MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 9

MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS.

Under the auspices of the Staffordshire C!ounty Council, England, a series of experiments have been carried out in the county of Stafford with the object of testing manuriai mixtures for grasses, likewise mangolds, swedes, and potatoes. The grass experiments were conducted at five different centres, and to a large extent on loam soils, varying from clay loams to medium loams. The mo3t successful manures almost iD each case contained nitrate of soda. A very successful dressing was lewt nitrate of soda, scwt kainit, and 3cwt Thomas's phosphate. Others that did very well in two cases were 1 l-7th cwt of nitrate of soda and l-3rd cwt of sulphate of potash. In the fifth case a single application of 2Jcwt of superphosphate may be said to have tied with lewt of ground lime. The experiments run by the HarperAdams College of Shropshire were of a varied description. Those actually to test manures dealt with meadow land, mangolds etc. On meadow land the best results on clay soil on red sandstone were obtained I with 2£cwt of superphosphate and iewt of sulphate of potash. This 'gave the most profitable increase, although it did not give the largest return. The latter was secured by the use of farmyard manure, but that was too costly. Dung alone did not give such good results jn quality or quantity of" herbage as either superphosphate or sulphate of potash. Nitrate of soda here produced little effect, and the small increase did not compensate the outlay, i In the manuring of mangolds attention is j drawn particularly to the effect of salt and i potash. Thi3 was observable in the course i of growth, and the final results sustained the evidence thus early manifested. The best result was achieved with a dressing of 15 tons of dung, 3£cwt of dissolved bones, lewt sulpiiate of ammonia, lewt of nitrate of soda, 4cwt salt, and Jcwt sulphate of potash. The average cost of this manure per ton of roots for four years has been 4s 3d. Salt jointly with sulphate of potash has given better Tesults than either salt by itself or kainit by itse'f. Trials were made with the new manure lime nitrogen, known as calcium cyanamide. It is estimated that the price when this manure is put on the market will be about 15 per cent, below ' the average of the price which nitrogen . costs at present in nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia. This year a mixture ) in which caloiwn ay&namide appeared has

' given the heaviest yield, but it is early to draw definite conclusions.