The  Woburn  Field  Experiments , 1910. 
327 
ammonia  per  acre)  ploughed  in  on  plot  lib  on  March  1.  Nine 
pecks  per  acre  of  “ Goldthorpe  ” barley  were  drilled  on  March 
22,  mineral  manures  being  applied  to  plots  4,  5,  0,  8,  9,  and 
10a  on  March  24.  Plot  11a  received  its  dressing  of  sulphate  of 
potash  on  April  2,  and  plot  10b  the  rape  dust  on  the  same  day. 
The  nitrogenous  top-dressings  were  given,  the  first  halves  on 
May  7,  the  second  halves  on  May  23. 
The  crop  came  up  badly  and  never  looked  otherwise  than 
weak  ; weeds  were  very  prevalent,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  them  down.  Plot  4 (minerals  only)  showed  peculiarities 
as  to  weed  growth,  just  as  did  the  corresponding  plot  in  the 
wheat  (see  page  323).  With  the  barley  the  prominent  weed 
was  horse-tail  ( Equisetum  arvense ),  the  spread  of  which  on 
this  particular  plot  has  been  remarkable  within  recent  years,  it 
not  occurring  to  any  extent  on  other  plots.  Another  notable 
feature  was  that  plot  2b  clearly  showed  that  the  lime — 2 tons 
per  acre — put  on  in  1897  was  being  worked  out ; plot  5b  also 
showed  similar  decline.  The  plot  9b,  nitrate  of  soda  (heavy 
dressing)  with  minerals,  looked  the  strongest  of  all.  Plot  2a 
(sulphate  of  ammonia  only)  was,  as  usual,  quite  blank  ; and 
plot  5a  (sulphate  of  ammonia  with  minerals  but  no  lime)  looked 
little  better,  nor  did  the  renewal  (in  1905)  of  lime  on  plot  2bb, 
used  along  with  sulphate  of  ammonia,  seem  to  benefit  except  in 
weight  of  straw. 
The  barleys  came  into  ear  about  June  28,  but  the  straw  was 
in  all  cases  very  short.  The  plots  were  cut  towards  the  end  of 
August,  stacked  on  September  5,  and  threshed  on  October  29. 
The  harvest  results  are  given  in  Table  II.,  page  325. 
The  barley  crop  generally  was  very  poor  and  considerably 
below  the  average.  The  unmanured  plots  gave  only  3 5 
bushels,  the  lowest  produce  for  many  years  ; mineral  manures 
(plot  4)  did  better,  viz.,  8‘4  bushels,  but  this  plot,  as  noted, 
had  a great  deal  of  weed  ; farmyard  manure  (plot  lib)  yielded 
17  bushels,  but  rape  dust  (plot  10b)  only  11*7  bushels,  the 
reverse  of  the  case  with  wheat.  The  highest  produce  was  on 
plot  9b  (heavy  dressing  of  nitrate  of  soda,  with  minerals),  315 
bushels  of  corn,  with  19  cwt.  of  straw  ; the  omission  of  the 
nitrate  of  soda  for  a single  year  reduced  the  corn  (plot  9a)  to 
15‘3  bushels.  As  a whole,  the  nitrate  of  soda  plots  did  better 
than  corresponding  sulphate  of  ammonia  plots  even  where  lime 
had  been  applied  with  the  latter.  The  double  dressing  of 
nitrate  of  soda  increased  the  produce  by  3‘6  bushels  when  used 
alone  (plots  3a,  3b),  and  by  18'4  bushels  when  used  with 
minerals  (plots  6,  9b).  as  against  the  single  dressing.  The  limed 
plots,  along  with  sulphate  of  ammonia,  showed  the  lime  to  be 
practically  worked  out  on  plot  2b  (after  thirteen  years),  but 
both  5b  and  5aa  showed  its  effect,  though  on  2bb  the  repetition 
