EXPERIMENTS BY FARMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2728, 27 June 1906, Page 5

EXPERIMENTS BY FARMERS.

A promiiient New Zealand agricultuiLt said the other day that almost every farmer jiHt now is experimenting in some direction or other This, no doubt, is true, though most of the experiments aie oi a very general character, S u<,h aj try-

, ing the effect of a different succession of t crops or application of manure to that generally practised ; and the neglect to ' observe exact details and record exact . results, with the absence of a check plot . renders the experiments of comparatively little value. The great results which have been achieved by the Canadian cooperative experiments are in a very great measure due to the exactitude with which every detail is carried out. Rule-of-thumb has no place in the Canadian system. The land is accurately measured, the composition of the fertiliser and the quantity applied are minutely determined, the seed sown is of the exact quantity directed, and every operation in the preparation of the land and the culture of the crop is performed on definite lines. A record is kept of the whole and of the result, and as hundreds of farmers may have carried out one experiment, the united result is most? valuable. Canada is not alone in working along these lines. Two or three years ago the English Board of Agriculture, in order to encourage individual experiments, and guide those conducting them in uniformity of methods, issued a little pamphlet on "Manurial and Other Experiments." The directions applied to* experiments with the principal crops and grasses, ami were mainly intended to enable the requirements of the soil to be ascertained, in the way of applications of plant food — nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, separately or in combination. This is just the question which is exercising many New Zealand farmers. Land has reached so high a value that its earning power must be developed to the fullest 1 extent. Analysis of the soil is sometimes resorted to as affording an indication of its deficiencies, but this is not a reliable 'S^uide, and the best means of obtaining the desired knowledge is by the farmer himself experimenting on small plots of his farm. The experiments should have a definite object, and . the suggestions on this point in the pamphlet referred to may well be adopted. In order to ascertain what the soil requires plots are to be treated as follows :—(1): — (1) With no manure; (2) with complete manure supply — as nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash ; (3) incomplete manure — nitrogen and phosphoric acid i but no potash ; (4) incomplete manure — nitrogen and potash, but no phosphoric acid ; and (5) incomplete manure — phosphoric acid and potash, but no nitrogen. To ascertain whether the complete manure is sufficient as well as complete, increase the quantity of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, respectively, for three more plots, to the man- ■ ure as for plot 2. . Further, inquiring whether the soil possesses sufficiently any two of the three constituents of the complete manure apply to another three plots, nitrogen only and phosphoric acid only, and potash only, respectively. Other experiments suggested are to ascertain whether or not the land requires farmyard manure, but this need not enter into discussion here. Any crop can be made use of for the experiments; in practice most farmers will find the information derived from the first five plots will be sufficient to guide them in the application of fertilisers. The plots should be of uniform size, one-twentieth of an acre (say 22yds by 11yds) being suggested, and it is advisable to duplicate the plots as a check. The "complete" manures recommended for the various crops are given in the following table :—: —

If it is considered in individual cases that tha composition of the complete manure recommended for general use is not well adapted for" any special district, a plot could be added to test the particular dressing considered suitable. The quantities in the above table are given in pounds weight per acre ; to calculate the quantities required for each plot it may be taken that 1 cwt. sulphate of ammonia equals, say, 22A!b nitrogen. 1 cwt. nitrate of soda equals, say, 17Jlb nitrogen. 1 cwt. superphosphate, 26 per cent., equals, cay, 13\lb phosphoric acid. 1 cwt. basic slag, 3840 per cent., equals, say, 20lb phosphoric acid. 1 cwt. sulphate of potash, 90/95 per cent., equals, say, 58lb potash (pure). Calculating the applications according to percentage the complete manures will analyse approximately as under, in the ordinary terms, as ammonia, soluble phosphate and potash, and be applied in the quantities specificd — viz. :

To one twentieth part of an acre it would be neces&ary to apply one-twentieth of the quantity specified. Any manure merchants or manufacturers will supply the fertilisers ready mixed if required, but if nitrate of ;-oda is u=ed it should not be mixed with the other manures, lut applied later as a top-dressing. It will be observed that the complete manures are very rich in potash. This is in accordance with the results of numerous expeiiments and wide practice, in which large applications of potash have proved highly profitable ; but farmers would do well to carry out experiments such as are here suggested, or in giving a moderate mea of uop, before going to the expense

ot heavy potash manuring on a large* scale. Much land in New Zealand ; » naturally rich in potash, so much so that this constituent is excluded from the manure mixture used. This is just one of the points \rhich show the- oecessity of farmers experimenting for themselves.

Artifical Manures supplying per acre. PhosNitro- phoric gen. Acid. Potash. Ib. lb. lb. Meadow hay 20 40 20 Ryegrass & clover hay 30 40 30 Swedes & turnips ..20 80 40 Mangels 40 80 80 Potatcea 40 60 80 Wheat 30 40 30 Oats .' 20 30 30 Barley 20 40 30 Beans 20 GO 60

Cwt. Per cent. per Am- Phosacre. uoiiia. pliate. Potash Meadow hay .... 4 o\ 18 5 Ryegias^ A: clever "hay ... 5 7 15 5 Swedes & turnips ~i 3 20 5 Mangels .. .. 9. 5 1G 8 Potatoes .... 7 7 16 11 Wheat 5 7 15 5 Oats 4 6 15 6 Bar'ey 4 1 . 5\ 17 5J Bean? 6. 4 17 8