PRACTICAL PAPERS—LATE FARM EXPERIMENTS. 383 
fihire, designed to test the comparative productiveness of varieties. The 
field had a light soil, suitable to turnips, resting on a clay slate and had been 
subject to a five-course rotation. In each case the manures applied per acre 
were fifteen yards of"farm-yard dung, one hundred-weight of Peruvian 
guano, two hundred-weight of bone-dust, and two hundred-weight of super¬ 
phosphate. The results are given by Mr. Milne in tons and thousandths of a 
ton. The abstract here presented is confined to varieties of Swedes* 
Varieties. 
1864. 
1866. 
1866. 
Tons. 
Tons. 
Tons. 
Drummond’s Extra Improved.. 
16.804 
12.051 
16.860 
East Lothian. 
15.804 
11.787 
14.250 
Green-top. 
12.946 
12.402 
14.700 
Laing’s. 
16.606 
10.076 
13.160 
Bangholme... 
16.563 
13.001 
The report states that the turnip degenerates, if sown for a few successive 
years on poor, unmanured soil, from a large fieshy bulb to a small, elongated 
fibrous root; and years of careful cultivation are required to restore it to 
its former value. Hence the use of seed grown for p. series of years from 
full-sized, transplanted bulbs is urged; and it is claimed that the difference 
in productiveness between two varieties, or two samples of the same variety, 
may be wholly owing to the method in which the seed has been raised. 
Grass and Hay.— In the report of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng¬ 
land for 1867, Professor Voelcker states at considerable length the results of 
experiments instituted by him some years ago at the agricultural college, 
Cirencester, on a level clover field of calcareous soil, both by nature and 
condition of tillage well adapted to this plant. The experiments were espe¬ 
cially directed towards establishing the proper period for cutting the hay 
crop. Twelve plots were set apart, each measuring one rod square. On 
these plots cuttings were made at different periods, from May 26, to July 28 ; 
some of them being mown from two to four times each, others only once. 
The cuttings were analyzed in such manner as to exhibit in each case, 1st. 
The weight of the fresh cut clover; 2d. The weight of the hay made there¬ 
from and cured to a uniform standard, containing 16.7 per cent, of moisture; 
3d. The per centage of nutritious elements contained in this hay. By esti¬ 
mate from the product of a first cutting made June 16, the yield of hay per 
acre ac that period was 7,657 pounds, being the greatest quantity obtained at 
any one mowing. Analysis of the cuttings of the different periods show fur¬ 
thermore that at this time the hay contained the greatest proportional 
amount of nutriment. In the plots first cut at dates earlier or later than 
that just mentioned, deficiencies in quality and total yield were in approxi- 
naate proportion to the differences of time observable between said dates 
and the period of best production, namely, June 16. As an indicatory ex- 
