132 • Report of Experiments on the Growth of Wheat. 
In this and succeeding seasons the sulphate of potass was in all 
cases reduced to two-thirds the previous amount ; the sulphate of 
soda to one-half in all cases of the so-called " mixed mineral 
manure," but only to two-thirds on Plots 12a and \2b. The 
sulphate of magnesia was, however, not reduced in the " mixed 
mineral manure," and only by one-third on plots 14a and 14&. 
Still, wherever potass, soda or magnesia were supplied at all, 
even the reduced amounts provided more of them annually than 
was taken off in the crops. 
Upon the whole, the season of 1859, with its wet and warm 
growing and ripening, and wet harvest periods, was one of con- 
siderable amount of produce, but of very inferior characters for 
the formation and maturation of the grain. 
Seventeenth Season, 1859-60. 
October (1859) was upon the whole wet, the greater part of 
the month very mild, but the end very cold and frosty ; November 
stormy, cold, and wet ; December very cold, windy, and inclement 
until near the end, which was wet and mild. January (1860) was 
variable, but generally mild and wet ; February very cold, with 
sharp frost and snow, ending with storms of rain and wind. The 
greater part of March was cold, with heavy showers and snow ; 
the remainder was finer and warmer. April was very cold, with 
some snow and sharp frosts ; the beginning of May was also 
cold, but the rest of the month warmer than usual, though very 
wet. June was very cold and very wet; July also very cold, 
with a moderate amount of rain, most of which fell after the 
middle of the month ; August cold and very wet, and September 
also cold, but fine in the early part, though very wet in the 
latter. In June, July, August, and September, the dew point 
generally ranged low ; but with the unusually low temperatures, 
the degree of humidity of the air was considerably above the 
average. 
The winter of 1859-60 was thus alternately very cold and very 
mild, and upon the whole very wet ; and the spring, summer, and 
autumn were very stormy, cold, wet, and unseasonable ; indeed, 
more so than had been known for many years past. The crops 
were very late, the harvest being two or three weeks later than 
usual. Wheat was, in some localities, not deficient in bulk, but 
generally very much damaged, yielding but a small proportion 
of grain, and that of very low quality. The crop was, indeed, 
very much below the average both in quantity and quality. 
The quantity of grain in the experimental field was generally 
only about three-fourths that of the average of the 12 years under 
