290 The Woburn Field Experiments , 1905 and 1906. 
1906 (30th Season). 
u Chevalier ” barley was drilled at the rate of 9 pecks 
per acre on April 4, 1906, farmyard manure to plot lib and 
rape dust to plot 10b being put on just afterwards. Mineral 
manures were applied on April 26, and nitrogenous top- 
dressings on May 14 and 29. The crop suffered but little 
from the heavy rains at the end of June. The newly limed 
plots at this period bid fair to give very interesting results, 
for, while plot 2a (ammonia salts only) was almost bare, the 
5 cwt. of lime on plot 2aa showed a clear difference, though 
this was not so marked as in the corresponding wtheat plots. 
Also the 1 ton of lime on plot 5aa, and the second application 
of 2 tons of lime to plot 2bb, both showed up distinctly, 
though in the case of the wheat this had not been so. 
These observations, coupled with the harvest returns which 
confirmed them, point to much that requires studying with 
regard to the differences between wheat and barley as crops, 
and in reference to their requirements, as also to the 
physical and chemical effects of lime when put on the land. 
It would appear as if the sterile condition of, and acidity 
produced in, the barley soil by the continuous use of ammonia 
salts (as instanced in plot 2a, now practically bare) was more 
marked with the barley crop than the wheat, or that the barley 
crop, being a surface feeder, suffered more from the acid top 
soil. Hence a larger quantity of lime than the 5 cwt. employed 
on plot 2aa was probably required to neutralise the acidity and 
to restore fertility ; whereas with the wheat crop, which goes 
down deeper, the lesser quantity of lime might suffice. This 
seems to be further borne out by the fact that 1 ton of lime 
on plot 5aa, and 2 tons applied a second time on plot 5bb, 
effected marked improvements with the barley crop, though 
they had been ineffective with the wheat. 
The barleys ripened but slowly, and a good deal of “ smut ” 
appeared on the ears, though this was not more marked on 
some plots than others. The plots were harvested August 
23-24, threshed on November 16, and the corn w r as valued. 
The crop was a distinctly heavy one, and, taken all round, 
one of the biggest that has been obtained on this land. 
Though the unmanured produce, 15 bushels per acre, and that 
from minerals only, 18*8 bushels, were below the averages of 
the first twenty years (21 bushels and 22*5 bushels respectively), 
the farmyard manure (lib) and rape cake (10b) plots both 
exceeded 45*5 bushels, against averages for previous years of 
39*9 and 37*4 bushels ; nitrate of soda and minerals gave 
(plot 6) 47*5 bushels against a previous average of 43*5 bushels, 
while ammonia salts with minerals, including lime, reached 
44*3 bushels (previous average 39 bushels). Even nitrate of 
