applied to the plots 10b 
and 1 1b, so as to supply to them 100 lbs. and 200 lbs. of ammonia 
per acre respectively. The plots were ploughed and rolled 
February 28 to March 3, and mineral manures sown broadcast 
on March 8, and harrowed in. The barley, nine pecks per acre of 
" Golden Melon," was drilled on March 22. Owing to continued 
cold weather it was slow in showing itself, but came through 
about April 16. It made, however, but little progress, and the 
growth throughout was unsatisfactory — first the cold and then 
the drought being altogether against it, causing the yield to be 
small and the straw exceptionally short. The plots were har- 
rowed April 18-23. On May 5 nitrogenous top-dressings 
(similar to those used for the wheat) were sown. Rain fell on 
the next day, and the effect of the nitrate of soda was clearly 
discernible on May 18. By May 21, the ammonia-salts also 
showed slightly the result of their action. During June and 
July there was a long spell of drought, in the course of which the 
barley felt very much the want of rain. The nitrate of soda 
plots, as with the wheat, were stronger than those dressed with 
ammonia-salts ; but here again the ammonia plots ripened more 
quickly, though the manure appeared to impart to the crop a 
sickly reddish colour. Very striking also was the effect of 
mineral manures added to nitrate of soda (plot 6) as compared 
with nitrate of soda alone (plot 3), the minerals appearing to 
produce much earlier ripening. 
The Hessian fly, which attacked the wheat on May 5, did not 
so early attack the barley, but by August 9 it appeared on all the 
plots, though apparently doing but little damage. The barley, 
which was a poor short crop, was cut on August 15, and carted 
and stacked August 18 ; the' ground was ploughed immediately 
after and the stubble turned in, to prevent future damage from 
the Hessian fly. The barley was dressed and weighed October 
25-28 ; the results are given in Table II., page 280. 
As in 1886, the produce was a very low one, the results of 
the two years being very similar, and considerably below the 
average of the preceding ten years. The straw was also very 
short, and in the case of one plot only (plot 9a, mineral 
manures with 550 lbs. nitrate of soda) was the general average 
reached. The unmanured plots yielded 19-9 bushels and 20*4 
bushels per acre, against 19-2 bushels and 18-2 bushels last 
